PG36-37 Footwear Main:Footwear_Jan10_p30 02/02/2010 12:53 Page 36
Healthy Feet
FOOT HEALTH
PROFILE: Professor Wesley Vernon OBE PhD, Chairman Healthy Footwear Group
T
ell us about your background, how did you get into
footwear?
I am a podiatrist by profession and we are all trained to
consider footwear as part of our clinical assessment. It was
when I began work in a specialist diabetic unit in Sheffield in 1985
that I really became interested in footwear and this was because I
was then dealing with the extreme effect that inadequately fitting
shoes can have on foot health and the dramatic impact in terms of
health costs and human misery that can result. At a later stage, I
became involved in the development of forensic podiatry in the UK
and much of my work in this area has been about footwear in the
context of human identification.
I understand that you are also a member of the Society of Shoe
Fitters, as the first person in 50 years to achieve a 100% pass
mark in their Entrance Examination?
That is correct. I would, however, be the first to admit that this
doesn't make me an experienced shoefitter. As well as the
theoretical understanding, I have in footwear matters, I have a
certain level of practical experience in shoefitting matters from my
clinical and forensic background, but I recognise that I am still a
“It is hoped that the HFG scheme will help to raise awareness
relative newcomer to the wider specialty of shoefitting.
of the value of healthy footwear and enable customers to
Why did you become involved in the Healthy Footwear Guide? make informed choices when purchasing footwear. In doing
There were several stages which lead to this development: so, the scheme should help to reduce the number of
1) Through my background, I developed a clinical appreciation of
footwear-related foot health problems.” Professor Wesley
the problems that poorly fitting footwear can cause in the foot
Vernon, OBE, PhD, Chairman Healthy Footwear Group.
along with a recognition of the difficulties patients face when
attempting to find shoes which are conducive to good foot health.
2) This eventually lead to my planning and instigating a formal
the Healthy Footwear Guide Scheme by inviting the group who had
consensus event to agree criteria for healthy footwear in order to
participated in the consensus exercise to follow this up with me.
provide a firm, generally accepted basis or what the most important
What are the aims of this Group?
elements are in relation to healthy footwear design.
The aims of the Healthy Footwear Group are to:
3) I then had the desire to turn the agreement achieved through
the consensus event into a reality - in other words to make this
1. Help people to recognise the key features of footwear that will most
work into something more than an academic exercise and which
likely offer a healthy and comfortable fit
was potentially of genuine value to society. This was when I set up 2. Encourage companies to manufacture shoes with these key features
3. Encourage companies to join the Healthy Footwear Guide and
actively promote footwear with these key features
4. Help people find shoe stores that can advise on the correct fit of
this footwear
5. Offer advice to people who cannot get to a shoe store on the key
fitting properties to look for when trying Healthy Footwear Guide
recommended footwear
Which footwear companies currently belong to the HFG?
The following footwear companies currently belong to the scheme:
Clarks (K brand), DB Shoes, Healthy Feet, Padders
Tell us about the work of the Executive Healthy Footwear Group?
The group exists to translate the Healthy Footwear Criteria into
a “Healthy Footwear Guidelines” scheme, which is being promoted
to the public, industry and interested professional groups.
The group publishes lists of participating footwear manufacturers
on its web site, and confirms that nominated footwear products do
comply with the guidelines, when this has been asserted, by a process
of random sampling.
It is hoped that the scheme will help to raise awareness of the value of
DB Shoes
healthy footwear and enable customers to make informed choices
when purchasing footwear. In doing so, the scheme should help to
reduce the number of footwear-related foot health problems.
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