Minutes of the 44rd Annual General Meeting

held on 10th May 2007 in Manchester

 

Apologies
Apologies were noted. Proxy votes were recorded.

1. Welcome by the President
Our President, Richard Willis, welcomed everyone to the meeting at Manchester Dental Education Centre.

2. Minutes of 43rd Annual General Meeting
Accepted.

3. Matters arising
Covered by agenda.

4. Report of the Council of the Institute for 2005-2006
A copy of the 2006-2007 report was made available at the AGM and will be posted on the Institute website.

6. Appointment of Independent Examiner of Accounts
It was agreed that Milner Boardman Ltd continue for the next 12 months.

6. Report of the Secretary
The Council of the Institute has been reflecting on the services offered to members. To that end a questionnaire was mailed to members to help formulate a promotional strategy. We had a response rate of around 40 percent. The main thrust of the answers to the questionnaire were as follows:

Time members spent on Health Promotion and Education
This varied greatly from 0-100% with a mean of approximately 40%. So many members have professional commitments other than health promotion.

Reasons for joining the Institute
The theme that came through was continuing professional education and the need to keep ‘up to date’. In addition respondents felt it was important to have a body which represented and collected the views of like minded people.

Is the Institute delivering what you need?
The overwhelming response was yes, and members were generally pleased with the Institute.

Attendance and notification about AGMs
Very few of our members had been to an AGM, citing problems with travelling and taking time off work. In addition many members reported that Health Promotion was only part of their role, hence attending an AGM was not considered of great relevance.

There were only a few minor quibbles about notification of the timing of the AGM. The regular comment was that the Journal was the key to the Institute; the AGM meetings were difficult to justify attending.

Topics for future meetings to improve attendance
The Council received little advice on this issue, the main concern was the previous problems of travel, work commitments and having other duties in addition to health promotion.

Prepared to sit on the Council
Around 25% would like to join the Council, so I would ask them to make themselves known as we need you!

International Journal of Health Promotion and Education
It was pleasing to note that the overwhelming proportion of the respondents found the Journal interesting, helpful and ensured they were kept updated. This is a great vote of confidence for Professor Palmer and his editorial team

Advice for the Editor
For the most part, members were happy with the Journal. The main comments were:

To put articles on line so that access was easier
Some addresses needed updating
Could the front cover be changed?

Prepared to referee articles
Around a quarter of respondents agreed to referee articles and gave their areas of expertise.

Regional Study Groups
The overwhelming response was that whilst it was a good idea, it was not practical. Our members had so many commitments, that another one was seen as not being a sensible suggestion.

Online newsletter
This was greeted with great enthusiasm and over half of the respondents stated that they would submit items for inclusion.

Main priority for Institute
The suggestions centred for the most part on maintaining the high standard of the Journal, considering forming alliances with other groups, but above all expanding the membership.

This brief review of our members’ views is most enlightening. For the most part they are satisfied with the Institute and it is clear it is the Journal which is the ‘glue’ that holds us together.

The Annual General Meeting is not a ‘big draw’ because our members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have many other work related commitments.

There is a no doubt that members want the Council to work with other agencies to raise the profile of health promotion and wish us to expand the number of members.

I trust the Council will try to undertake these tasks in the forthcoming year, but we also need our members to help us in our recruiting drive. If each member recruited one person this year, our ability to influence decision matters would increase immeasurably. Health promotion needs a voice and the Institute is an apolitical body able to take on that role.

It is with great sadness that I note the loss of Pittu Laungani who was a wonderful past President of the Institute. I would also like to send the Council’s best wishes to Tony Hawkes, our immediate past Treasurer, and hope he makes a speedy recovery.

In conclusion, may I thank Mrs Helen Draper and Mrs Pat Davies for all their hard work in keeping the Institute running on a day to day basis.

I trust that we will have new applications for the Council next year and I am delighted that our members were so positive about the Institute.

