About the role
Salary: £26,500 a year
Commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council, the Gloucestershire Healthy Lifestyle Service provides evidence-based support to help residents stop smoking, achieve a healthy weight, become more active, reduce alcohol consumption, and improve wellbeing. Alongside these core services, the Healthy Beginnings programme provides specialist support for families during pregnancy and early parenthood.
As a Healthy Beginnings Practitioner, you will deliver predominantly remote health coaching through telephone and video appointments, alongside face-to-face sessions, supporting people and families throughout their Healthy Beginnings journey. You will manage a caseload, provide personalised support across smoking cessation, healthy weight, nutrition, physical activity and postnatal healthy lifestyles, and use motivational interviewing and behaviour change techniques to support sustainable outcomes. You will build positive, person-centred relationships, maintain regular contact and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns. You will work closely with maternity services, Family Hubs, health visitors, primary care and community partners to promote the service and strengthen referrals. You will maintain accurate records, contribute to audits, reporting and continuous improvement, and represent ABL Health professionally. The role requires independent working, flexibility to travel across Gloucestershire, occasional evening/weekend work, and a full driving licence with access to your own vehicle.
Healthy Beginnings is a specialist public health programme supporting people and families from pregnancy until a child's second birthday. The programme recognises that pregnancy and the first two years of life provide a unique opportunity to improve lifelong health outcomes for both parents and children. Through evidence-based health coaching and behaviour change support, Healthy Beginnings empowers people and families to make informed, sustainable lifestyle choices. Healthy Beginnings delivers three core areas of support: Smoking cessation support for pregnant people, their partners and families, and households with children under two years of age. Healthy weight maintenance support during pregnancy through personalised nutrition advice, healthy eating education and physical activity sessions. A holistic package of postnatal support to help people and families make healthy lifestyle choices, including infant feeding, introducing solid foods, oral health, healthy eating, physical activity and reducing social isolation through connection. Running throughout every aspect of the programme is a commitment to reducing health inequalities and giving every child the healthiest beginning possible. Working alongside maternity services, Family Hubs, health visitors, primary care and community organisations, the programme ensures support is accessible, inclusive and tailored to the needs of local people and families.