Agenda item

Report attached to be presented by Mandy Cheetham and Sarah Gorman

The Board were informed that Sarah Gorman would not be presenting on the Community Linking Project due to illness, but that arrangements were being made for her to present to the next Board meeting in March.

The Board received a presentation focusing on work of place based, community led, collaborative approaches to addressing health inequalities.

It was noted that Mandy Cheetham had been commissioned as an embedded researcher to work alongside local communities in collaboration with Pattison House to explore collaborative approaches to promote health and wellbeing and to prevent childhood obesity. It was further noted that the aims of the embedded research were to understand what community led interventions are effective in tackling obesity, how families can become engaged and what role primary schools play.

An overview of the challenges many families face was provided noting particular reference to those choosing between “heating and eating” and those who stated there was nowhere safe for their children to play in their neighbourhood. From this it was stated that the effects of austerity and welfare reform had had a negative impact on areas facing health inequalities.

It was said that in working with communities to address childhood obesity a holistic approach was taken. It was further noted that pointing fingers at parents and demanding they change their lifestyles and habits is ineffective in promoting long term changes to their health and wellbeing.

The Board were presented with evidence suggesting that residents often feel like health facilities, such as those at Gateshead Stadium, are not for them. It was noted within the report that the Stadium is underused by local people, but with sustained efforts, engagement levels increased slowly with support from staff and community members to address the financial, social, psychological and attitudinal barriers to access.

Further details of the analysis were provided to the board taking further note of the collaborative work required to ensure there are sustainable solutions found towards health inequality. It was also noted that schools were seen as important places to promote physical activity and to engage with parents around the importance of eating healthily.

It was noted that there was a full comprehensive report of Mandy’s findings which would be circulated following the meeting for those interested in further details of the project.

An observation was noted that a barrier for families to provide healthy meals was often lack of knowledge and money resulting in the purchase of convenience foods. It was further noted that often the best meal a child will get throughout the day will be the one they receive in school. It was also said that the cost of gym memberships can be a barrier to keeping fit for those on a low income.

A comment was made that the work completed by Mandy was excellent and that a lot can be learned from her report. The work completed by Durham Council on their engagement with men was noted and that targeted local work was perhaps the best solution to promote health and wellbeing in the community.

RESOLVED:

(i)            That Board Members considered the implications of the presentation and research findings for Gateshead.