Who should pay? March 20, 2010
Posted by wrays2 in : Uncategorized , add a comment
A couple of weeks ago I was persuaded by my wife and daughter to give up a Saturday to go to Glasgow and demonstrate against cuts in Education services. ‘No if, no buts, no education cuts!’
These days demonstrating about anything is not my preferred way of using a Saturday - but my wife appealed to my paternal instinct, by saying that it was likely to be the only way that we would see our son who is currently studying at Strathclyde university when he is not demonstrating against, or occasionally for, something or other.
As it happened I met not only my son and his girlfriend but a couple of old university friends. These were people who I had been on many a demonstration with in our youths - Maggie, Maggie, Maggie - Out -Out - out. Like me they had been stirred to marching once again after twenty years of immersion in family and work. Two of them are curently teachers and one a civil servant married to a teacher.
The demonstration was polite and extra-ordinarliy quiet by the standards of my youth - giving lots of time to catch up on mutual acquaintances and reminisce about by-gone times. Eventually we talked about what it was that had drawn us out of our normal weekend activity to once again demonstrate - even though we all had a sense that it was a somewhat futile effort. They were all motivated by a sense of injustice that ordinary people were being asked to pay for the mistakes of the super rich in our society. A feeling that I admit I share but wouldn’t have acted on if it weren’t for family persuasion. The demonstration organisers had adopted a slogan along the lines of ’Why must our children pay?’ and it seemed to hit the mood of the people who were marching.
I had intended to duck out of the speeches at the end of the demonstration and head to a restaurant with son and his girlfriend - but was out voted - as they all wanted to listen. In a passionate speech the EIS speaker picked up on the theme of ’Why must our children pay’ for a crisis that was remote to all but a very small minority. She attempted to undermine the logic that says the national debt incurred in bailing out the banks has to be paid for by reducing public services - stating that how it was paid for was a matter of political choice. She ended by saying that this demonstration was only the start - but notably failed to say what came next. It maybe that the sense of injustice, which turned out ‘the old farts’ to demonstrate, may just drive the next steps rather than politicians and union leaders.
Who should pay - history tell us it is most likely that ordinary people will pay the most - but does it have to be that way?
Homestart - civic conversation invite March 9, 2010
Posted by wrays2 in : Civic conversation, Uncategorized , add a comment
Those of us who work within agencies supporting parents of pre-school children, would benefit greatly from this ‘conversation’, in order to be better informed about issues and challenges within Mental Health resources.
We hope you’ll take this opportunity to meet various agencies, including Mental Health professionals, at the Early Years Centre, Sanderson’s Wynd, Tranent, on Wednesday 31st March 2010 at 12 – 2.30pm with lunch provided.
RSVP 01875 616066
First aid training for forest school leaders March 1, 2010
Posted by wrays2 in : Uncategorized, forest school , add a commentWell done to all the staff that passed the paediatric first aid training - and many thanks for being willing to give up a weekend to undergo the training.
The second group had to contend with some pretty extreme weather conditions.
The Power of Routine February 15, 2010
Posted by wrays2 in : Civic conversation, Health & Early Years Network, Uncategorized , add a comment
The Scottish Public Health Observatory highlighted this longitudinal survey in a recent e-bulletin
“The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study finds that pre-school children in USA with the 3 household routines of regularly eating the evening meal as a family, obtaining adequate night-time sleep, and having limited TV viewing time, had a 40% lower prevalence of obesity”.
Thats a big difference and certainly more to my knowledge than has been achieved in designed interventions to reduce obesity - even than the EPODE programme in France
The following links will give you more information on the study
News article: http://news.scotsman.com/health/A-traditional-family-routine-may.6053741.jp
Online journal publication:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-0417v1?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Sarah+Anderson&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
What I couldnt get from this information was an analysis of why some families value such routines and why some others don’t.
The danger with type of research is that it can be another moralistic ‘health stick’ to beat people with. It puts the onus for change on parents without looking at the context of peoples lives.
In the same way the EPIC longitudinal survey of adult health behaviours in Europe also seems to put the onus of change on individuals. The implication is that if you do certain things and don’t do others your chances of living a longer life with less disease improve significantly - the responsibility is yours. Its very easy too come up with a moralistic answer as to why some people don’t engage in the right behaviours for health?
Dr Harry Burns gave the following summary of the EPIC findings from a study by Ford et al Arch Int Med 2009 at a presentation at First Step in Musselburgh. The figures on the right are the percentages by which people who engage in four healthy behaviors are less likely to suffer the disease category on the left than people who don’t have the four healthy behaviours. The figures in the brackets are the range. Hence if you can stick to the four healthy behaviours you are 78% less likely to have any chronic disease than someone who doesn’t.
