Sandwell Health and Other Economic Summit 2016

Sandwell Health and Other Economic Summit 2016

Monday 26th September 2016

Portway Leisure Centre, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 1HE

Austerity, Poverty and Health

P R O G R A M M E

REGISTRATION & COFFEE

Welcome

Brief Outline of the Workshops – Local Approaches to Mitigating Austerity

On registration you will be asked to select your preferred and second choice workshop for each session. Workshop allocation will be on first come first served basis.

Workshop Session 1: 14:00 – 15:00

1)Money Lending Team – Nadeem Mahammed

The workshop will highlight the dangers of loan sharks and ensure key messages about avoiding these criminals reach vulnerable people in our communities. The session is aimed at giving the staff an understanding of the dangers of loan shark, the ways in which they operate, giving attendees the ability to spot when this crime is happening so they can provide the right advice to victims and enabling them to support any of their clients who have fallen into a loan sharks trap and help them to report the crime.

2)Advice services, austerity and health – Vicki Fitzgerald

Advice services are at the frontline in supporting people who are experiencing the impacts of austerity, poverty and changes to the welfare system. They are the services that really see what is affecting people’s lives, and are often the first to see the impacts of policy changes such as the bedroom tax, the benefit cap and changes to housing policy. This workshop will look at the role of Sandwell Citizen’s Advice exploring, at a very practical level, how agencies can work together to better support people affected by poverty and the effects of austerity, to positively affect their health and wellbeing.

3)Fuel Poverty & Public Health - Fuel Poverty, It’s not just bad for your health, it’s expensive!! – Nick Laws

Rising prices for essential goods and falling incomes are putting increasing pressure on household budgets with some people having to make stark choices between heating their home or buying the food they need. The adverse health effects of living in a cold home are well-established, as is the evidence of wider social impacts. With over 4 million people in the UK living on low incomes in houses that cannot be affordably heated it is estimated that cold homes cost the NHS £3.6m per day. The need to find effective solutions to tackle the problem and effects of fuel poverty and cold homes has never been more relevant.

But how can Public Health assist? Join us to find out more and explore what Public Health can do to support those in fuel poverty and those most at risk from the cold.

Workshop Session 2: 15:00- 16:00

1)Taking a ‘Marmot City’ approach to reducing health inequalities – Liz Gaulton and Georgina Faherty

This workshop will showcase Coventry’s award winning work to reduce health inequalities. Over the last three years, Coventry’s Public Health department have worked with colleagues from across Coventry City Council and from other public and voluntary sector organisations as a Marmot City to embed the Marmot principles into core functions, policies and decision making. Since 2013, the life expectancy gap in Coventry between the most affluent and most deprived has narrowed and there have been improvements in educational development, health outcomes, life satisfaction, employment and reductions in crime in priority locations. The workshop will enable delegates to learn more about Coventry’s approach and planned next steps, and encourage discussion about different ways to reduce health inequalities.

2)Poverty, austerity and mental health and wellbeing – Kate O’Hara

Good mental health and wellbeing is ‘feeling good and functioning well’. This includes being resilient, being able to cope with the stresses and challenges of normal life and feeling that you are able to contribute and be productive. The impacts of austerity and poverty often lead to a feeling of a loss of control, lower resilience and poor mental health and wellbeing. Negative coverage of benefits and welfare in the media can make this much worse. This workshop will explore the links between austerity, poverty and wellbeing, and look at how we can work with people to help them to build their resilience and feel good and function well.

3)Planning, housing and the wider determinants of health: how can we create healthier places, environments and communities in a time of scarce resources and legislative reforms? – Richard White and Angela Hands

The link between planning and health has been long established. The built and natural environments are major determinants of health and wellbeing. Improved housing conditions should have a positive impact on health for a number of outcomes. Yet, at the same time, funding pressures are increasing, with local governments across the United Kingdom facing aggressive ideological austerity measures and a climate of deregulation and reform.This session aims to showcase local practice in both planning and housing contexts that seeks to address the wider determinants of health in a time of budget pressures and to mitigate the potential effects of legislative reform.