Transcript Making the Case - Healthy Universities

A Healthy University:
Making the Case
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
The Healthy Settings Approach
Homes
Nightlife
Prisons &
Criminal
Schools Justice
Workplaces
Hospitals &
Cities
Healthcare
Universities
FE Colleges
Leisure, Sport &
Nurseries Recreation
Markets
“In the settings approach efforts are concentrated on working to make
the setting itself a healthier place for people to live, work and
play…The settings approach means combining healthy policies, in a
healthy environment with complementary education programmes and
initiatives.”
Health Promotion Strategy for Ireland (DHC, 2000)
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Learning and Health
The healthier you
are the more
likely you are to
be able to learn
Beneficial
Relationship
The more
educated you
are the more
likely you are to
be healthy
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
University Context
• More than 2.3 million students and 370,000 staff in 169 UK
higher education institutions (Universities UK, 2008; HESA,
2009) – enormous potential to promote public health.
• Historically, universities have served as settings for the
delivery of specific projects on various priority issues, such
as drugs, alcohol and mental health.
• Growing focus on staff well-being, reflecting strengthened
policy focus on workplace health.
• Increasing interest in moving beyond single topic focus to
develop more holistic and strategic ‘whole university’
approach – reflecting success of other settings initiatives
(eg Healthy Schools , Healthy FE).
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
University Context cont’d
• Review of evidence relating to schools supports a whole
school approach, suggesting that effective programmes are
“likely to be complex, multifactorial and involve activity in more
than one domain.” (Stewart-Brown, 2006: 17)
• A review focused on further education has concluded that:
“while it is not possible to state with certainty that multicomponent, whole-settings approaches are more successful in
college and university settings than one-off activities, the
evidence points in this direction” (Warwick et al, 2008: 27).
• This thinking is further reinforced by the Foresight Report on
Obesity, which concludes that:
“the complexity and interrelationships …make a compelling case
for the futility of isolated initiatives” (Butland et al, 2007: 10).
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Supporting Strategic Plans
Healthy Universities represents a cross-cutting and multifaceted approach, working with staff, students and the wider
community, and developing a range of activities tailor-made
for your university that support key deliverables such as:
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Recruitment and Retention
Student Experience Strategies
Learning and Teaching Strategies
Human Resource Strategies
Sustainable Development
Corporate Social Responsibility.
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
University Policy and
Context Drivers
UUK Guidance
• Reducing Risk of Student Suicide
• Meningitis Guidelines
HE Partnership for Sustainability
• Travel Planning for Sustainability, Guidance for HE
HEFCE
• HE Sector and the 2012 Olympic Games
UCEA
• Preventing and Tackling Stress at Work, An Approach for HE
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Developing University Strengths
Healthy Universities means adopting a whole system
perspective that takes account of the role of universities as:
• centres of learning and development, with roles in education, research,
capacity and capability building and knowledge exchange
Points/Catalysts:
• fociEntry
for creativity
and innovation, developing knowledge and understanding
within and across disciplines and applying them to the benefit of society
• places where students undergo life transition – exploring and experimenting,
developing independence and lifeskills, and facing particular health challenges
• workplaces and businesses, concerned with performance and productivity
within a competitive marketplace
• contexts that ‘future shape’ students and staff as they clarify values, grow
intellectually and develops capabilities that can enhance current and future
citizenship within families, communities, workplaces and society as a whole
• resources for and influential partners and corporate citizens within local,
regional, national and global communities.
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Healthy University Deliverables
The Healthy University approach has the potential to deliver
tangible changes that contribute to health, sustainability and
core business priorities. These are likely to include:
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more supportive working and learning contexts
higher quality health and welfare services
healthy and sustainable food procurement processes and catering services
more accessible sports, leisure, social and cultural facilities that are more widely
used
• support for an holistic approach to personal, social and citizenship development
• increased understanding of, commitment to and sense of personal
responsibility for health and sustainable development among students and staff
• strengthened institution-level commitment to practise corporate responsibility
and to lead for health and sustainability in local, regional, national and global
partnerships.
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Healthy University Impacts
The Healthy University approach also has the potential to
result in longer-term impacts within, outside and beyond the
university – with the above changes resulting in:
• improved business performance and productivity – thereby enhancing student
and staff recruitment, retention and achievement
• strengthened capacity and capability to contribute to the pursuit of a range of
public service agreements
• increased positive and reduced negative institutional impacts on health and
ecological sustainability
• a throughput of engaged students and staff exerting a positive influence as
local and global citizens within families, communities, workplaces and political
processes.
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Potential Benefits
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A more motivated and supported workforce
Reduced costs associated with sickness absence
Improved student experience and retention
Improved health and well-being of staff and students
Puts health and well-being formally on the university’s
agenda
• Opportunities for participation and developing health
partnerships
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Potential Benefits cont’d
• Provides comprehensive and flexible framework for action
on student, staff and community health, well-being and
sustainability – contributing to internal and wider
partnership goals
• Encourages coherent policy and action in relation to both
institutional practice and ‘education for global citizenship’
• Uses ‘in house’/external public health knowledge to
harness energy and resources – and support both long-term
strategic development and high visibility projects
• Offers step-by-step process to progress work proactively
and responsively
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Staff and Student
Context/Challenges
Staff
Student
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• Student Retention
• Student
behaviour/lifestyle issues
affecting academic work
• Positive Student
Experience
Stress Management
Sickness absence rates
Staff turnover
Recruitment costs
HSE Executive
HE Stress Management
Audits
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Workplace Wellbeing Statistics
• Number of working days lost each year due to mental
health problems: 91m
• Number of working days lost to sickness absence in the
UK in 2006: 175m
• Number of days a year lost through sickness absence
from smoking related illness: 34m
• % of accidents at work are being reported as alcohol
related: 25%
• % of all workplace ill health related to musculo-skeletal
disorders: 50% (1 million workers)
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
National Policy Drivers
Further and Higher Education Settings
“Young people need support as they go through the transition
into adult life. We will support the initiatives being taken
locally by some colleges and universities to develop a strategy
for health that integrates health into the organisation’s
structure to:
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create healthy working, learning and living
environments;
increase the profile of health in teaching and
research; and
develop healthy alliances in the community.”
Department of Health (2004) Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier – Government’s Public
Health White Paper, p. 72
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Health Targets/Drivers
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Obesity
Tobacco
Alcohol
Substance misuse
Sexual Health
Mental Health
Physical Activity
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
Local Health Statistics
It is recommended that users of this presentation include key
statistics about health issues in their local area. Information
can be found from the following sources:
• Health Protection Agency www.hpa.org.uk
• Office of National Statistics – Neighbourhood statistics
www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html
• Local PCTs
www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/pages/primarycaretrustlisting.aspx
• Public Health Observatories www.apho.org.uk
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk
References
(2000)Health Promotion Strategy for Ireland, DHC
Universities UK (2008)
HESA (2009)
Stewart-Brown (2006)
Warwick et al (2008)
Butland et al (2007)
Department of Health (2004) Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier
www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk