UK - Health Challenge England launch event October 2006
Keywords: Partnership working, Healthcare needs assessment, Public health
Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer(DCMO), Fiona Adshead were joined in October 2006 by Prime Minister Tony Blair at the launch of Health Challenge England.
The launch, held at Leyton Orient Score Complex in east London, marked the first of a series of local workshops for local community leaders, businesses,charitable and voluntary organizations and health professionals. The aim of the workshop was to examine ways in which all sectors of society can work together to address local health needs.
This is a new opportunity for local communities to take forward a social marketing approach, putting people in the driving seat to make the changes they need to lead healthier lives.
After an introduction to the event, the 50 participants from Tower Hamlets took part in a social marketing workshop, the first in a series of local Small Change, Big Difference events that will be rolled out across the country over the coming months.
Launched in April of this year by the PM and Caroline Flint, the Small Change, Big Difference initiative encourages people to make small, but achievable positive changes to their lifestyle that have the potential to reap significant benefits.
The Leyton event focused on childhood obesity, and it is hoped that the attendees, with their cross community experience and insight, will identify specific hurdles that their community may face when tackling this issue.
Two publications were also launched at the event:
- 1.
Health Challenge England – Next Steps for Choosing Health,which sets out the successes achieved since the launch of the Choosing Health White Paper in 2004.
- 2.
Health Profile of England, which shows the impact of the public health improvements that have been made, and the continuing problems.
“Since we published our Choosing Health White Paper in 2004 we have begun to build up a clear idea of what works to improve the health in those areas of the country that face the most serious problems,” said Public Health Minister Caroline Flint.
“Working closely with a range of stakeholders from the health,commercial and voluntary sectors we have found out more about why people don’t make healthy choices. Only by knowing this can we be more effective in tackling obesity and targeting the right services to the right people”.
