SoWhoCaresAnyway E9; The Five Giants

Emma Snow - Episode 9

The Five Giants

In this fascinating episode of #SoWhoCaresAnyway, meet Emma Snow  CEO of The Five Giants Foundation. Emma shares her remarkable journey—from working in prominent roles within a variety of charities to navigating her own challenges as an end-of-life care patient with Huntington’s disease. These experiences fuelled her passion to embed #SystemsThinking, an approach that focuses on understanding and addressing interconnected challenges, into health and social care. 

Emma takes us on a captivating journey, driven by passion and discovery, as she uncovers #TheFiveGiants, originally introduced in the Beveridge Report. Emma reveals their deep connection to her own great-grandfather, John Tomley, a pivotal figure in the creation of the NHS alongside Nye Bevan. 

Emma then explains how The Five Giants—housing, sanitation and environment; unemployment; poverty; health and social care services; and education—are key determinants of health, emphasising their interdependence and that tackling them together is essential to preventing cycles of inequality and promoting positive health outcomes. 

Come away inspired by Emma's vision and with a deeper understanding of the five giants and systems thinking to move from vicious to virtuous circles of continuous improvement. A must-listen. 

Episode resources

Emma's book The First NHS,  gives the history of the Five Giants, her great grandfather John Tomley's role in setting up the NHS and her own story as a patient:

The First NHS

To find out more about me please visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our communities. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful, please consider supporting me to continue these podcasts by buying me a coffee Your support is much appreciated.