Public Health Worker Profile: Isabell Furbert
[Part 1 of a series of Public Health workers for 2022 Public Health Week]
Isabell Furbert is a Health Visitor for the Department of Health. She is a registered nurse with an additional public health designation which promotes health for the first five years of life.
“The Health Visitor’s role at the Department of Health, follows the Healthy Child Programme, a public health programme for children, young people and families, focused on early intervention and prevention,” explained Ms Furbert.
“This programme incorporates screenings, immunisations, developmental reviews, information and guidance on parenting and healthy choices. Due to its universal reach, the Healthy Child Programme aims to identify families who need additional support or are at risk of poor health outcomes.”
Following The Healthy Child Programme, a Health Visitor sets out services divided into and delivered based on the needs of each family. These services also include but are not limited to the following:
- Promotion of health and well-being relative to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [SIDS], parental smoking, breastfeeding, accident prevention
- The involvement of fathers
- Preparation and support with transition to parenthood
- Additional support and monitoring for infants with health or developmental problems
- Support for first-time mothers, parents with learning difficulties, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and serious mental illness
- Help parents to access other services, information and advice
- Referral for specialist input
Based on these initiatives, the Health Visitor’s aim is that the following is achieved: Strong parent-child attachment, positive parenting, healthy, safe children, prevention of serious diseases, increased rates of and continuance of breastfeeding, early detection of developmental delays, decreased obesity, and better short and long-term outcomes for children and their families.
Ms Furbert has a Master of Science in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing with an emphasis on Health Visiting. She has been at the Department of Health for 19 years.
