Issue - meetings

To consider and endorse the annual report of the Director of Public Health 2017.

This year’s theme is “What is Health?”  The introduction discusses how health, for good or ill, develops through life, shaped by the interaction of many individual and social factors.

The main chapters consist of a small number of topics, carefully chosen to demonstrate the great diversity of influences that affect mental health and physical wellbeing.  These include: air quality, children’s mental health, domestic abuse, working towards a more physically active culture and the crucial and intricate inter-relationship between health and work.  Some of these topics were selected in response to public feedback on last year’s report.

12:05pm – 15 mins – Bruce Laurence

Bruce Laurence, Director of Public Health, presented his 2017 report.  The report included the following areas:

·  Active living – including active lifestyles, active travel, active design and active environments

·  Children’s mental health – the importance of getting the best start in life

·  Air quality – what is being done locally and what individuals can do

·  Domestic abuse – community prevention, early disclosure and help, support for victims, working with perpetrators and developing the workforce

·  Health and work – including in-work poverty and getting back to work

·  A day in the life – details of a day in the life of a school nurse

·  Public health outcomes framework and other key indicators – top ten public health problems:

o  Environmental damage

o  Poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity

o  Poor diet

o  Inactivity

o  An ageing population with unmet needs

o  Shortage of affordable housing

o  Children’s mental health and adverse childhood experiences

o  Tobacco, alcohol and other drugs

o  Reduced social cohesion, mutual intolerance and hardening politics

o  Deteriorating public services

The Board thanked the Director of Public Health for his excellent report.  Cllr Paul May welcomed the specific chapter on children and young people.  He highlighted the need to focus more on the large number of university and college students living in the community.  Bernie Morley from Bath University explained that the Student and Community Partnership provide a useful link regarding community and social issues relating to students.

A copy of the presentation slides is attached as Appendix 4 to these minutes.

RESOLVED:

(1)  To note and endorse the annual report of the Director of Public Health 2017.

(2)  To invite representatives from the Student and Community Partnership to attend a future meeting of the Board.