4 healthy behaviours
Any chronic disease 78% (72% to 83%)
Heart Attack 83% (47% to 93%)
Stroke 50% (-18% to 79%)
Diabetes 93% (88% to 95%)
Cancer 36% (5% to 57%)
On one level the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study above is really saying something that I believe the vast majority of parents already know and or have been told at some point:-
- sharing mealtimes is a good thing
a bedtime routine is a good thing
too much tele / computer is a bad thing
Perhaps studies like this can help some people to prioritise these behaviours by quantifying what the consequences of not doing them might be.
That said I firmly believe that relying on information alone can make services sound moralising, which will disengage people from the information we are trying to communicate. We need to start from a wider view than the change we want people to make by asking question like.
What is it that supports parents to ‘get it right’, how can service’s build on that?
What is that puts barriers in the way of ‘getting it right’ and how can services help remove them?
Healthy Start February 11, 2010
Posted by wrays2 in : Civic conversation, Health & Early Years Network, Service Champions, Steering Group, Uncategorized , add a comment
With Healthy Start, you can get free vouchers every week which you swap for milk, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and infant formula milk. In theory you can also get free vitamins. Healthy Start replaces the Welfare Food Scheme. The vouchers have to be taken to a participating retailer - the website has a list of the retailers searchable by postcode.
It is a means tested benefit that an applicaton form has to be filled in for - part of which has to completed by a health professional - it can be applied for online
Have never been keen on means testing as a method of targetting - probably because I have some not very fond memories of standing in the free school meals queue at Sedgefield Comprehensive. Aside from the stigma issue with means testing I would argue that it is often an inefficient way of doing things - creating large bureacracies in order to establish entitlement and then police the system, and by so doing limiting the take up of the very people that are being targeted. (The only evidence on uptake I have been able to find so far suggests that it is similiar to the welfare food scheme it replaced at around 55% of the potential beneficiaries.) Hence, other people have also to invest time and effort in advising and supporting people to make claims - a quick internet search will reveal the level of confusion about healthy start vouchers - who is entitled, how do you make a claim who fillsi in the form and so on. See Emma’s diary Netmums
Having said that a means tested scheme for supporting early years nutrition for pregnant women and parents on low incomes is better than no scheme.
One of the distinctie features of this scheme is the availability of vitamin supplements. However, I am aware that there has been some difficulties with the supply of vitamins The website has the following to say about the vitamins available on the scheme
Why are vitamin supplements important?
You will get most of the vitamins you need if you eat healthy foods. However:
- your young children may not get enough vitamin A, C and D from their food
- pregnant and breastfeeding women may not get enough vitamin D or folic acid which may harm their baby
Ask your health visitor or midwife where to get the free vitamins for you and your children. Take the letter attached to your vouchers with you to claim your free vitamins.
The Healthy Start vitamins are also for sale at some NHS clinics.
Over the next week will contact all the pharmacies in the Support from the Start target area to ask if Healthy Start vitamins can be obtained and if not why not. I will post the result of this survey here.
Steven Wray
National Early Years Network January 8, 2010
Posted by wrays2 in : Uncategorized , add a commentNHS Health Scotland is the national health improvement agency for the NHS and they have established an early years network which co-ordinates learning events and the following are links to event coming up in 2010. You will also find details of how to join this network and recieve their email bulletins direct below.
Early Years National Conference 4 February, Edinburgh Conference Centre, Heriot Watt
The re run of the national Early Years conference will be held on the 4 February, registration is now open. There will be video conferencing for the presentations. If you would like to use the video conferencing I would be grateful if you could reply to laura.martin@health.scot.nhs.uk by the 15 January.
Children and Young People Evidence Alert
Please follow the link for the December evidence alert http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/3917.aspx
The Best Possible Start: A Maternity Services Conference, Tuesday 4 May 2010
See flyer attached.
The full agenda for the conference will be available by early 2010. to receive the programme and application form email maternityconference@shscevents.co.uk
Early Child Development: A Powerful Equaliser 21 January 2010 6pm Surgeons’ Hall, The Symposium Hall, Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DW
See flyer attached
Dr Clyde Hertzman is Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), College for Interdisciplinary Studies at UBC; Tier I Canada Research Chair in Population Health and Human Development; and Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. Under Dr Hertzman’s leadership, HELP (est 2001) has developed into an internationally recognised and unique research network that integrates the behavioural and social sciences with biomedical sciences to study life course development, with a particular focus on early child development.
