SLÁINTECARE HEALTHY COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE TO ADDRESS HEALTH INEQUALITIES
'Each programme will be tailored to the local needs of the community to build sustainable improvements in the health and wellbeing of people of all ages living there'
ABOVE: At launch of the Sláintecare Healthy Communities at Darndale Bell Centre, were Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Frank Feighan; Tom James, Head of Healthy Ireland; Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly; Ellen O’Dea, HSE, Head of Service for Health and Wellbeing CHO, DNCC; and Helen Deely, Interim Assistant National Director, HSE, Health & Wellbeing.
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he Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme is a new cross-Government initiative to deliver increased health and wellbeing services to 19 targeted community areas across Ireland. The programme will be delivered in partnership with HSE Health and Wellbeing, local authorities, local communities, statutory, voluntary and community groups. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Frank Feighan launched the new €13m initiative recently. This new investment will fund posts working at community level to deliver, support and coordinate these activities. Speaking at the launch in the Darndale
Bell Centre, Minister Donnelly said, "The goal of the Healthy Communities Programme is to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of the people living in these communities. These initiatives will be delivered in partnership with a number of groups working together to provide a range of dedicated services to build lasting improvements in health and wellbeing.” Minister Feighan said that “taking an evidence-based approach, this work will build on existing programmes in these areas and mobilise available resources to address local needs to promote health and wellbeing”. “The 19 areas chosen to participate in this programme are diverse and have distinct needs and requirements. Each programme will be tailored to the local needs of the community to build sustainable improvements in the health and wellbeing for people of all ages,” Minister Feighan said. Helen Deely, Interim National Director, HSE, Health & Wellbeing, said, “We are really pleased to see our partnership working and health and wellbeing programmes reach into the communities where they are most needed. "We can help build the overall wellbeing of these communities through the increased delivery of supports to quit smoking, improve healthy eating and improve mental wellbeing and reduce isolation. "For example the increased rollout of parenting programmes with Tusla under Sláintecare Healthy Communities is one of the most fundamental and positive things we can do to support parents and children’s health and wellbeing.” Healthy Communities will support the physical and mental health of the communities as well as support improvement in the wider determinants of health in those communities, such as education, housing, social support and the built environment.
FOR MORE The Healthy Communities website is available here: www.hse.ie/eng/about/ who/healthwellbeing/slaintecarehealthy-communities/
