Agenda item

Covering:

·         Improve children’s life chances

·         Promote mental health and wellbeing

·         Get everyone moving

·         Support a healthier workforce

·         Prevent a long-term conditions

Rachel Wells, Consultant in Public Health lead the presentations that covered a number of areas.

SMILE (School Meals Initiative Learning healthy Eating) – to promote healthier eating and choices, not just with the pupils but also parents, carers, staff and the caterers.  Brightly coloured trays showing potion sizes and food types had helped to increase vegetable consumption and a switch from sugary puddings to fruit.  The aim was to branch out to other schools.

There was interest about how this could be promoted for adults, for example in care homes to move away from meal replacement liquids to make use of blended foods, possibly through inclusion in Service Level Agreements with providers for the Council.  It was noted that work was also going on through programmes to support weight management for adults.

Infant Feeding Strategy – work continued to change attitudes to breast feeding with libraries as a starting place and reaching out to local businesses.  This helped to promote the health and wellbeing of families for both mother and child.

Healthy Early Years – the award had now been around for two years with the local scheme transitioning in to one that had support from the Mayor of London due to the prestige that this brought to schools.  It covered a number of key priorities and included raising awareness of oral health, speech language and emotional wellbeing.  It supported children transitioning from home to school settings.  Childminders, nursery schools and the voluntary sector were all provided support to help upskill the workforce and improve outcomes.

There were concerns about the paperwork burden and this was under review to help make it more accessible.

Children in Care- prior to the pandemic there had been a good level maintaining individuals in education and employment, with many continuing (not furloughed) through out.  It was noted that the number being supported had increased and this was important to consider as Corporate Parents.  More work had been done around peer support as individuals preferred to talk to those similar in age about resilience for example those about to become parents or about healthy relationships.  This included making use of venues which they identified as safe spaces to help reinforce support.

There were a number joining the care system later and had traumas and experiences that did not quite meet the thresholds for support.  They were looking at what services could be put in place and had seen an escalation during the pandemic as many had lived on their own which had meant that levels of isolation during the pandemic had been high.  The number of unaccompanied asylum seekers coming in at age 17 was also an area being looked at.

There was a care leavers conference being held in May and they would bring back out comes to a future board meeting.

Resilient Schools – starting from a small pilot to de-stigmatise metal health and to help people understand and prevent escalation, they had now rolled it out to over 70 schools with the intention to eventually cover all schools.  The offer has been streamlined to training, forums and various forms of support with engagement with the voluntary sector to help tackle areas such as suicide prevention and early intervention.

Youth MHFA (Mental Health First Aiders) - training as Mental Health First Aiders had helped to build confidence to identify, approach and support young people.  A guest speaker from a local school described the impact that this had, including buy in from the Senior Leadership Team at the school.   This resulted in a number of the staff being trained and sixth form students also helping to provide peer support.  This had allowed them to reach far more people than a single school counsellor could support.  COVID-19 had also reinforced how important the support and approach could be, providing an important tool kit.

In some cases this work was extending beyond the school and they were looking at how parents could be reached, for example through the use of online training.

It was noted that with the significant number of refugees and asylum seekers that these groups, both children and parents, would need support to ensure that they did not feel isolated.  This was being achieved using community cafes for example.

Golden Kilometre – this initiative was being undertaken with Middlesex University and looked to increase activity by 1km a day running, walking or jogging, in addition to their normal activity.  The initial pilot had started with 14 schools to identify areas for improvement.  The focus had been on physical outcomes however there had been an improvement in confidence and they had measured how people felt before and after the activity.

It was noted that the Council was looking at how facilities and sports centres could be accessed including non-cost activities due to the rising cost pressures on families.

It was noted that an update on FAB (Fit and Active Barnet) should come to a future meeting.

Workplace wellbeing – Support had been given to staff in a number of different ways from equipment and provision of mental health first aid through to online solutions.  Overall the response was positive with a low level of absence recorded. They were now looking at how this could be promoted to partners and other local businesses by acting as an exemplar.  Nationally there was a big focus on ensuring people returned to work and how people transitioned back from remote delivery to face to face. 

Long-term conditions and CVD (Cardiovascular Disease) Prevention Programme – some screening programmes had been paused during COVID-19 and they were now looking at how to get back on track.  This included using community providers to support local health screening programmes.  The population appeared to have either got more, or less fit, during COVID-19, with the risks that this brought.  For example, in the over 75s there were many with potentially undetected heart conditions.  Diabetes had overtaken other areas as a cause of heart attack.

There were a small number with chronic needs that used a lot of health care resources and work was being undertaken to look at how they could where possible be supported to recover their health.

Funding had also been secured for a lifestyle hub to address behavioural changes in areas such as smoking, alcohol and obesity.

The Chair thanked officers for the comprehensive update.

Action: FAB (Fit and Active Barnet) to come to a future meeting.

CVD (Cardiovascular Disease) Prevention update to come to July 2022 meeting.