Naturally Healthy Priority Update for
LNP Board July 2015
- Naturally Healthy Task and Finish Group
1.1The Naturally Healthy Task and finish group continues to meet two/ three times a year but has been renamed the Naturally Healthy Working Group.
1.2A separate group was set up to further discuss and take forward actions aroundmaking the most of section 106 and inputting into the ‘New home travel packs’ for developments.
1.3Public health is theExecutive lead for the Naturally Healthy priority supported by Devon Wildlife Trust.
1.4Public health has stepped down from chairing the Naturally Healthy Working group and this was taken up by Devon Wildlife Trust until staff changes in May.
- National Parks Naturally Healthy Project
2.1The two national park projects are progressing well following appointment of Naturally Healthy project officers in November 2014.
2.2The approach of Exmoor has been to focus on linking existing organisations with opportunities to get out onto the moor. A pilot project linking with GP’s on a ‘green care’ prescription is being lead through West Somerset federation of GP’s focusing on the mental health. Learning from this pilot will be applied to rolling out a pilot with a North Devon GP practice in year 3. Martin White is helping to identify a suitably GP practice in North Devon to take part.
2.3Dartmoor are working with the GP practice in Buckfastleigh testing out the mechanisms through which a ‘green prescription’ scheme might work, the referral pathways and mechanisms for delivery of such a scheme. A draft referral process is currently under development with medical partners and being tested through a walk and talk pilot scheme to be delivered by end of the summer.
2.4Dartmoor National Parkhas future plans to follow this progress up with engagement with local groups in Buckfastleigh such as Children’s Centre, local primary school and church groups. The Medical centre has agreed to support the Naturally Healthy Project with a number of measures.
2.5The two projects are due to run until November 2017. Expectations from the ‘Green Prescription’ element of the project are to:
- Explore what the opportunities and activities would need to look like (level of supervision, qualification of ‘instructors’ etc.) for health professionals to feel confident in referring into them
- What activities do individuals/ patients want to take part in
- Work with a range of health care professionals to ascertain this – Not just GP’s but health care assistants, practice nurses, community nurses, pharmacy dispensing assistants etc.
- Look to develop a referral mechanism or several and test out how they work for the patient and health care professional
- Pilot a scheme with a small number of patients.
- Naturally Healthy Devon Schools – Outdoor Learning Priority
3.1Public Health (Patsy Temple) continues to be a member of the steering group for this project having inputted considerably into the specification and evaluation specification for the project.
3.2Links with Food for Life Project have been promoted by Public Health to maximise the impact of both projects. There is potential to support in areas of delivery for NHDS such as supporting the delivery of the accelerometer study in a third school.
3.3Public Health have provided demographic information to support the identification of the schools who would potentially most benefit from support to embed interventions to improve Learning in the Natural Environment. This is in relation to the health outcomes of increased physical activity and emotional health and wellbeing. These are the same criteria as the Food for Life project is using to prioritise identification of schools for delivery.
- Links with Green Connections Priority
4.1Green infrastructure managers for East Devon and Exeter and Teignbridge are now members of the Naturally Healthy working group.
4.2Joint working has been taking place between these two priorities to look at maximising the use of S106 agreements for useable Green Spaces that promote health and wellbeing
4.3Joint working has also taken place to input into the development of a wider section in the ‘New Homes Travel Packs’ to ensure the potential for accessing the wider natural environment and promotion of the naturally healthy opportunities is maximised in the template. The template currently contains some information about cycling and walking but this could easily be widened to include nature reserves, county parks, walking routes and green space on the door step on new developments.
5.Naturally Healthy Week
5.1The first naturally healthy week was held 23-31st May 2015 with a wide range of activities being included on the Natural Devon website as opportunities to get out and enjoy ‘Devon’s Natural Health Service’.
5.2Specially designed posters were distributed to all libraries across Devon and included the DCC County Show display encouraging people to get out and ‘swim it’, ‘bike it’, ‘walk it’ etc.
5.3The publicity was picked up by a range of media across the county over the week and the ‘tweets’ sent out by DCC generated a lot of interest. They were viewed around 10,000 times in total with 80 interactions (links back to the website/ retweets). Sarah Wollaston MP re tweeted and following contact made by Sarah Jennings with her Virginia and Sarah will meet with Sarah Wollaston on the 17th July to discuss the Naturally Healthy agenda here in Devon.
6. DEFRA Research & Case Study
6.1Devon Naturally Healthy work has been chosen as one of 4 case studies for a piece of research by DEFRA looking to integrate the values of the environment to health in decision making. This research is being undertaken by Becca Lovell through a Natural Environments and Health fellowship with the European Centre for Environment and Human Health.
6.2The fellowship involves working collaboratively, through making linkages between academics, practitioners and policy makers from both the environment and health fields, to address a number of key research questions:
- Research question 1: What do we know about the value(s) of the natural environment to health?
- Research question 2: How has, or is evidence of the value of natural environments to health, (particularly socio-cultural, non-monetary values) used, taken into account by and incorporated into existing policy and practice?
- Research question 3: What are the most effective next steps in more fully accounting for the value of natural environments to health?
6.3Devon is one of 4 case studies selected from around the country to answer research question 2 above. Patsy has been interviewed and Becca will also be talking to Dartmoor and Exmoor National Park. She hopes to speak to Andrea Davis as well.
6.4A draft of the publication will be circulated by Becca to those interviewed prior to publication in late September.
Patsy Temple, PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST
July 2015
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