Capabilities in health promotion and illness prevention

Why this matters on day one

The domain most easily skipped on a busy ward, and one the AKT samples directly. It is also where the largest health gains actually sit: a brief smoking-cessation conversation has a better evidence base than much of what fills a ward round.

What the domain requires

1. 1Opportunistic prevention. Smoking, alcohol, weight, activity, immunisation and screening status — asked and acted on during admissions for something else. Use very brief advice and refer to services rather than lecturing.
2. 2Screening literacy. Understand what a screening programme is for, its harms as well as benefits, and how to explain a positive result without implying a diagnosis.
3. 3Social determinants. Housing, income, employment, food security, migration status, loneliness. These determine whether your management plan is deliverable, so asking about them is clinical work.
4. 4Public health duties. Notifiable diseases, outbreak recognition, and antimicrobial stewardship as a population responsibility.

What evidencing it looks like

• A brief intervention you delivered and referred on.
• A case where a social determinant changed your management plan.
• Understanding of the UK screening programmes and immunisation schedule.

What falls short

• Recording "advised to stop smoking" with no referral, which achieves nothing.
• Discharging a plan that cannot be delivered in the patient's actual home circumstances.
• Explaining a positive screening result as though it were a diagnosis.

Demonstrated by