Equally Well: Achieving our vision
How will we get there?
Tackling health inequalities requires a long-term commitment and we will adopt an evidence-based population approach.
The Health and Wellbeing Board has agreed to focus on the areas that have the biggest impact on people’s health and wellbeing:
- The wider determinants of health
- Our health behaviours and lifestyles
- An integrated health and care system
- The places and communities we live in, and with
Vision: Reduce inequalities in North Tyneside by breaking the link between people’s circumstances and their opportunities for a healthy, thriving and fulfilled life.
The wider determinants of health
Working across the local system to address the social determinants of health such as early years, education, employment and skills, digital inclusion, housing and the environment, and income
Our health behaviours and lifestyles
Tackling barriers to healthy lifestyle choices by getting alongside communities to understand the issues they face and treating them as experts in their lived experience
The places and communities we live in, and with
Working with our communities to mobilise solutions, informed by our understanding of local needs and assets
An integrated health and care system
Health and social care commissioners and providers working together to commission and deliver joined up, effective services that are easy to access
Guiding principles
- Health inequalities in all policies
- Prioritising prevention
- Evidence-based decision making
- Proportionate universalism
- Co-design approach
- Workforce, training, roles and responsibilities
Strategic ambitions
- Equal life chances for all
- Thriving communities
- Maintaining independence
Key impact areas
We will consider each impact area and the connections between them, embedding the six Marmot principles in our approach to reduce inequalities. While there are already great local examples of work being carried out in these areas, the challenge is to add value by making connections and the momentum to scale up existing activity.
In the past, there has been a tendency to focus primarily on single drivers of health rather than considering the complex interdependencies.
Taking a population health approach means fundamentally changing the way we work and coming together as a whole system to tackle specific challenges
We will consider critical stages, transitions and settings where effective place-based action is required, using a combination of ‘civic level’, ‘service based’ and community interventions.
Many of the outcomes related to our vision to reduce health inequalities will be delivered indirectly by other plans and strategies, for example the Ambition for Education in North Tyneside, North Tyneside’s Inclusive Economy Strategy and the NHS and North Tyneside Council’s Digital Strategies. The formation of the North East and North Cumbria ICS will have a focus on place-based integrated Health and Social Care delivery and a focus on reducing inequalities. One of the agreed principles of working is taking a ‘health inequalities in all policies approach’ because we need a focus on health inequalities in everything we do.
The remaining sections of the strategy outline the current approaches, challenges and the areas for action across the four key impact areas. This has been informed by a range of engagement activity undertaken to date and will need to be considered when developing the detailed implementation plan to deliver the strategy.