2018 Annual Public Health Report

Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health Reading July 2018 FOREWORD TABLE OF CONTENTS We are shaped by our environment more than we a defining generator of the town’s layout; and in About this Report ........................................................4 Research ................................................................22 may realise. Public health through the ages has Reading, the Thames side open spaces at Richfield In our area .............................................................22 always understood that environmental factors, from Avenue and at King’s Meadow provide homes to two Introduction – poor housing, lack of sanitation and poor air quality huge community events; the Reading Festival and the wider determinants of health ...........................6 Case Study: Reading Walks ..............................24 have an important role to play in determining our Reading Pride respectively. Communities and health inequalities ...........25 The Natural Environment ..........................................8 health; both as immediate threats to life and limb; and Policy ......................................................................25 as long-term factors creating long-term exposure to Berkshire’s natural environment can be seen to Policy ........................................................................8 Research ................................................................26 potential harms. Other disciplines - and indeed many provide opportunity for peace and tranquillity; gentle Research ..................................................................9 of our established arts - have sought refuge and and boisterous play; sport, competition and In our area .............................................................27 How can we measure Green space? ..............10 inspiration in nature; however, it has taken some time spectacle; natural habitats and preservation of Case study: Southcote Growallot ...................28 for public health and medicine to identify the evidence wildlife; and attractive places to walk; cycle and live Resources .............................................................11 base supporting what many of us had long felt; that amongst. That our communities are still able to live Opportunities and challenges ...............................30 Health Outcomes and Behaviours – nature and greenspace is good for us! amongst and use a variety of natural environments New developments and regeneration ............30 freely for our recreation is testament to many who Profiles ........................................................................12 Policy ......................................................................30 This report is intended for a wide audience. Since have fought for their preservation and enhancement. Mental Health ......................................................12 public health moved back into local government in Improvement in and widening access to green and In our area .............................................................13 Increasing access .....................................................32 2013, we have reconnected with many of our valued blue space must be a public health ambition in itself, Research ................................................................14 Research ................................................................32 colleagues in planning, leisure and sports and this report provides the evidence base to build development, parks and recreation, housing and that ambition. Case Study: Ridgeline Therapeutic Policy ......................................................................33 highways (amongst others) to create place-based Garden ...................................................................15 Case Study: Green Flag Campus at the strategies and deliver actions which bind together I truly hope that this report reconnects professions; Children and Young people ..............................16 University of Reading ........................................33 these wider determinants of health with our local communities and landowners who all have a duty to Research ................................................................17 priorities. I hope that this report reaches a wide and support the public’s health through creating the right Conclusions ................................................................34 diverse audience, most importantly to residents and environments for health to thrive and benefit us all In our area .............................................................17 Recommendations ...................................................34 to their representatives such as Councillors and GPs, through the beauty of natural and green spaces. Case Study: A Dose of Nature .........................18 who are poised to respond to the recommendations Physical activity ..................................................20 Bibliography ...............................................................35 laid out herein. Policy ......................................................................21 With ever increasing demands for new housing in the South-East of England, and the need to improve and increase infrastructure; so the natural environment can come under pressure and its intrinsic values may be overlooked. Berkshire is as a whole, a green and pleasant place. From the areas of outstanding natural beauty of the North Wessex Downs; to the Green Flag accredited parks of Slough, communities live close by Darrell Gale FFPH MSc BA (Hons) or surrounded by attractive green space. Rivers and Acting Strategic Director of Public Health for Berkshire waterways play an important part in our communities too – from the Thames at Windsor through to the reclaimed recreational parks and lakes of Dinton Pastures; these provide nature and people with nourishment, peace and pleasure. The new town planners who gave birth to Bracknell in the late 1940s planned a town where greenspace and recreation was 2 3 ABOUT THIS REPORT This report was developed and produced on behalf of Public Health Services the Acting Director of Public Health by Shared Public for Berkshire Health Services for Berkshire, and authored and coordinated by Dr Steffan Glaze (Foundation Doctor). Lynne Brett Sarah Shildrick This report is the joint effort of all Consultant-led Public Sam Claridge Health teams in Berkshire to produce the statutory Joy Smith annual report of the Director of Public Health both as a Trevor Keable pan-Berkshire document, celebrating the history of shared working across the six Unitary Authorities; and Becky Taylor also as a unique report for each individual authority. Emma Moule Nana Wadee Case studies were provided by a variety of individuals from local authority public health teams or other groups, such as voluntary organisations who are Reading Borough Council acknowledged below and with their contributions. Colleagues in Public Health and other departments of local government, as well as collaborators from other Finally, we acknowledge Judith Wright who was groups, contributed to the case studies found Interim Strategic Director of Public Health for Berkshire throughout this report or its design and administration. from April-December 2017, who conceived of the topic and encouraged us all to find the right environments Public Health Lead for Annual Report for health. Melissa Montague Contributors Berkshire Lead Consultants Graham Johnson in Public Health Nina Crispin Susanna Watt Shared Public Health Services for Berkshire Sharon Fitton Dr Jo Jefferies Luke Lloyd Bracknell Forest Dr Lisa McNally Natalie Ganpatsingh Reading The University of Reading Dr Marion Gibbon Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Teresa Salami-Oru Slough Dr Liz Brutus West Berkshire Matthew Pearce Wokingham Darrell Gale and Julie Hotchkiss 4 5 INTRODUCTION – This report will focus on one of the wider determinants Throughout the report, you will find case reports and The Wider Determinants of Health of health – the natural environment – and how this research. We want to make effective changes, such could be used to improve our health. We will begin by that investments made will reap benefits for our Health is a state of describing the natural environment and its relationship communities. The research is included to discuss the There are many factors, or determinants, that come complete physical, to other determinants of health, then go on to examine scientific factual evidence available, and local case together to affect our health. There are some we mental and social particular health dimensions in this context. Finally, we studies highlight the ways in which local communities cannot change – chiefly, our genes. Of the modifiable well-being and not will consider the challenges – and opportunities – to are already using the natural environment to stay factors, some are individual and personal choices such merely the absence the natural environment that we can adjust to improve healthy or improve their health. as taking up smoking or choosing to exercise. On a of disease or infirmity the wellbeing of our communities and from these build population level, there are the wider determinants of World Health recommendations to act on. health: a diverse range of economic, environmental Organisation, 1948 and social factors that affect people’s health and influence their choices and lifestyles. Difficult to quantify, many of these determinants are shaped by national and local

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