The village we need to build: Reflections on the Prevention 25 conference
Posted on 02 October 2025 by Rishma Maini
- Population health
The Scottish Prevention Hub is a pioneering national partnership between Public Health Scotland (PHS), Police Scotland, and Edinburgh Futures Institute at The University of Edinburgh – working together to embed a public health approach to prevention to reduce health and wellbeing inequalities in Scotland.
In our latest blog, Rishma Maini, Consultant in Public Health and Co-lead of Clinical Health Intelligence and Research Division at PHS, reflects on her recent attendance at the Scottish Prevention Hub’s conference in Edinburgh, which brought researchers, policy makers and community leaders together to discuss how we turn evidence into practice.
One of the most powerful parts of the Prevention 25 conference was its opening by Youth worker Martin Calder. The lines below are taken from his poem titled “Too Many Professionals”.
“I’m more than numbers, more than tests,
More than a file on someone’s desk,
Yet here I sit, a piece to solve,
In a game of which I’m not involved.”
“Too many minds, too much advice,
All with good hearts, but at a price,
For in their care, I lose my say,
As they guide me, lead me, far away.”
His words cut through jargon and strategy to remind us of something vital: that our systems too often do things to people rather than with them. And for those most affected, the system is still not working.
The conference marked an important milestone for the Scottish Prevention Hub which was launched in 2023. The innovative collaboration is committed to taking a whole-system approach to primary prevention. It aims to connect data, research, policy, evidence and practice in ways that transcend the usual organisational boundaries. It recognises what frontline professionals know all too well, which is that health and justice are inextricably linked. The same forces that drive poor health - poverty, social exclusion, addiction, adverse childhood experiences - are also those that increase the risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
Scotland faces widening health and justice inequalities. These are preventable – but no single sector or organisation can solve this alone. To succeed will require truly collaborative leadership, perseverance, and patience.
Energy, ideas and early progress
Throughout the day, the energy in the room was palpable. Delegates from across public health, policing, education, social care, the third sector and academia came together with a shared drive to make change happen.
We heard about the Hub’s early work, including:
- Exploring the development of a Common Data Platform for Scotland to facilitate sharing and use of data across sectors.
- Research examining the intersections between health and justice, shedding light on root causes.
- Collaborative work on a Public Health Approach to Learning, an initiative aiming to enhance the health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes of children and young people across the nation and reduce entry into the criminal justice system.
An energising panel session with Catriona Paton (Assistant Chief Constable, Police Scotland), Paul Johnston (Chief Executive, PHS), Angela Scott (Chief Executive Aberdeen City Council), and Leah Black (Co-head of the Regenerative Futures Fund) left the conference feeling inspired and focused on our shared aims.
The session explored what it will take to move further and faster on prevention - from building trust across systems, having clear statements of intent and accountability for prevention, and ensuring meaningful involvement of communities to shape change.
Imagining the future
In the afternoon, delegates stepped into the future through a creative foresight exercise - imagining what conditions Scotland would need for prevention to truly flourish. The conversations around the different themes were challenging, hopeful and refreshingly honest.
The day closed with a moving “Letter of Hope” which featured contributions from those with lived experience, reminding us why this work matters. For them, this is not about reforming the system’s processes. It’s about transforming the system itself, so it finally works for those who need it most.
As one of the conference organisers so aptly reminded us “it takes a village to raise a child”. Just as this is true to give every child the best start in life, we also need our whole village - public health, education, social care, policing, local government, and the third sector - working together, aligned around prevention and equity.
The future is hopeful. I’m excited about the next steps in the journey of the Scottish Prevention Hub, which are to use its learning to scope and design a Scottish Centre for Prevention to significantly improve the health, wellbeing, and life chances of people across Scotland.