Mary McCallum
Health Improvement Officer - Strategy
01224 665269
mary.mccallum@nhs.net
Working days - Monday, Tuesday and half-day Wednesday
Improving health and reducing health inequalities require the contribution of many partners and the engagement of our communities. Partnership working is key to addressing the wider determinants of health and more specifically health inequalities. This is recognised and reflected in the Aberdeenshire Single Outcome Agreement between Scottish Government and the Community Planning Partnership (CPP).
The Scottish Government, via their national programme 'Meeting The Shared Challenge', have advocated the importance of building capacity of all partner agencies that play a role in promoting positive health and reducing health inequalities: www.scdc.org.uk/shared-challenge.
The Scottish Government have also set up an inequalities taskforce which recognises the importance of capacity building: www.healthscotland.com/documents/1403.aspx.
Aberdeenshire CHP delivered a Capacity Building Programme with Local Community Planning Groups (LCPGs) in Aberdeenshire during August 2008 and September 2009. The aim of the programme was to develop capacity and a shared understanding about health improvement among the different partners and key decision making groups and to help address inequalities across Aberdeenshire.
The following core messages were delivered at each session:
The capacity building programme was well received by the six LCPGs. Overall, the feedback received from the evaluation was positive. 74% of those who responded agreed and 21% strongly agreed that the programme achieved the stated outcomes of delivering key and important information to the LCPGs, raising awareness about health and wellbeing and helping them to improve health and wellbeing in their local communities. (Link to report)
In spring 2009 the Aberdeenshire Community Health Partnership Public Health Team, together with support from the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC), held a series of Community Led Health (CLH) workshops across Aberdeenshire with key managers and local community representatives from multi-agency partners.
The aim of the workshops was to create a better understanding and support of the CLH approach to improving health and reducing health inequalities, and discuss ways of working collaboratively to sustain this approach at local level.
An outcome of the workshops highlighted that CLH is already part of many partner agency's ways of working however this appeared to be a particular challenge for NHS Grampian where the structure of the organisation does not necessarily fit with the CLH methodology.
Tackling health inequality is a key action of Better Health Better Care (Scottish Government 2007) and the NHS workforce are recognised as key to addressing this challenge. The CLH is an approach which can be used to overcome this challenge.
Based on this premise it was decided that the next stage of this work should focus on developing and piloting a programme of training aimed at key NHS Grampian staff to increase skills and knowledge to improve health and reduce health inequalities by incorporating a CLH approach.
In 2010 training was developed and delivered by SCDC to 3 identified NHS Community teams. The training adopted an 'action learning approach' to enhance integration of CLH into ways of working. Following on from the training the local Public Health Co-ordinators have been supporting the Community Nursing teams to take forward a CLH project in their area. An evaluation report of the pilot training will be made available and if successful will be rolled out to other members of the NHS Grampian workforce.
Improving Health Developing Effective Practice (IH: DEP) is a course developed by Health Scotland and is aimed at raising awareness of the health improvement model. Participants will explore the concepts of health improvement and health promotion and discover how the health improvement agenda relates to their current role in the workplace. The course can be delivered over 6 days and there is now an option of a half day session. IH: DEP is ideal for supporting HPHS CEL 14 as it provides a health improvement context for a range of health professionals who will be working to meet its requirements. Currently in Aberdeenshire CHP there are trainers available to deliver the 6 days training and a Grampian wide approach is being taken forward to deliver the training.
A Guide to Improving Health and Reducing Health Inequalities in Aberdeenshire 2011-2015 was completed in June 2011. The Guide highlights Aberdeenshire's approach on how to work in partnership between agencies and communities to improve health and reduce health inequalities in the current restricted financial climate. It is well linked with the National and local strategic context of health improvement, namely Equally Well 2008, NHS Grampian Health Plan 2010-2013, Aberdeenshire Single Outcome Agreement along with the Aberdeenshire Community Plan 2011-2015 and Local Community Plans.
The Guide provides a wide range of information useful for multi agencies, for example: a rationale for the Scottish Government recommendation of taking an integrated multiagency outcome focused approach to health improvement planning; evidence to support working with priority groups to reduce health inequalities; information on demography, health data, rural deprivation and isolation. It also provides the seven key priority areas of work that include: reducing inequalities in health; early years; mental health and wellbeing; tobacco; alcohol and other drugs; healthy eating active living; capacity building.
The document, which builds on the achievements of work delivered by the two previous Joint Health Improvement Plans, is relevant for those working in strategic and operational settings, such as Community Planning Partners.
The Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) is a tool that has been piloted and recently endorsed by Aberdeenshire Council. The IIA enables officers responsible for developing policies, plans and strategies to assess the impact on equalities, health and wellbeing, socioeconomic and environmental issues, all at one time. In recent years, there has been recognition by the Scottish Government of the value of considering the impact of PPS on health and socioeconomic issues as a key element to help improve health and reduce health inequalities.
For more information, please contact mary.mccallum@nhs.net.
It is now less than 3 years until the start of the Commonwealth Games which are scheduled to take place in Glasgow in 2014. How can we ensure that all communities in Scotland can benefit from the legacy of the investment and profile of this national initiative?
As part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy Programme, from September 2011 the Scottish Government has commissioned SCDC to work with community organisations across Scotland to support them to use the Games as a catalyst for building on their work to develop activities and projects that involve local people, increase local community action and support the achievement of better health and social outcomes.
Working with local Legacy Leads and partner agencies, SCDC will support community organisations to involve people in local conversations on what they would like to see as a legacy for their own communities, and to engage better at a strategic level in order to get their message across.
If you are a community organisation, or know of a community organisation, who would like to participate in this programme and would like more information, please visit our website www.scdc.org.uk/commonwealth-games-involving-communities/ or contact Olivia Hanley at olivia@scdc.org.uk
Literature review of community development in health:
www.healthempowermentgroup.org.uk/files/project_papers/Literature_review_Nov_11.pdf