7. Report of the Treasurer
The Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2006 have been published in the Annual Report. Whilst costs and expenses exceed income by £4,649 during the year, the balance sheet and cash reserves remain strong with £23,441 net assets still held.

The possibility of increasing membership subscriptions in the future was discussed.

8. Report of the Editor of the Journal
The International Journal of Health Promotion and Education goes from strength to strength. As usual we have published four issues covering a wide range of health education and health promotion topics. In a recent survey of members, the journal was well received and was seen as an important benefit of IHPE membership. Articles have included ‘Childhood injury prevention: The Views of health visitors and nursery nurses working in deprived areas’; ‘Effect on prevalence rates of using three definitions of obesity in 9-10 year old children’; ‘Adolescents and intimate partner violence: evaluating a brief school-based education programme’; ‘WATCH IT: Obesity management for children: A qualitative exploration of the views of parents’. Childhood health is such an important area of research and continues to interest both parents and the UK media.

I would like to thank my Deputy Editor, Dr Fiona Blinkhorn, the News and Features Editor, Jennifer Liston-Smith, the North American Associate Editor, Professor Roy Moodley, and the Editorial Board for their excellent contributions to the journal. I also thank our typesetter, Linda Jones, and our printers, Titus Wilson & Son, for their hard work.

Sadly, Dr Pittu Laungani, one of our Associate Editors, has recently died. His support to the journal has been immense and his contribution will be missed.

The Institute Internet Health Promotion Forum has continued to grow and it now has over 400 members. Members and non-members can join by visiting the homepage: http://health.groups/yahoo.com/group/Health_Promotion/ The forum is used to keep members up to date with news and events.

9. Election of Officers
Officers of the Institute for 2007/08
President J Green, MSc, MB, BS, MIHPE
President Elect J R Kemm MA, MD, FFCM, FRCP, MIHPE
Honorary Vice Presidents A C Butterworth, CBE, MSc, PhD, RMN, RGN, RNT, DN, FRCN, FRS, FMA
S J Palmer, PhD, CPsychol, CBiol, MIBiol, FRSH, FRIPH, FISMA, FRSA, Hon FIHPE
B Qureshi, FRCGP, MRCPCH, MFFP(RCOG), AFOM(RCP), Hon MAPHA, Hon FRSH
C D Spielberger, BS, MA, PhD, ABPP
E J Tilling, MSc, Dip (Man.Studies), MIHPE
R J B Willis, MA, MSc, FRSH, FRIPH, AITV, FIHPE
Honorary Secretary A S Blinkhorn OBE, BDS, MSc, PhD, FDS, FPHM, Hon FIHPE
Honorary Treasurer P Ruddell, BA, MRSH, MISMA, MIHPE
Honorary Editor of the S J Palmer, PhD, CPsychol, CSci, CBiol, MIBiol, FRSH, Journal FRIPH, FISMA, FRSA, Hon FIHPE
News and Features Editor J Liston-Smith, MA(Oxon), MSc, MISMA, MIHPE

Members of the Council for 2007/08
C Choudhury BDS, DND, PhD(Japan), FFD RCS (Ire), FRSH, MIHPE
K Lewis BCApSc, R Nutr, MBA, MSc, MCIM, FRSA, MIHPE
A Woodcock, Dip DS, Cert Ed, Dip Health Ed, MEd, MSc, MIHPE

11. Awards
The Pittu Laungani Award for the Best Paper published in the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education during 2006 has been awarded to Rachael Dixey, Mary Rudolf and Joe Murtagh for their paper entitled “WATCH IT: Obesity management for children: A qualitative exploration of the views of parents”.

12. Any other business
12.1 Richard Willis handed over the Presidency to Professor Jackie Green and wished her well in her new role. Our thanks are extended to Richard for being an excellent President during his two year term of office.

13. Date of next meeting
Details to be announced in the International Journal and on the Institute website.