Good or bad health is not simply the result of individual behaviours, genetics, and medical care. A substantial difference in health outcomes is down to the social, economic, and environmental factors that shape people’s lives – including where we live, our level of education and our income. These factors are collectively described as the wider determinants of health. The Elected Member health and wellbeing champion recognises the role those wider determinants have on our health and wellbeing.
This case study is designed to capture learning from the delivery of the Healthier Place, Healthier Future programme to support both the local and independent evaluation and share examples of good practice with wider stakeholders.
Case studies have been collated to describe projects/initiatives delivered as part of the wider Healthier Place, Healthier Future programme, sharing insights and experiences and exploring new ways of working. As the national Childhood Obesity Trailblazer Programme (COTP) applies a test and learn approach, this provides opportunities to be innovative. Case studies describe what works well and what doesn’t work and how this might inform future delivery of the local programme, whilst providing an opportunity to collate feedback from stakeholders and beneficiaries and disseminate learning with others.
The wider determinants of health
Good or bad health is not simply the result of individual behaviours, genetics, and medical care. A substantial difference in health outcomes is down to the social, economic, and environmental factors that shape people’s lives – including where we live, our level of education and our income. These factors are collectively described as the wider determinants of health. The Elected Member health and wellbeing champion recognises the role those wider determinants have on our health and wellbeing.
This role is significant as policy change requires maintained councillor engagement. Whilst district councils have no ‘direct’ responsibility, they can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing through a variety of their responsibilities including planning, leisure and green spaces, environmental health, waste collection, housing, revenue and benefits, economic growth and their reach into communities via their councillors. As health is impacted by the environment, district councils can have a considerable influence on the health of their residents.
What is an Elected Member health and wellbeing champion?
Pendle Borough Council has developed a new health and wellbeing champion role for two councillors; the role has been developed to support Pendle’s Community Framework and the Local Authority Healthy Weight Declaration, which has been adopted within the borough.
The champion will drive commitment to the Pendle Community Framework across both the political spectrum, council service areas and wider partnerships and demonstrate leadership, passion and commitment for the intertwined factors that are associated with health and wellbeing that impact on the local population.
How does the role fit within local government?
The Elected Member health and wellbeing champion supports the local authority Declaration on Healthy Weight. The Healthy Weight Declaration is a strategic, system-wide commitment made across all council departments to reduce unhealthy weight in local communities, protect the health and wellbeing of staff and citizens and to make an economic impact on health and social care and the local economy.
The champion is key to help advocate for health and wellbeing and influence decisions across the council and local / Pennine Lancashire health system and structures. The role also helps to champion relevant local programmes and strategic networks – for example, health and wellbeing networks, chairing health partnerships, assessing planning applications for health impacts and supporting community health initiatives.
How does the champion support the Healthier Place, Healthier Future Programme?
- This role supports the ‘system leadership’ lever – ‘to engage and inspire action to support healthy weight and more broadly the health and wellbeing agenda’.
- Through the work with system leaders, a key aim is to raise awareness about health within Councils to support a ‘health in all policies approach.’
- Outputs include: an increased understanding of the impact that engaging councillors can have on the health and wellbeing of residents, councillors have increased knowledge of their role in influencing Primary Care Networks to ensure a whole system approach and sharing learning across boundaries.
Who should be working closely with champions?
Key stakeholders for this role are:
- Council officers – in communicating to members about the health and wellbeing role and what is expected of champions who take on this role, including opportunities to engage and show leadership across the local system
- Councillors – to step forward to champion this role.
- Primary Care Networks – in accommodating councillors in the champion role and to facilitate partnership working across health and social care locally.
- Health and wellbeing Boards (HWBs) / organisations – to communicate with members with up-to-date initiatives and campaigns in the local area.
What is the value of having a champion?
- One (or several) Elected Member health and wellbeing champions.
- Specific resources and support on the topic of healthy weight and health and wellbeing, designed for members.
- Adoption of the Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight.
- Opportunity to mentor new councillors on health and wellbeing and identify future members to lead on themes related to health and wellbeing.
How will we demonstrate or understand the efficacy of this role?
- Monitoring and evaluating the adoption of the Healthy Weight Declaration
- Touchpoint meetings with Elected Member health and wellbeing champions on the role and supporting the development of learning resources
- Working with colleagues in other departments across the council to embed COTP work and principles into their plans.
Learning: what we know and want to understand further
- This role is new, in that it is still unknown whether the champion role will be successful in increasing knowledge amongst councillors of the Healthy Weight Declaration and what this means at a political level.
- Indicators of success would be the district adoption and / or renewal of the Healthy Weight Declaration.
- Further indicators of success would be an increase in the number of members who are knowledgeable on the health and wellbeing agenda; for example, accessing the HWB learning resources and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.
- Wider member engagement in relation to local health and wellbeing plans and strategies and how these align with broader, yet converging agendas and priorities for district councils.