Traditionally the focus within environmental health has been on toxic, infectious, allergic and physical threats. While these still demand our immediate attention, there is now a growing recognition of an additional need to shape places which are nurturing of positive health, wellbeing and resilience.
Health is an area where "everything matters" and a partnership approach is key to improving early years experience through the creation of good places for better health.
GPBH prototype considered four health challenges facing children in Scotland:
- obesity
- asthma
- unintentional injury
- mental health and wellbeing
More broadly, the prototype aimed to:
- consider, plan and deliver new and more effective ways of considering place and health, in order to identify what is needed to create places that nurture health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities
- identify the characteristics of place which will nurture healthy childhood weight and positive mental health and wellbeing in childhood and reduce asthma and levels of unintentional injuries in children
And specifically, to:
- improve our understanding of complexities of the relationship between place and health
- map transparently, the relationships between environment and health determinants
- mprove collation, interpretation and sharing of evidence
- translate this improved knowledge into policy and actions
- work to apply new policy and actions locally and nationally