Determinants of health

South Dublin County Development Board 26 th September 2008 Teresa Lavin Institute of Public Health in Ireland

Ten Tips For Better Health

1. Don't smoke. If you can, stop. If you can't, cut down. 2. Follow a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables. 3. Keep physically active. 4. Manage stress by, for example, talking things through and making time to relax. 5. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. 6. Cover up in the sun, and protect children from sunburn. 7. Practice safer sex. 8. Take up cancer screening opportunities. 9. Be safe on the roads: follow the Highway Code. 10. Learn the First Aid ABC : airways, breathing, circulation.

Dr. Liam Donaldson, UK CMO 1999

Recent reports on Social Determinants

The effects on health of social processes follow the social gradient: the lower the socioeconomic position the more health is affected by the social determinants of health Sir Michael Marmot in IPH report

South Dublin County: Health issues

•Employment opportunities •Education •Housing availability and quality •Transport •Public realm and green spaces •Poverty •Social exclusion

Institute of Public Health in Ireland

Strengthen public health capacity Advise on policy Provide public health information Support action to address health inequalities http://www.publichealth.ie

Providing information, tools and skills for public health

•Health impact assessment •Policy centre •INIsPHO •Partnership

Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

A combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, programme or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population Gothenburg Consensus 1999

IPH work in HIA

• Skills development: Broad range of opportunities from awareness raising to comprehensive training • Information: Health impact reviews series; Website • Partnerships: HIA network; HIA forum; HIA conference • Practice: Active involvement in HIAs currently being undertaken

Health impact reviews

Education 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Primary or less Third level National av County av Tallaght Rathfarnham

Education

• International evidence to show that those with higher levels of education live longer, have better health and healthier lifestyles • Economic, social and personal pathways between education and health • Implications for policy – Tackling educational disadvantage can also lessen health inequalities

International perspective

‘The social conditions in which people live and work can help create or destroy their health. Poverty, food insecurity, social exclusion and discrimination, poor housing, unhealthy early childhood conditions and low occupational status are important determinants of most diseases, deaths and health inequalities between and within countries’ World Health Organisation 2004

Alternative ten tips for better health

1. Don't be poor. If you can, stop. If you can't, try not to be poor for long.

2. Don't live in a deprived area, if you do move.

3. Be able to afford to own a car.

4. Don't work in a stressful, low paid manual job.

5. Don't live in damp, low quality housing or be homeless.

6. Be able to afford to go on an annual holiday.

7. Don’t be a lone parent.

8. Claim all benefits to which you are entitled.

9. Don't live next to a busy major road or near a polluting factory.

10. Use education to improve your socio-economic position.

David Gordon, Centre for Poverty Research

Working towards better health in South Dublin County

• Broad determinants of health perspective • Consider the potential impacts on health of decisions taken in ‘non-health’ areas and take action to enhance positive impacts/ alleviate negative impacts • Consider the distributional impacts on health of such policies and take action to reduce existing inequalities/ prevent widening of inequalities

Further information

• IPH websites http://www.publichealth.ie

http://inispho.org

• Email [email protected]