28/09/2026
🗣️Why market contribution matters to AAHEP
⚙️One of the principles that has guided AAHEP from the outset is that we should not be reinventing the wheel.
🌍 Across the world, there are already organisations, researchers, practitioners, regulators and professional bodies doing valuable work in advancing standards, ethics, education, governance, public protection and animal welfare.
‼️Rather than working in isolation, discriminating against and/or only promoting one’s own interest, AAHEPs experience and stance is that the sectors benefit when we learn from existing evidence, recognised frameworks and collective experience and promote and support each other to uphold standards for the benefit of all. We have loved working with experts and will continue to do so for the benefit of the sector and fully support EDI.
🙋🏽♂️🙋♀️🙋🏻That is why AAHEP has adopted a collaborative approach to development, drawing on member feedback, stakeholder engagement, professional consultation and recognised guidance to help shape standards and direction.
This includes learning from and engaging with frameworks and guidance produced by organisations such as Iahaio_official, the Professional Standards Authority, the Accredited Registers Collaborative (ARC), the Green Care Coalition, Social Farms & Gardens - Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol, ACCPH, and a range of professional bodies and practitioners working across health, education, social care, in and .
👂This is also why Jennifer Geach and Graeme Green are actively out and about listening to organisations and practitioners and their view points and looking to understand requirements.
🤷🏽♂️The aim of AAHEP has never been to create standards for the sake of creating standards. The aim is to help build a profession that is credible, accountable, evidence informed and responsive to the needs of practitioners, organisations, commissioners and the public.
💕This is why we actively seek input through:
- Member surveys and polls
- Consultation exercises
- Practitioner feedback
- Organisational engagement
- Working groups and stakeholder discussions
- Government consultations and calls for evidence
💪Importantly, AAHEP's governance structure has been designed to support independence and transparency as prescribed by the PSA.
AAHEPs Governing board includes individuals who are not connected to the separate Athena training arm helping to ensure that decisions are made in the interests of the profession and public rather than any single organisation or training provider. There is no director on the training and education committee. Importantly there are non Athena members and well known market individuals shaping both the governance committee and the training and education committee. This is publicly available information.
Separate functions and committees help maintain appropriate oversight, including:
- Training and Education Committee
- Complaints and Professional Conduct Committee
- Governance and Standards functions
AAHEP also recognises the value of interdisciplinary working and continues to engage with practitioners from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including Occupational Therapists and other HCPC regulated professionals, recognising the important role collaboration plays in supporting individuals, families and communities.
🌟Beyond professional practice, AAHEP contributes to wider discussions affecting the sector, including responses to SEND consultations, workforce development initiatives, public protection matters and policy discussions where practitioner voices need to be heard.
What we continue to hear from the market is clear:
✔ Independent oversight matters
✔ Public protection matters (eg EDI, first aid)
✔ Animal welfare matters
✔ Professional standards matter
✔ Practitioner representation matters
✔ Collaboration matters
✔ Evidence informed practice matters
⬆️The AAHEP community and members from across the market is growing. More completed applications will be announced shortly 💕
🙏AAHEP has increasing engagement with consultations, surveys and discussions supporting what organisations and practitioners are looking for - a profession that works together, learns from others and evolves responsibly. Singling out or excluding others is not the way forward - trust us we hear many a disgruntled organisation, practitioner, individual, service user but AAHEP takes it on board and looks to support rather than make an example of them.
👂AAHEP will continue to listen, collaborate and learn because the strongest professions are not built by one organisation alone.
AAHEP is not built for the sector but Built With the Sector.
☎️💻 please do reach out if you would like to get involved
