This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Glasgow To Lead National Action To Improve Child Health
17/11/2000
- 'Small Army' of Health Visitors to Spearhead Child Health Drive -
Nearly 2,000 Glasgow families from the city's least well-off areas are to get extra support and their own personalised 'Family Health Plans' in a major new initiative to improve child health and tackle health inequalities between rich and poor.
Analysis shows that children as young as three can show marked differences in both health and social development depending on which part of the city they are brought up in.
Glasgow is to be the home for 'Starting Well' - a three-year £3 million initiative in which the city will pilot new ways of helping parents and young children achieve the best possible start in life.
The project, launched today by Scottish Health Minister Susan Deacon, will see more than 40 extra health visitors and family support staff dedicated to child and family health in deprived areas across the city. For the first time 'lay' health workers will be recruited from the local communities themselves. The project will act as a test bed for action and identify lessons for the rest of Scotland to learn. The national health demonstration projects are a core aim of the Executive's social justice agenda.
Joining parents, children and community representatives at a family party in Glasgow City Chambers, Ms Deacon said:
"Government in the UK and Scotland are determined to work together to tackle child poverty. Protecting and promoting children's health is one way in which we can help them to make the most of their lives and the opportunities available to them. That is something Donald Dewar passionately believed in. I am sure he would have been very proud that Glasgow - where the differences in health and opportunity can still be so marked - is to lead the nation's drive to give our children the best start we can offer them. This is social justice in action.
"A good start in life is essential. We know that children's health is profoundly influenced by their experiences in their early years and by the health and well being of their parents. The babies of mothers living in deprived communities are less likely to enjoy the health and longer life expectancy of those born into wealthier areas. Inequalities in health and social development are seen in children from different backgrounds as early as three years of age. That is a scandal for a modern country like ours.
"We must break that cycle. My vision is of a Scotland in which every child, regardless of family background, has the best possible start in life. That is why a small army of health visitors will now go out into communities like the Gorbals and Easterhouse to support pregnant mums - before, during and after birth.
"The development of good lifelong health starts with parents and their children. Starting Well is about breaking the cycles of deprivation by investing in the crucial early years, by improving health and quality of life for the most disadvantaged young children and by providing support to parents and their children - before conception until the first day of school. Each of the 1800 families involved in the project will have their own 'family health plan' to support them.
"The project will be tailored around - and driven by - the needs of parents, children and the community, and delivered by local partnerships between parents, community and professionals. None of us can tell others how to live their lives but we can work with families and communities to help them develop better health. I believe that recruiting family support workers who actually live within these communities is an innovative and important step towards doing that.
"The launch of Starting Well represents another important milestone in this Executive's drive to put children first by placing their interests at the heart of our policies and priorities. But crucially Starting Well is not just about improving child health in Glasgow - vital as that is. This is a test bed for the whole country and I am confident that this project will make a real difference, not just for Glasgow's children, but for the rest of Scotland."
The project will be implemented over 3 years and is being co-ordinated by the Healthy City Partnership. Professor David Hamblen, Chair of the Partnership said:
"The Healthy City Partnership is working to reduce health inequalities by improving people's physical, mental and social well-being. We hope that this project will enable us to tackle some of these issues at a very early stage, so that our next generation can learn to be more comfortable and confident about their abilities. Involvement of the local community is paramount to the success of this project and we believe that we have good strong networks in place to deliver the benefits, which we later hope to extend to the rest of the city".
Baillie William Timoney, Deputy Chair of the Healthy City Partnership added: "Promoting child health is one of the highest priorities across all the partner agencies and this project will bring together the skills and expertise of representatives from health services, the local authority, the academic sector and the voluntary and community sectors".
BACKGROUND
1. Starting Well is one of four health demonstration projects for Scotland which were announced in February 1999 as part of the public health White Paper, "Towards a Healthier Scotland". The four National Health Demonstration Projects across Scotland will lead the way in efforts to combat heart disease, cancer, and promote sexual health as well as child health. Each project will be independently evaluated so that good practice may be used across Scotland to benefit everyone in these vital areas.
2. Starting Well will develop best practice in the promotion of health and protection from harm in the period leading up to birth and throughout the first 5 years of childhood. The £3 million will be used over three years to establish a range of practical responses to the needs of families with young children including:
- 20 extra health visitors and 24 additional family support workers will provide intensive home based support to all families with new babies in the target areas.
- Participating families will be supported to make better access to local services and agencies.
- A community development approach will be used with families to ensure that their own personal needs are at the centre of their unique 'Family Health Plan'. Goals will developed to take account of both lifestyle and life circumstances.
- Explicit measures to improve parental self - esteem via achievement in the parenting role will be monitored.
- Children will be encouraged to participate in a variety of activities and improve their social skills.
- There will be a Local Implementation Group in each area, composed of professionals working in the area and local people. They will help to provide local strategic direction for the Project.
3. Around 1800 families will be involved in Starting Well out of a population of 64,000 in the catchment areas.
4. Statistics on child health in Scotland: -
- Scotland has the highest infant mortality rate in the UK and one of the worst life expectancy rates in the developed world. Children in deprived areas are more likely to die young.
- Children born to mothers from deprived areas are two-thirds more likely to be of low birth weight. A disadvantage to health which persists throughout life.
- In Scotland only 43 per cent of five year olds are free from dental caries. The poorest 10 per cent of children have over fifty per cent of the decay.
News Release: SE2966/2000
17 Nov 2000