From government policies to the air we breathe, the high streets we shop on, the food on our plates, and the places we live and work - our health is shaped by the world around us.
Featuring expert guests from a breadth of sectors, fields and industries, Spread the Health explores how our environment influences health in both obvious and unexpected ways.
We tackle the big questions about the nation's health and, crucially, examine how to overcome the barriers to building a healthier future for all.
Spread the Health is a podcast from the Royal Society for Public Health, the world’s oldest public health agency.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
From government policies to the air we breathe, the high streets we shop on, the food on our plates, and the places we live and work - our health is shaped by the world around us.
Featuring expert guests from a breadth of sectors, fields and industries, Spread the Health explores how our environment influences health in both obvious and unexpected ways.
We tackle the big questions about the nation's health and, crucially, examine how to overcome the barriers to building a healthier future for all.
Spread the Health is a podcast from the Royal Society for Public Health, the world’s oldest public health agency.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Public health doesn't exist in a vacuum. Just like any other sector, it has to navigate an increasingly tumultuous and uncertain political climate to achieve any real change.
Fresh from party conference season, former government special advisor and Future Health founder Richard Sloggett joins William to discuss the realities of public health policy making, the challenges faced by the current government, and what a continuation of recent poll results could mean for the future of public health.
Reach more from Richard on his Substack and find out more about his work with Future Health.
Got a question for the podcast? Email podcast@rsph.org.uk and share your thoughts!
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley-Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bereavement and grief are traditionally thought of as the result of ill health, rather than the cause of it. To shed light on the realities of how universally experienced tragedies affect us physically as well as mentally and emotionally, we speak to Ines Thiru and Deepa Doshi, CEO and Head of Mission Services at the Ruth Strauss Foundation.
Founded after the death of Ruth Strauss, wife of Cricketer Sir Andrew Strauss, their work focuses on support for families facing the death of a loved one with a terminal illness, as well as research into non-smoking lung cancers. Ines and Deepa speak to William about their mission, their collaboration with RSPH on pre-bereavement training for schools and workplaces, as well as how sport can bring communities together in the face of tragedy.
We also hear from Producer Ben, who has stepped out from behind the mixing desk to talk about the newly redesigned RSPH website.
Find out more about the Ruth Strauss Foundation's work at www.ruthstraussfoundation.com.
Got a question for the podcast? Email podcast@rsph.org.uk and share your thoughts!
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley-Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Content warning: this episode discusses youth suicide and depression.
This month, William speaks to mental health campaigner Ben West, who, after the tragic suicide of his brother as a teenager, decided to try and make a difference to how youth mental health is understood and treated in the UK. Ben discusses how his experiences shaped his campaign work, why policy takes such a long time to produce change in this country, and how we should be planning to make a long-term difference.
Alongside that, Laura joins from the RSPH team to discuss our recent climate change e-learning offer.
Got a question for the podcast? Email podcast@rsph.org.uk and share your thoughts!
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We all know that damp and mould are bad for us, but the link between housing quality and staying healthy goes far deeper.
To help explain the causes, effects and solutions to housing's effect on health, we're joined by Faye Sanders, Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bath.
For more from Faye, check out her academic work and follow her on LinkedIn.
Plus, we hear from RSPH Deputy Chief Executive Matthew Bazeley-Bell about the good, the bad and everything in between from the new NHS ten-year plan.
Got a question for the podcast? Email podcast@rsph.org.uk and share your thoughts!
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The decline of the Great British high street has been ongoing for a long time now, with out-of-town and online shopping diminishing the focal points of our town centres. Making matters worse, the replacements for shuttered shops are often a detriment to their local area.
This episode we ask: can we reverse the decline? And are healthy high streets the way to do it?
We speak to Mark Robinson, Head of Regeneration at "resilient retail" developer New River, about the problems facing our high streets, how we can fix them, and why making places work for their communities has a personal importance to him and his health.
We also hear from Fernanda Aguilar Perez, RSPH's Senior Policy and Research Advisor, about Streets Ahead, our own recent report into healthy high streets, as well as from Head of Comms David Utley-Williams about updates from our last episode on child poverty and our new climate change educational offering.
Got a question for the podcast? Email podcast@rsph.org.uk and share your thoughts!
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's 2025, so why are we seeing child poverty – something often associated with the Victorian era – having such an effect on children and families?
To get to the bottom of the issue and its very real, direct solutions, William speaks to Sara Ogilvie, Director of Policy, Rights and Advocacy at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).
Plus, the team tells us about the latest from RSPH including our new high streets report and our major new public health education pathways offering.
Find out more about the Child Poverty Action Group at www.cpag.org.uk
Got a question for the podcast? Email podcast@rsph.org.uk and share your thoughts!
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For the first ever episode of Spread the Health, host William Roberts speaks to Georges Benjamin, Executive Director at the American Public Health Association, in a fascinating chat about the setbacks to global health in recent months and how we can push back against them.
Georges tells us about decisions by the Trump administration and how they're impacting both domestic and international public health, the issues on the ground – such as social media and disinformation – that are affecting health in the United States, and what needs to be done to turn the tide back in the right direction.
Alongside the interview, the team at RSPH talk about recent public health topics including World Immunisation Week, mental health training for MPs and a recent award nomination for our work in violence prevention and reduction (VPR).
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Spread The Health is coming soon!
RSPH's new podcast will tackle the big questions in the public health world, from where we live and work to vaccinations and global health crises.
Join our host William Roberts along with David Utley-Williams and other members of the RSPH team as we chat with fascinating guests working to improve everyone's health.
Like and subscribe to get our first episode directly in your podcast feed, with special guest Georges Benjamin, Executive Director at the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Credits:
Hosted by William Roberts
Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer
Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma
Music by Ceton via Pixabay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.