How will we work together to improve health and tackle health inequalities?
In Nottinghamshire, some children and young people have healthier lives than others and some may need more support to live healthier lives. The Joint Area Review (JAR) of our children’s trust services said that we need to do more work to reduce health inequalities.
Why do health inequalities matter?
- Good health for children and young people is crucial because it enables them to make the best of their opportunities
- Healthy children are more likely to become healthy adults who are able to make a positive contribution to their community
- Healthy children attend school more often and achieve better results at school. This means that they more likely to be employed
- It is important that we provide early intervention and prevention services to the very young, as problems left too long may never be tackled effectively
- It is estimated that the poorest 30% to 40% of the population has the most disease.
What do we know about health inequalities in Nottinghamshire?
- Those living in Ravensdale ward in Mansfield have 14 years lower life expectancy than those living in Trent ward in Rushcliffe
- Rates of under-18 conceptions in the north of the county are double those in the south
- Death rates from lung cancer in Bassetlaw are significantly higher than the national average
- Children and young people from vulnerable groups, including those in local authority care, have poorer health outcomes, including increased risk of teenage pregnancy, substance use and poorer emotional health.
What will we need to do to tackle health inequalities?
Al, our organisations need to work together on the underlying causes of ill health. We need to:
- make assessments of populations to find out which have the most health needs so we can provide them with a fair share of health care resources
- learn more about which children, young people and families are most at risk of poor health outcomes and inequalities and target interventions appropriately. To do this, we need to actively work with, and listen to, these groups
- provide our workforce with the information and skills to support children, young people and families so that they can get the right information and services when they need them
- integrate and modernise our services so that they are quick to respond to the needs of the most disadvantaged
- intervene earlier to prevent health inequalities worsening
- deliver work in an integrated way at a local level
- ensure that tackling health inequalities is a priority, incorporated into strategic, service and local plans
- ensure all delivery plans for each of the improvement priorities in the Children and Young People’s Plan relating to health reflect the needs of specific geographical areas and groups
- engage all partners in delivering activity to tackle health inequalities and improve health outcomes for children, young people and families.
How our Children and Young People’s Plan will help us to tackle health inequalities?
Four of our Children and Young People’s Plan improvement priorities are about reducing health inequalities. These are:
- improve the sexual health of young people and reduce teenage pregnancy
- improve the emotional well-being of children, young people and families
- reduce obesity among children and young people
- reduce the problems caused by drugs and alcohol for children, young people, families and communities.
The other six improvement priorities included in the plan all have an impact on tackling health inequalities. For example, if we improve the educational attainment of the children and young people most at risk, we also contribute to improving their health outcomes. By working in an integrated way, we will address the multiple causes of health inequalities and improve the health of children and young people.
