So glad to have the Brits on board with L-Plate!
Lúise
Russell (@Grittykit) is a final year Nutrition & Dietetic student from the
University of Chester, UK. She has an interest in public health and how health
inequalities are linked to socio-economic factors – conducting her dissertation
around improving health knowledge to improve health in deprived communities.
Here is Luise's blog on the sobering health statistics just relased by the UK Government:
Latest health statistics for the UK
Last week the UK Government, via Public Health England (PHE)
revealed up to date health statistics through a new website – “Longer Lives” for
use by local authorities and the public. Depending on where in the country you
live it can make for sobering reading. Find your local authority to reveal the
top causes of avoidable early death ranked against other local authorities.
With public health issues now under local government jurisdiction
these health statistics aim to support that role and inform the best decisions
for reducing premature death for their local population.
How is this useful to health professionals? It is important
to know your local area and what the major health risks are. Perhaps you are
seeing these statistics reflected in your patient types and the projects you
are involved with already. As health professionals there is a duty of care to keep
knowledge up to date. Whilst these high level statistics may not form the basis
for evidence-based practice within a workplace, they are the basis on which
local government policy is formed which can affect the services we provide.
These figures are also readily available for public consumption which can then
generate questions from service users – be prepared!
This is pretty scary. I looked at the Wirral area, where I live/d in UK and its in the "bad" zone. These stats are quite good for anyone working on tenders for funding or projects around chronic disease prevention in their areas.
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