Dan is the Health Improvement Specialist supporting the ESCC Creative Health programme. With a background in the humanities and degrees in English and Masters in text and Performance Studies from Kings College and RADA and a 15-year career as an actor director and writer.
On becoming a father, he focussed on programme management for Central and Local government and the NHS, gravitating towards Public Health roles in an attempt to ensure that his kids (1) knew roughly what he looked like, and (2) they had at least occasional access to food and (3) a roof that didn’t leak too much over their heads. He has been mostly successful (in his own opinion – if not others) in these aspirations.
Dan has worked extensively across a wide range of public health programmes at local regional and local level ranging from Teenage Pregnancy, Health Visiting and School Nursing services, Mental Health and Wellbeing services management and commissioning to regional leadership for Public Health England of the Children and Young People in London during the Covid 19 Pandemic. He was selected to be an Olympic Torchbearer on behalf of NHS London in 2012 for his services in tackling Health Inequalities.
Dan has specialised in children’s agenda areas including safeguarding, disability, access and inclusion, health inequalities and mortality and prevention related works. This has included design of the initial version of the Learning Disability Mortality review system, contribution to the National child death review statutory guidance and a national Children and Young People’s Bereavement Experience measure and is a Public Health Lead for the Association of Child Death Professionals. More recently he has been working extensively in the suicide prevention works across the Berkshire system and regional works and deputising for the Director of Public Health in the West Berkshire System. Throughout he has utilised techniques, insights and approaches from the arts and cultural field to help share the insights, perspectives and outcomes that are core to Public Health practice and inclusive creative health works.
He has joined the ESCC programme at an exciting time where he can bring the richness of his creative and his public health experiences together and help develop, share and learn.
He continues to write (mostly poetry), sing (Showtunes!) and dance (Boss level Dad disco shuffle) and tell bad jokes about ducks whenever he gets a chance. His kids are wild about that. No seriously. Overjoyed.
Talk: Towards a Creatively Healthy County
Insights from the East Sussex County Council Public Health Team’s journey towards building a county-wide Creative Health offering. The session will cover their journey to date, research and evaluation approach, next steps and sustainability, and outcomes. impact and lessons learned with practical suggestions as they continue to deliver on the strategic vision and opportunities at the heart of the Creative Health agenda.
Other speaker: Teresa Salami-Oru