Joanna Glover and Marilyn Thompson
Health and Fitness Development Officer and Food for Life Co-ordinator,
West Lincolnshire PCT
Tel: 01522 873722 or 01522 550536
Email: joanna.glover@lincoln.gov.uk; marilyn.thompson@lincolnshire.gov.uk
Summary:
The aim of the Lincoln City Activity Initiative and Food for Life is to promote the importance of a healthy lifestyle and encourage health improvement. The Lincoln City Activity Initiative promotes health improvement through participation in physical activity and is working to raise awareness of, educate on & provide opportunities for physical activity. Food For Life is working to encourage healthy eating & raise nutritional standards, through, knowledge, skills enhancement and access to a healthier diet. The programmes target the most deprived areas in the City, working with local communities, statutory and voluntary agencies and across all age groups.
Abstract:
These programmes aim to increase life expectancy and decrease rates of Obesity, Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and Cancer through physical activity and improved diet. Specific targets include increasing the proportion of the population who are active for at least 30 minutes per day, on five or more days per week & increasing the proportion of the population who consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. The initiatives form an integral part of the local delivery of ‘Choosing Health’ as well as contributing to the inequalities agenda, the National Service Frameworks for CHD, diabetes, older people, children and the cancer plan. The programmes have also built strong links with the local Healthy Schools team. The projects were originally funded by Neighbourhood Renewal with support from Lincoln Local Strategic Partnership and have now been mainstreamed by the PCT and are embedded within West Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust Local Delivery Plan and the City Councils Strategic Plan. Plans for the spearhead area of Lincoln City will also include this work.
Projects have received support from the Local Strategic Partnership, West Lincs Primary Care Trust board and Executive group and Council members, Executive & Chief Officers. The work has been championed at operational, managerial and strategic levels though the PCT and City Council as well as through the LSP and this has facilitated and enabled the sustainability of this work. The initiatives have their own branding and identity and have become widely recognised within local communities.
Stakeholder input into the projects is key to their development. Consultations are carried out with groups within communities and the outcomes of these are used to determine the specifics of project delivery. Communication is maintained with communities through verbal and written evaluation questionnaires. Feedback from groups, communities and partner agencies are used to shape the services delivered. Project groups are also used to drive forward project developments; one example of this is the City Health Walks project group. This group has made a valuable contribution to the development of the 4th City Health Walks booklet and the new programme of led walks across the City. This group includes residents, resident associations representatives, members of the Ramblers, those from charitable organisations & health professionals. This not only gives the community ownership, but also means that those who the project is designed to benefit are directly involved in its development.
New roles have been developed as part of this work. The two coordinating roles were designed and recruited to and have now become part of existing teams and structures. For example the Food For Life Coordinator has a substantive post as part of the public health workforce. This post is managed through the PCT while the Physical Activity post is managed through the City Council.Projects have been using questionnaires with service users and gathering quantitative and qualitative data. Through partnerships, networking and benchmarking the projects are aware of other similar schemes running around the country and use this information to benchmark our performance and areas for improvement. We have been contacted by regional, national & international organisations to find out more about what we do and believe that our work is well regarded and the approaches innovative.
Individuals within the City are now able to access services in their local communities, which are removed from traditional health or fitness settings. These include Community Centres, Surestart programmes and Access centres, Community parks and open spaces. The services offered are all targeted according to needs and aim to offer a welcoming and friendly experience. Feedback from service users indicate an improved experience due to the community nature of these initiatives.
These initiatives are designed to meet diverse needs. Both programmes offer a range of services. For example; Food for Life aims to improve education (through schools). Knowledge and skills (through community cookery courses) and access (currently developing a pilot for a countywide ‘Healthy Box’ scheme to improve access to low cost vegetables and fruit). Similarly the Lincoln City Activity Initiative has walks booklets for people who want to walk independently or with friends/family and a led walks programme for those who feel more confident in a group. Each element of the initiatives is designed to meet a scale of need in the population.
We pro-actively respond to requests and queries from other organisations who are interested in our work and maintain an up to date website and distribute publicity materials widely. We were featured in the Choosing Health White Paper and have featured in other information for example Local Government Association and Neighbourhood Renewal Unit guidance. We also actively participate in national and regional networking events for example NHS Live. Future developments are planned to ensure integration with these programmes. One example of this could be the NHS health trainers who will form part of a key network between healthcare, support services and community programmes such as these.
We feel that this work demonstrates the ability of statutory agencies to work in close partnership with each other and the voluntary, and community sector in responding to need. The features and design of these programmes have been deliberately steered away from one size fits all policies into a more flexible way of working that achieves results and supports individuals to attain better health. The fact that we have been able to do this and embed the programmes into mainstream delivery best demonstrates the energy, imagination and innovation that have been such an integral part of this success. The work has not been entered for any other awards.
