Voluntary Health Scotland

Conferences

Below are listed a selection of forthcoming conferences with relevance to the voluntary and community health sector.

VHS is willing to promote members events. For more information please contact phil.mcandrew@vhscotland.org.uk or call 0131 557 6845.

29th January: Improving care for older people: messages from regulation and inspectionEdinburgh International Conference Centre The Care Commission, SSSC and SWIA regulate, inspect and identify good practice in all social care settings in Scotland. They have joined forces for this event, which hopes to generate discussions about what we can do to improve the lives of older people, and look at how good practice in social care can make a difference. People who work within the care sector and want to share ideas and best practice, such as policy makers, senior managers and front-line staff will benefit from the opportunity to find out more and through the discussions and workshops. This event will also be of interest to people who use care services, their families and carers. Programme \| Booking form	5th February: New Media Fundraising Scotland Conference - Empowering charities to appeal to new audiences and generate revenueRoxburghe Hotel, Edinburgh This conference provides an update on what techniques are being used across the sector, what works, what doesn't and offers help deciding which might be the most cost-effective routes for increasing your organisations income and engaging non-traditional donors. This is your opportunity to stay ahead of the game and look at the fundraising techniques you could be using in the future. Programme \| Book online
13th February: Fife Healthy Living & Sensory Awareness project conferenceBLCC, Lauder College, Dunfermline The Fife Healthy Living & Sensory Awareness Project is celebrating nearly five years of successful work improving the health and wellbeing of people who have a sensory loss in Fife. People who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, British Sign language (BSL) users, blind, partially sighted, have a dual sensory loss or a sensory loss and other disabilities have been involved with the Project since 2003. This free conference will showcase the Project’s work, including the views of people who have taken part in activities provide guidance on how to make your service welcoming to people with a sensory loss present the findings of the Project’s independent evaluation Booking form \| Flyer and programme	20th February 2008: Community Health Partnerships three years on: productive partnerships with the third sector Edinburgh Airport Hilton Voluntary Health Scotland and the CVS Network are jointly hosting this conference which will have four main themes: Health Improvement in CHPS - the contribution of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) Achieving greater public involvement in CHPs through the engagement of the VCS Councils for Voluntary Service (CVS) - their role in CHPs Showcasing success - stories from the field Draft programme Flyer and booking form [pdf] Booking form [word] Space to exhibit at a stand / display is now fully booked - additional applicants will be placed on a reserve list
21st February: Leadership for Health Improvement: How is the Challenge Being Met?Glasgow Speakers and programme will be announced shortly, with the focus on following up many of the challenges and opportunities presented at last year's conference. It isn't enough to identify issues and challenges, we must rise to them and provide solutions. This year's conference will showcase what has been done throughout 2007 and what we can continue to do in 2008.	27th February: Networking Physical Activity and Health In Scotland 2nd National Physical Activity and Health Alliance ConferenceMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh The conference aims to showcase some of the latest developments in advancing the Physical Activity and Health agenda in Scotland, allowing participants to: Gain a better understanding of recent evidence, policy and practice Learn from examples of current practice Exchange information about their work, and provide a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with other colleagues and to input to and obtain resources Programme \| Registration
4th March: Demonstrating Success: Measuring outcomes in the Third SectorInstitute of Directors, London While all charities across the country are working hard to make a positive difference, pressure is mounting on charities to demonstrate the impact of their work to funders and commissioners. This would be a very simple matter if the ‘results’ of charity work were easy to quantify. However, the reality of measurement is invariably far more complicated. And, as more charities are discovering, relying on so called ‘hard’ outcomes paints a woefully incomplete picture of an organisation’s activity. With these factors in mind, an increasing number of third sector organisations are attempting to develop frameworks to measure their ‘soft’ outcomes. In light of this, Barnardo’s is pleased to host a one day conference that will provide you with a full set of strategies and tools to ensure that your organisation is in the optimal position to; develop an effective performance management framework optimise your measurement and reporting of hard and soft outcomes develop key performance indicators to further improve your reporting standards benchmark your own practices and experiences against those of your peers	March: Communities & Wellbeing - Delivering a local public-health strategy for ScotlandEdinburgh This conference hosted by Mackay Hannah offers a timely opportunity for participants to explore the ambition; the focus; the structures; and the delivery of the Government’s local public-health strategy for Scotland. It will seek to review the principles established in the ‘Delivering for Health’ programme within the wider well-being agenda; assess the success of CHPs; share best practice; consider the wide-ranging conclusions drawn from the ‘Better Health, Better Care’ consultation; and look ahead to the future resource requirements and challenges for local public-healthcare delivery over the next 3 years. Draft Programme
5th - 6th March: Keep Well conferenceBeardsmore Hotel, Clydebank The aim of the conference will be to increase the level of awareness, understanding and ownership of the current heart health, health inequalities and anticipatory care agenda in Scotland. It will also include learning from Have a Heart Paisley. A detailed programme will be available later in the year, but the event will involve a mix of plenary and parallel sessions with opportunities for networking and finding out more about local practice via a marketplace. If you would like to register your interest in the conference and receive further details as soon as they are available, please email keepwell@health.scot.nhs.uk	11th March: Mental Health and Substance Misuse: Meeting the Challenge, Current thinking and DevelopmentsTrinity Park Conference Centre, Ipswich This one day conference explores some of the issues facing clients, professionals and services. It provides an insight into current thinking and latest developments in the field from a variety of perspectives: policy, practice and training. The conference draws together some of the UK’s leading clinicians, researchers and educators to consider how we meet the challenge, now and in the future, providing a thought provoking day. Programme and registration form
13th & 14th March: 2008 National Drug Treatment ConferenceRadisson Hotel, Glasgow 2008 sees the introduction of a new drugs strategy and review of the clinical guidelines influencing the way practitioners work with drug users. The National Drug Treatment Conference(NDTC) is the biggest forum for the drug treatment field to discuss these and other key issues and help shape the year ahead. Conference flyer	19th March: Changing Minds Conference 2008Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow This event will showcase and learn about the work of the National Resource Centre for Ethnic Minority Health's (NRCEMH) mental health and wellbeing programme with black and minority ethnic communities over the last 18 months. It will feature workshops about recovery, stigma, stories, recent research and making sense of mental health laws. It will also feature a number of speakers, a piece of unique theatre, film and complementary therapies. Further information \| Registration form
27th - 30th August: 12th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal BehaviourThistle Glasgow ESSSB has grown to be the largest and most prestigious suicidology conference in Europe and is recognised as one of the most influential in the world. Past symposia have brought together the leading academics, policy-makers and practitioners from across the globe and ESSSB12’s theme of Working Together to Prevent Suicide: Research, Policy & Practice continues this interdisciplinary collaboration. The conference aim is to promote cutting edge research, to stimulate new thinking, to share insights and expertise, and to enhance mutual learning between science, policy and practice. ESSSB12 will appeal to anyone with an interest in understanding the suicidal process, from prevention to postvention and from policy to crisis intervention. Registration \| Programme	8th - 10th September: Annual Conference & Meeting of HEPA Europe. European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activityGlasgow The 1st annual conference and 4th annual meeting of HEPA Europe will be hosted by SPARColl (Scottish Physical Activity Research Collaboration) in association with the University of Strathclyde. Abstract and symposium submission will open on 1st April 2008 (deadline 15th May 2008) Flyer
9th & 10th September: Association of Community Health Partnerships Annual Conference & Annual General Meeting The Association's Annual Conference & Annual General Meeting will be held on the above dates. Venue details and further information will be available soon.	--