why rural health matters – looking after the next generation jane randall-smith chief executive,...
TRANSCRIPT
Why Rural Health Matters – Looking After the Next Generation
Jane Randall-SmithChief Executive, Institute of Rural Health
Jig-So, 17th October 2011
Outline
• Introduction to the IRH• Setting the scene • The issues• Things to think about
Institute of Rural Health
The Institute of Rural Health (IRH):• UK-wide academic charity• Three main academic programme areas: – research and consultancy – education and training – policy analysis (including rural proofing)
“working to inform, develop and promote the health and wellbeing of rural people and their communities.”
IRH
• Research: – Contributing to the evidence base
• Education:– Developing a workforce fit for purpose
• Policy: – Informing and promoting
Setting the scene…
Rural
Health
• IRH takes an interdisciplinary approach which reflects our belief in the WHO definition of health...“health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
Determinants of health and wellbeing
Source: Barton, H. and Grant, M. (2006) A health map for the local human habitat. The Journal for the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 126 (6). pp. 252-253.
Health and wellbeing
Influenced by:• Employment• Income• Education • Housing• Access to the natural environment• Access to services• Community safety
The Issues
Deprivation
• The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2008 ranks specific small areas in Wales in terms of relative deprivation.
• In Ceredigion, none of the areas fall in the 10% most deprived areas in Wales and overall the majority of its areas are less deprived than the Wales average.
WIMD Domains
Child Index
Access to services – For children
• “Distance Decay”– The further a person is away from a service the
less likely they are to use that service• Service utilisation is not a proxy for need• More marked in certain sectors • Access is influenced by social and cultural factors
not just physical aspects
What do we know
• Ceredigion as a whole does not show as “deprived” but there are – pockets of need and – hidden deprivation elsewhere
• Access to services is a huge issue• Poverty of choice
Things to think about …
Tackling child poverty in a rural setting
• Addressing inequalities:
– Acknowledging the “rural idyll”– Removing the “rural mask”
• Poverty affects life chances
The rural setting
• Data at county level doesn’t tell the whole story
• One rural town is one rural town• Dispersed populations• Hidden deprivation• Hard to reach• Understanding the culture and social
context
Young people in Ceredigion
• % of young people 0-15 yrs old 14.9% (Pembrokeshire 18.5%, Wales 18.2%)
• % of young people 0-4 yrs old 4.3% (Pembrokeshire 5.5%, Wales 5.8%)
And,• Ceredigion has the highest life expectancy in
Wales!
WHY rural health matters
• Wellbeing: – The early years are crucial (and the
importance of pregnancy) – Holistic approach: including family and the
community – Looking at prevention / promotion – Raise expectations
To make things happen:
• Small and dispersed population: services to users and users to services - Making the links
• Working together: Integrated working: building on team-working - within and between organisations
• Role of the third sector• Caring communities – resilience
Thinking ‘outside the box’ -
Further information• Institute of Rural Health
T 01686 650 800e [email protected]
www.irh.ac.ukwww.ruralsupportwales.org.ukwww.ruralhealthgoodpractice.org.ukwww.ruralwellbeing.org.uk