Personalised Care Conference 2025: Empowering People, Supporting Wellbeing

A conference report by Kirsteen Redmile, Lead for Personalisation, It’s All About People Personalisation Programme

On Wednesday 4 June, I had the pleasure of attending the National Conference in Personalised Care - Enabling Agency and Wellbeing, alongside my colleague Vicky Martin, at the invitation of Dr Ollie Hart.

The event, hosted by Peak Health Coaching at Sheffield Hallam University, brought together over 140 passionate people from across health and care, including Health Coaches, GPs, Nurses, Link Workers, Physiotherapists, Pharmacists, Nutritionists, Academics, and more.

Vicky, a Specialist Occupational Therapist and Team Leader from the Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG) Community Stroke Service, is part of a team committed to embedding personalised, strength-based approaches in its work. Her team is working with the It’s All About People Personalisation Programme team and Dr Ollie Hart to make this vision a reality.

A day of inspiration and real stories

Throughout the day, we heard from professionals and people with lived experience from around the UK, all sharing how personalised care is transforming services and lives. The stories really hit home, echoing the impacts we’re creating through personalisation here in Lincolnshire.

A highlight of the day was the keynote presentation from Professor Sir Chris Ham CBE, who spoke about how the current political landscape is affecting health and care. He stressed how vital it is to support people to develop self-care skills and confidence - and how well-prepared the workforce needs to be to make this happen. As Sir Chris put it:

“Active partnership with patients, people, and communities should be at the heart of the 10-year plan.”

We also heard from Jag Mundra, a Population Health specialist who works with the National Association of Primary Care and the National Academy for Social Prescribing.

Jag shared smart, simple ways to measure for rapid learning and smarter investment in personalised care.

These approaches include asking ‘one powerful question’- for example “Could you tell me a little bit about what you’re doing to look after yourself at the moment?” - to understand someone’s level of activation - their confidence, skills and knowledge to manage their own health. Find out more about Activation

Dr Ollie Hart, who champions the activation approach, believes the conversation sparked by that one question can be more insightful than a blood pressure reading. (Curious? Watch Ollie’s short film about Activation to find out more).

Vicky and I had a chance to chat with Jag after his presentation, asking how we might use some of these ideas in our Community Stroke project in Lincolnshire. His advice was simple but encouraging:

“Have a go with what you already have. It’s a start and will lead to valuable learning.”

Workshops, connection, and shared energy

Alongside the main presentations, there were fantastic breakout workshops on everything from Self-Compassion and Peer Support to Pain Management and Physical Activity. The sessions were insightful and practical, with something for everyone.

More than anything, what stood out was the atmosphere: open, supportive, and full of energy - and a palpable sense that personalisation is key to positive change in health and care across the country.

The team at Peak Health Coaching and Sheffield Hallam University created a wonderful space where people could really connect, whether they were like-minded or brought different perspectives.

So, a huge THANK YOU to our friends at Peak Health Coaching!