If you know of any colleagues who would be interested in joining the network please ask them to email their details to laura.martin@health.scot.nhs.uk
Public Health Report January 8, 2010
Posted by pmclaren in : Civic conversation, Health & Early Years Network, Uncategorized , add a commentChief medical officer launches annual public health report at First Step community project in Musselburgh
The chief medical Officer came to First step community project in East Lothian to launch his annual public health report. This years report has a focus on the importance of early years to good health and Dr Burns was keen to launch the report in an early years facility in the the east Lothian equally well test site area.
Dr Burns read a story to children attending the facility and talked with parents and grandparents about the contents of the report and his views about how health inequality can be addressed.
Here is the Chief Medical Officer - Dr Harry Burns’ Annual Public Health Report
And the slides of his presntation can be viewed here
Adam Ingram Childrens Service’s Minister November 25, 2009
Posted by wrays2 in : Service Champions, Steering Group, Uncategorized, community champions , add a comment
Group photo
On the 19th November Adam Ingram visited East Lothian to see for himself the work of Support from the Start. This vist was part of a series of ministerial visits to Equaly Well test sites that are part of the reconvening of the Ministerial taskforce on health inequalities which published the Equally Well strategy.
The programme was tight for the hours visit and began with the minister being welcomed by the senior champions for the test site including Dr Sue Ross, Director of Community Services on her penultimate day with East Lothan Council before leaving for new opportunities.
The first stop involved the minister meeting staff and children from Whitecraig primary who had been involved in a forest school programme. The fast tracking of Forest school in the test site area is one of the redesign initiatives sponsored by the test site. He then met staff involved in initiating the redesign of early years play services in the community of Whitecraig in response to the output from a civic conversation in the community that demonstrated a community demand for more play opportunities.
The minister then had short conversations with some of the twenty eight service champions who provide leadership for learning about how services can tackle health inequality within the test site.
Carol Golightly - Oral Health Promoter described the redesign of oral health services in Wallyford and Whitecraig initiated by a review of the service pathway which supported the outcome of reducing dental caries by P1
Helen Duncan, Cultural Coordinator - spoke of the use of art and culture to engage people in health issues within the test site
Pauline Homer, Early Years Development officer - spoke to the minister about wraparound care and the redevelopment of breakfast provision
Fiona Herriot Children 1st described the work she has beien doing with Homestart a community champion for Support from the start in ‘Making connections’ between services involved in the early years
Ann Hume Early Years manager spoke to the minister about the links between the test site and the early years framework in East Lothian
Anne Rooney & Rebecca Haack both from Midlothian council spoke of the plans to extend the test site into Midlothian communities
Finally there was an opportunity for ten minutes of questions and group discussion before the Minister left. Hopefully, he didnt find the programme too gruelling and got a flavour of what we are trying to achieve and how we are going about it.
programme-for-ministerial-visit-to-support-from-the-start
Healthy Living Service - Active bodies November 5, 2009
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Active bodies
A workshop on Active Bodies was one of the fifteen worskhop choices at the in service session on the 26th October held at Preston Lodge. It was given by Emma Biggart and Kirsty Preston. Emma looked at the role of the Active schools team and Kirsty at the role of the wider Healthy Living Service which the Active school team is part of. The link between physical activity and emotional well being has been well established through research. Regular physical activity is probably one of the best ways you can protect and enhance your emotinal well being at every stage of life.
As a nation Scotland has been putting on weight over the last several decades, yet the average daily difference in calorie intake from the 1950’s to now is reputedly around 10 calories. That is the equivalent of one digestive biscuit a day. In terms of physical activity however we are far less likely to be active on a regular basis than we were in the 1950’s. Small but sustained increase in calories coupled with less physical activity is what has caused the pounds to go onto the nations waist (including children). At the same time as the nation has been getting heavier we have also seen a rapid increase in mental health problems like stress and depression at all life stages.
Its not rocket science - but an environment that has more calories and less physical activity produces people that are heavier and more likely to find it difficult to cope with stress and life changes. The tricky part is changing the environment so that we can be more active and take in less calorie rich food.
You can see from Kirsty’s presentation that lots of good work is going on to give children and families the opportunities to be physically active. Do we need to do more and if so what are the priorities?
Kirsty presentation can be viewed here the-healthy-living-service
Restorative practise November 3, 2009
Posted by wrays2 in : Uncategorized , add a commentMaureen Mcglinchy gave a presentation on Restorative Practise at the 26th October in-service session.
Maureen has recently retired from her role as Head teacher at St. Columbas High in Clydebank Her workshop on restorative practise took the participants through the journey taken by St. Columbas High and West Dunbarton Council to embed RP in the school and role it out into the authority. Restorative practise is a relationship management strategy that focuses on understanding the the emotion created by behaviours
Maureen’s presentation can be viewed here restorative-practices-oct-09
