Whole System Approach

Following on from previous projects with Buckinghamshire Council, the team at Move were invited to support them in the review of the physical activity elements of their whole system approach to improving the health and wellbeing of residents across the county. 

"We have been reviewing our existing physical activity strategy recently and needed support to identify a vision and mission statement for physical activity across Buckinghamshire, as well as identifying specific actions to move towards realising this. Based on the successful delivery of the Whole System Approach to Healthy Weight Project in Buckinghamshire - that Craig and the team had led on - we knew we wanted the team at Move to help us again here."

Layla Ravey | Advanced Public Health Practitioner | Buckinghamshire Council

OUR APPROACH

Building on our understanding of the councils aspiration to stimulate a more collaborative way of working across Buckinghamshire, the team at Move Consulting developed an offer to support stakeholders to collaborate on developing a system wide physical activity action plan for Buckinghamshire. 

Understanding the client’s needs and context

The primary step for this project was to understand the background and wider context to this work. This is an essential step to consider when creating synergies across systems, as varying strategies will be at varying stages of development or delivery. To achieve this, the team at Move Consulting reviewed the existing physical activity strategy from Buckinghamshire Council to identify key information, commitments, existing actions and potential areas of unmet demand or progress. 

Coupled with this review, consideration for wider sector strategies were considered, including key documents such as the most recent Active Lives insights from Sport England, the World Health Organisation 'Best Buys' for Physical Activity and, the then recently released, Global Status Report of Physical Activity. 

Simplifying structures

Taking a whole systems approach to physical activity remained a clear priority for Buckinghamshire Council. In mind of this, the team at Move wanted to ensure that they also developed tools and resources that empowered the stakeholders to act beyond this initial action plan development phase.

To enable this to we utilised the templated action plan from previous work with Buckinghamshire Council, supporting a consistent approach to their processes. This includes;

• an action plan template that incorporated the key practical information to map and track goals and actions across the whole system relating to this agenda. 

• a guided process for using the action plan that encourages collaborative working and the development of SMART actions that link to behavioural change principles. 

• an orientation video to ensure all contributors to the action plan can access consistent and easy to digest information on how to use the action plan. 

Generating current insight and taking action

Building from a foundation of understanding the background and context detailed across different strategies, it was important to explore the reality that people within the varying teams and stakeholders were experiencing. 

To achieve this we facilitated an interactive and engaging workshop to support stakeholders from across the public health system to:

• develop stronger connections with organisations and teams.

• identify a common vision and mission for physical activity. 

• engage in the design and structure of goals and actions.

• identify and incorporate existing work into a coordinated plan.

• develop and take ownership of new actions relating to the vision.

WHAT THIS MEANT FOR OUR CLIENT

"Working with Move Consulting has been a really easy and enjoyable experience. The team are extremely knowledgeable within behaviour change and physical activity space. We have received a number of positive responses and feedback since they delivered the workshop. The activities and delivery was pitched perfectly for our audience and strategy aims. "

"The work of Move Consulting delivered the outcomes we were aiming for, and more. They have not only helped us and our partners to collectively consider what we are trying to achieve as a strategy group, but also individually within our roles or as organisations."

"Move have helped to motivate further discussions across our departments and partners to develop collaborative pieces of work, helping to improve physical activity and movement across Bucks."

Layla Ravey | Advanced Public Health Practitioner | Buckinghamshire Council