In our latest AHPI careers profile, meet the inspirational Rosemary Scott who works as a Health Promotion Officer with the HSE
What inspired you towards a career in health promotion?
My career has taken a ‘long and windy road’. At its core is a passion for empowering people to live a healthy and meaningful life - whether during my time as a nurse, a complimentary therapist or indeed a horticulturist. In the 90’s I worked as the first Smoking Cessation Officer in Beaumont Hospital. At the time smoking was still permitted on campus. It was then that I appreciated the need to look beyond the individual to the factors that influence choices people made in relation to their health and wellbeing. Studying health promotion in NUI Galway was the obvious next step. I have never regretted going down that road!
Meet Marita who is currently undertaking a PhD in Health Promotion 
What inspired you towards a career in health promotion?
I graduated with a degree in Nutritional Sciences from UCC in 2001. Our final year module on public health nutrition really struck a chord with me; up until then we had very much been focused on more basic science areas. While I initially toyed with the idea of undertaking a Masters in Health Promotion at NUI Galway, I found myself accepting an offer of a place on a graduate recruitment programme in the food industry. To be honest, I felt I needed to start working, and earning! After four years in this sector, I knew it wasn’t for me (though, on reflection, the insider experience was invaluable) and I set out on my health promotion path. I started working with safefood, and during that time I did a part-time Masters in Health Promotion at the University of Limerick. It was life-changing. Learning more about the social determinants of health and health inequalities, I knew that I had found my tribe. I have several contract research posts over my career; after safefood, I worked in the National Children’s Research Centre in Trinity, the National Cancer Registry, and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT). While the projects I have worked on have been quite different in their focus, e.g. the nutrition needs of young people in alternative education and training, and men’s experiences of prostate cancer care, I have always loved research, and translating this into policy and practice to make a meaningful difference – or at least trying to anyway! My last job before starting the PhD was as a Research Officer for National Funding In WIT. I loved the role, and interacting with staff and students with really varied and exiting research interests, but I missed doing actual research so I got my act together and applied for a full-time PhD on the SPHeRE Programme. Thankfully I was successful!
In this month’s career profile meet Katie Mann who is passionate about getting us active. Katie is an Active Transport Practitioner with Cycle Sense which she started with a friend in 2007. The focus is on cycling skills and road safety instruction. 
What inspired you towards a career in health promotion?
I think I have to attribute my inspiration to my Dad. He was a community guy, loved life and people, having fun and deeply caring for those around him. I too like to work with people and to enable opportunities for fun, health and practical achievements. Cycling is a great medium for this. I believe the environment plays an intrinsic role in human health and well-being and cycling as active transport can contribute to healthy environments. Being active has improved by own well-being and my knowledge of the same inspires me to enable people to take up active transport. I would have to say that the inspiration for my cycle training career came from my children and their friends and seeing their enjoyment of cycling games and structured skills development. I was given the opportunity to run a cycling course in the local community and I was inspired by one of my colleagues to get tutor cycle training which led to the start of a small company delivering cycle training county wide. Training with SHEP (Social Health Education Project) encouraged me to facilitate groups and individuals through awareness of myself, others and group processes.
Health Promotion roles are very varied. Meet Ronan Dillon who is self-employed and works as a Health and Wellbeing co-ordinator in Temple Street Children’s Hospital as well as being the Director of Healthy Workforce.
What inspired you towards a career in health promotion?
Health Promotion was not something I had even thought about when I was doing my Leaving Cert. I had always wanted to do something in sport, so I assumed physiotherapy would be my only option. Thankfully a friend told me about Sport Science in DCU. This gave me a much broader view of what kinds of sports-related jobs were available. Through sports science I realised that the increase in non-communicable diseases was a problem. I went on to play rugby in England and France and it was here that I began to explore health promotion as a career.
In our latest career profile, Aisling Doherty who works as a mental health promotion officer for Mental Health Ireland describes what inspired her to a career in health promotion.
What inspired you towards a career in health promotion?
I completed an undergrad in Health Science and Physiology, in Sligo I.T. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I did know it was something to do with people and health. I progressed to complete the one year add on in Public Health and Health Promotion at Sligo I.T. This was a great introduction into the area and within the first month I knew it was a career I could see myself working in. From here I completed the Masters in Health Promotion at NUI Galway which benefited me greatly in deepening my understanding of the density of this field.
