Choosing Good Health Together

In this story: Priorities Alcohol and drugs Mental health and well-being Nutrition Physical activity Sexual health Smoking

Health in Kensington and Chelsea is largely good. The borough has the highest life expectancy of any local authority in England and Wales. However, these headlines mask sharp differences between the most disadvantaged communities and the rest of the population.

With this mind, the Council and Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust (PCT) have launched a major public health and well-being strategy called ‘Choosing Good Health Together.’

Kensington and Chelsea is a busy place and the pace of life for some is frantic. For many, the excitement and dynamism of the borough are invigorating and contribute to their health and well-being.

The new strategy aims to achieve that good experience for all residents. Its development by the Council and PCT has involved agencies such as the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade and the voluntary sector.

All are committed to working together to improve health and well-being overall, and a reduction in the differences between those with the best and worst health.

Priorities

There are six priority issues which reflect the local health needs of the community and match the priorities in the Government’s Public Health White Paper, ‘Choosing Health’. The following gives a taste of what is planned within each priority area.

Alcohol and drugs

Alcohol and drug misuse has enormous health and social costs. The strategy will bring together work the Council is doing within licensed premises to promote responsible drinking with campaigning to reduce cannabis use and consideration of services to meet the needs of children whose parents misuse alcohol and drugs.

Mental health and well-being

The Council, PCT and partners will be redoubling efforts to knit together wide-ranging activities focused on those things known to cause mental ill-health.

These include using key messages from the National Institute of Mental Health to residents most likely to suffer, regenerating parks so that they afford genuine opportunities for peaceful reflection as well as leisure and exercise and looking for ways to enable people to become involved in their local communities.

Nutrition

The strategy aims to help those with the poorest diets understand the impacts of their food choices. It then aims to make sure they can put that knowledge to use by making safe, healthy and affordable food accessible for all.

This will build upon existing innovative community projects and the Council will work with local markets to promote healthy eating. The Healthy Schools nutrition programme will remain an important component of educating children on nutrition.

Physical activity

Nutrition and physical activity are two sides of the coin when it comes to obesity. The Council will be working to increase levels of physical activity among all ages with the aim of making physical activity part of routine daily life.

To achieve this, the Council aims to make it as easy as possible to use leisure services and open spaces, particularly for school-aged children in deprived parts of the borough. The Council will be publicising physical activity opportunities, including promoting walking thorough a campaign involving schools, libraries and voluntary groups.

Sexual health

There remain serious problems in this area with the resurgence of some sexually transmitted diseases and the growing incidence of newer ones. The strategy creates the opportunity to re-focus the efforts of the PCT and voluntary organisations.

The main aim will be to make available culturally-sensitive sex education and advice to prevent teenage pregnancies and reduce sexually transmitted diseases.

Smoking

Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of ill health in the borough and the impending ban on smoking in the workplace and enclosed public places offers a real opportunity to change things.

All the evidence suggests that many smokers want to give up so in addition to its work with local schools and businesses to ensure the smooth implementation of the legislation, Council officers are vigorously promoting the PCT’s smoking cessation services.

This work will be tied in with other healthy lifestyle choices people might consider such as diet and physical activity.

What do you think on the Council’s attempts to improve public health and well-being? Do you think that there are other problems that the Council should be looking at? Email your comments on this story to rbkcdirect@rbkc.gov.uk

To find out more email rbkcdirect@rbkc.gov.uk.