RSPH Health & Wellbeing Awards FAQs

The Health & Wellbeing Awards are the only route to the Public Health Minister’s Award.

Eligible category winners are recommended for consideration for the Public Health Minister’s Award. A Department of Health and Social Care Award Committee led by the Minister for Public Health in England then selects a winner that is publicly announced at the RSPH Awards ceremony.

Please note that organisations based solely in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland will not be eligible for the the Public Health Minister's Award, as the Minister for Public Health and the Department of Health and Social Care are responsible for public health in England only.

The Health & Wellbeing Awards scheme supports and encourages best practice across local authorities, the community and voluntary sector and private enterprise.

Winning a Health & Wellbeing Award will provide your organisation with:

• An excellent platform to showcase your initiative
• Recognition of your organisation’s achievements in public health
• Access to a network of like-minded organisations and individuals
• Evidence for external agencies involved in monitoring standards
• Evidence to support tenders and bids for the commissioning of new service provision
• An opportunity to be considered for the prestigious Public Health Minister’s Award
• A winner’s logo, certificate and trophy, and a case study featured on the RSPH website

All finalists will receive two complimentary place to attend RSPH Awards ceremony where the winners will be announced. They will also have the option to buy additional tickets at a reduced rate.

Those who do not win an award will receive a finalist’s logo and certificate and a brief case study featured on the RSPH website.

The Health & Wellbeing Awards are free to enter and open to all organisations and sole traders who promote health and wellbeing as part of their commissioning/service provision role. This includes local authorities, health organisations (NHS and private), education providers, social enterprises, community and voluntary organisations, and private sector organisations

RSPH is supportive of all organisations regardless of setting or size – it is the impact of your health improvement activity that counts. Please note, however, that your organisation and programme/project must be based in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) as RSPH is unable to accept international entries at this time.

RSPH can only accept one application per organisation and your project may be entered for one category only – with this in mind, please think carefully about which of your programmes/projects would be most suitable and which category it aligns with.

Programmes/projects which are delivered by more than one organisation as a partnership or consortium can also be entered. All organisations involved must be detailed on the application form, however one must act as the lead contact responsible for the entry. Please note that if an organisation enters as part of a joint application, it will be unable to submit another separate one.

RSPH welcomes applicants from previous years to enter again. If you are planning on resubmitting a programme/project from a previous application, please indicate this on the application form.

Please also consider who should be the most relevant contact at your organisation for all correspondence and queries, ensuring that their details are submitted as part of the application.

We applicants from previous years to enter again and will require a new application to be submitted.

If you are planning on resubmitting a project from a previous application, please indicate this on the application form.

Your submission should consist of a completed application form with all fields completed and three pieces of supporting evidence:

• Evidence of outcomes achievement
• Public Health Objectives of the organisation
• Letter of recommendation

Examples of accepted evidence formats include reports, publications, presentations, video and audio files. However, please note that you may only submit three items, so please consider carefully which will support your entry most effectively.

Please do not include additional items or files other than those requested as they will not be considered.

You can only apply for consideration in one of the Health & Wellbeing Awards' six categories:

• Arts & Health
• Community Health Development
• Health & Wellbeing in Workplaces
• Health at Every Age 
• Healthier Lives
• Mental Health & Wellbeing

There will be a lead assessor and a panel of judges per Health & Wellbeing Awards category. Each panel will comprise of a subject expert panel chair and between three and six peer assessors through which the assessment of each application will take place.

Following the assessment, each applicant will be recommended or declined for an award. Using a numeric scoring system, each panel will shortlist several organisations, one of which will be chosen as the category winner. The panel’s decision about the award will be final.

The Health & Wellbeing Awards assessment criteria are strongly influenced by the following:

• The principles of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion
• The Marmot Review: Fair Society Healthy Lives
• The NHS Five Year Forward View
• NICE Public Health Guidance (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, ref PHG, esp. NG44 [Community Engagement])
• The WHO’s Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach
  • Health equity in all policies 
  • Health in All Policies (Wikipedia page)

The core elements of the criteria are:

• Building on national public health policy and evidence: to reduce inequalities and promote equity, including action on the social, cultural, economic and environmental determinants of health (including poverty)
• Creating supportive environments: promotes healthy settings, where people are born, grow, work, live, and age
• Strengthening and promoting community action: to empower individuals and communities to gain control over their lives and ensure long-term sustainability through health improvement projects/programmes
• Implementing population targeted community engagement strategies: harnessing public input and opinions in health improvement projects/programmes and policy making, ensuring that the concerted efforts reflect the real priorities and needs of the community
• Developing a broad understanding of health improvement: to help individuals make informed choices about their health across the life course

Furthermore, applications should include information that reflects the following quality elements for effective health improvement/promotion:

• Leadership and innovation
• Stakeholder engagement in design, planning and implementation
• Impact measurement and effectiveness
• Partnerships at local and city-wide levels as appropriate
• Project/programme described is evidence-based or has contributed to the establishment of evidence on its effectiveness in promoting wellbeing and health
• Sustainability, scalability and accountability

In addition to submitting a completed application form, you are also required to submit three pieces of supporting evidence:

• Evidence of outcomes achievement
• Public Hhalth objectives of the organisation
• Letter of recommendation

Examples of accepted evidence formats include reports, publications, presentations, video and audio files. However, please note that you may only submit three items, so please consider carefully which will support your entry most effectively.

Please do not include additional items or files other than those requested as they will not be considered.