Reflection in Public Health Practice
Topic outline
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What is reflection?
Reflection is a process we go through when we step back and critically think about experiences, decisions and actions and the wider system we work in. As healthcare workers, we are increasingly being encouraged to reflect on our practice more to learn from it and improve our future practice.
In public health it is more than just remembering what happened with individual patient care, public health reflections often deal with complex systems, communities and policies as well.
In this course, we will:
- Learn using case studies
- Use clear tools and frameworks for reflection
- Support you building a regular reflection habit
- Consider how you might apply your learning to ethical decisions and leadership
How to get the most from the course:
- Take notes as you go.
- Capture key points and questions.
- Add actions to your Personal Development Plan (PDP).
- Discuss and review your PDP with your mentor.
Certificate of Completion
Linked to demonstration of WHO Essential Public Health Competencies when completed as part of a Peoples Praxis learning pathway.
- Complete the end-of-course quiz.
- Score over 70%.
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Module 1: Introduction to Reflective Practice
The course starts with some background, and an introduction to reflective practice and later it describes the key elements of reflection.
There are two exercises in this module for you to practice your learning.
Estimated time to complete: ~30 minutes (self-paced).
What you’ll cover
- Introduction to reflection in public health—its relevance and importance.
- Different types of reflection.
- How reflection is embedded in the WHO Essential Public Health global competency frameworks.
My reflective journey – a personal example
Whilst visiting a Primary Healthcare Centre in North Nigeria, I was asked to teach an impromptu class to a group of hospital attendants about basic life support. These hospital helpers were often the first people who ushered in sick patients and had no previous medical background. They also had never received any formal teaching about similar topics though they were very keen.
I started my teaching session in a group with 15 ladies sitting around me and with an interpreter relayed the information they needed to know about basic life support. There were many blank faces and no questions at all.
I quickly realised I had not taught them this concept in a way that made it easy for them to retain the information or use it practically!
With the help of a senior colleague and mentor, we quickly changed our delivery method and made the session interactive and we even practiced by creating a local song to remember the steps by.
The end result was fantastic! They had a memorable interactive session, and I learned that I must take time to understand my audience and adapt my delivery methods to suit them wherever possible.
Teaching basic life support at a PHC — adapting my delivery after reflection.
Exercise 1 — Spot the reflection moments 📝
Using my example above:
- Note what happened initially (approach and outcome).
- Identify the trigger for reflection (what signalled a change was needed?).
- Describe what changed and why.
- Write one key learning you would carry forward.
Tip: Add your notes to your reflection log or Personal Development Plan (PDP).
Exercise 2 — A written note or a voice note
Choose one: write 5–8 sentences or record a 1–2 minute voice note.
- What is reflection to you? How do you practice it now?
- Why learn more? What’s your motivation?
- What might get in the way? Write 2–3 steps you’ll take to overcome these (your plan).
Tip: add your notes to your Personal Development Plan (PDP) and discuss them with your mentor.
Learning Pathways (Optional): Share your reflection with your mentor at your next meeting.