Herefordshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Health and Wellbeing in the workplace

Jo Robins, and Arif Mahmood Consultants in Public Health

The Health & Well-being Strategy for Herefordshire

Background and ContextUnderstanding Herefordshire – a key document is in place which identifies population need•The population grew by 6% during 2001-2013 •22% of Herefordshire residents are aged 65+ (compared to 17% nationally)•The growth will continue and especially amongst the over 65 year olds (60% more people over 65 years in 2031) and double the number of 85 year olds•Fuel poverty rates are high•The number of people living with single or multiple long term conditions is growing•Life expectancy of our population is generally good but lower in less affluent areas•People in less affluent areas spend a greater part of their life living with a disability •High rates of alcohol related admissions among young people•The highest % of C&YP living in poverty in 2011 have remained static in the same two areas since 2006•Rates of breastfeeding, smoking in pregnancy, pre-school assessments are lower as are immunisations at 2 years and 5 years are lower than the national average•There are high rates of tooth decay amongst young people•Unintentional & deliberate hospital admissions injuries in children 0-14•Sparsely populated and large geographical county• 1 in 20 report being lonely

What we know about Herefordshire – the Data

• Ageing population and long term conditions

• Some of the children’s indicators

• Indicators on social determinants – fuel poverty and low wage economy

• Rural inequalities

Making the Case for the Health & Wellbeing Strategy• The Health & Wellbeing Board has a duty to have a strategy in place• Can any one organization be responsible for population health and

wellbeing?• Our service infrastructure is fragile with a focus on higher level needs• Current services are overstretched• Rural inequalities may be hidden but greatly affect population health and

wellbeing  as identified in the case for change • Enables board members to hold each other to account• Resources are scarce• It must provide added value to create something better for the future• Must have an agreed set of outcomes with identified indicators reported on

a regular basis

The Herefordshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy

What we know from the consultation (the people and the organisations)

 

We heard the following:-

•Modest but proud communities•Strong and resilient communities•People help each other•Highly committed individuals•People have a strong sense of identity •Lots of activity taking place in the community•Partnership working is great – people want to improve things

The common themes from the consultation that help people stay healthy

Things that people think are important to help them stay healthy and well

socialisation networks physical activity talking to others Support groups social media outdoor environment sense of purpose healthy diet

personal interests

Local GP

They are already providing a huge amount in the community and would be willing to do more

The skills and support that people provide

How these skills could be used to support others

Transport

Emotional support

Practical help Pastoral

care

Time

Finance

Reaching out to those who are isolated

Teaching a skill or setting up an activity

Volunteering

Friendship groups/good neighbour/social

groups

Being available to

others

Pastoral support

Personal care

OUR AGREED PRIORITIES

What will underpin our priorities

• a much greater focus on reducing health inequalities

• upscaling up of prevention programmes with wellbeing at the centre

• a recognition of the role of the voluntary sector and pastoral support network in Herefordshire

• an emphasis on self-help• improving access and taking an

integrated approach across organisations.

These came through strongly in the consultation process.

Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace - Herefordshire

Council

Herefordshire Council: Supporting Health and Wellbeing

• Employee Health, safety and wellbeing policy.• Employee and manager guides to health safety and

wellbeing.• Improving Working Lives Employee Activity Survey 2011 • Employees Health & Wellbeing Survey 2015 • Health and wellbeing pages on intranet.• Developing local H&WB toolkit• Occupational health; Counselling service; • Health champions

Herefordshire Council Staff Health and Well-being Survey

. • Purpose: To inform HC ‘Health and

Wellbeing at work’ toolkit.• An online survey using a questionnaire

derived from a validated tool developed by Public Health England.

• 389 responses received from a total of 1451 employees (27% response rate)

Smoking • Around 8 million people in England smoke,

resulting in 80,000 smoking-related deaths per year.1

• Smoking in routine and manual worker groups is much higher than in managerial professions at 29.5 per cent verses 16.7 per cent. 2

• Two out of three smokers say they would like to quit.

• Three 15-minute smoking breaks cost employers 195 working hours a year for each worker.

Alcohol • 20–25 per cent of accidents at work involve intoxicated

people injuring themselves and innocent victims.• Work problems resulting from hangovers or being drunk at

work include: difficulty concentrating; reduced productivity; tiredness and mistakes.

• 77 per cent of employers interviewed identified alcohol as a major threat to employee well-being and a factor encouraging sickness absence.

• The total alcohol-related output loss to the UK economy is £6.4bn

Healthy Eating • Poor eating habits, such as skipping breakfast or

lunch, are believed to cost employers £16.85 billion a year, equivalent to a loss in productivity of almost 97 million working days

• As we spend up to 60 per cent of our waking hours and consume at least a third of our daily calorie intake at work it makes an ideal environment to positively influence eating habits.

Healthy Eating • Workplaces can encourage healthy eating in a

number of ways, for example by making it easier for employees to access healthy food options through canteen provision, making fruit and water easily available to staff and promoting health information.1

• At any one time one worker in six will be experiencing depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress

• Being in employment and maintaining social contacts improves mental health, prevents suicide and reduces reliance on health services.

• British business could save up to £8 billion a year if it managed mental health at work more effectively.

Stress at work

Sickness Absence• It is estimated that about 2.2 per cent of working

time or 4.9 days per worker per year are lost to sickness absence

• After minor illnesses (colds, flu, sickness and diarrhoea), stress, back pain and musculoskeletal injuries are the next most common causes of short-term absence

• The CIPD 2011 survey also revealed that two fifths of organisations reported an increase in stress-related absences over the past year.

Physically Active • People who exercise regularly are up to 50 per cent less likely to be at

risk of major chronic diseases such as coronary heart diseases, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

• Physical activity improves self esteem, helps individuals sleep better, lowers risk of stress, musculoskeletal injuries and back pain and makes individuals feel happier, more engaged and more productive.

• Physical activity programmes at work have been found to reduce absenteeism by up to 20 per cent and physically active workers take 27 per cent fewer sick days.

• Less than 30 per cent of the UK population exercises regularly.