PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF FISHERMEN REPORT OF AN EVALUATION OF HEALTH TRAINERS WORKING WITH FISHERMEN IN THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE Judy White Karina Kinsella December 2013 1 Executive Summary In the spring and summer of 2013, Health Together at Leeds Metropolitan University undertook an evaluation of a pilot run by East Riding Health Trainer Service which aimed to reach and support fishermen, related workers and their families to improve their health. The pilot was initially funded by the Seamen's Hospital Society and the evaluation involved analysing the monitoring data and case stories collected by the health trainers; talking to clients (eight were interviewed over the telephone); the two health trainers and three stakeholders. The aim of the evaluation was to discover: how far the service had been successful in reaching fishermen and their families whether the service had been effective in supporting them to improve their health and well-being what the views of clients were of the service what factors were key to determining the effectiveness of the pilot The evaluation found that the pilot was very successful in reaching fishermen and engaging them in talking about and taking action on their health. The key was going to them – the health trainers worked from the Harbour Office in Bridlington and from the shore front in Hornsea and Withernsea; spending time building trust through a non-judgemental approach and finding different ways to gain the fishermen’s interest including a ‘Fit2Fish’ competition, food tasting and offering health checks. Taking this approach the health trainers were able to work with the majority of fishermen plus a few family members, other workers and retired fishermen. The support provided enabled clients to make changes to improve their health and well-being and reduce their lifestyle risk factors. The clients interviewed were full of praise for the service. Clients greatly appreciated the way the service was tailored to their needs, and the friendly, non-judgmental, empathetic, practical approach taken. The authors recommend that every effort is made by the East Riding Health Trainer Service to continue its outreach work with fishermen as part of its mainstream activity as originally envisaged. This could include seeking funding to retain a presence at Bridlington harbour and with fishermen in Hornsea and Withernsea. More work is needed to support those who have accessed the service to maintain the changes made and there is a need for more outreach - particularly with retired and out of work fishermen. Given the nature of the community it seems unlikely that many will access health checks or a health trainer unless they are in the workplace, and it seems important to build on the relationships the health trainers have established and reintroduce a service in all three locations. Fishermen remain a group with a high risk of poor health outcomes – what this pilot has demonstrated is that with the right approach they can be supported to make changes to improve their health. 2 The fishing industry on the Yorkshire coastline The Yorkshire coastline, between Flamborough Head and Spurn Point, is now largely known for crab and lobster fishing with Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea being the main fishing communities in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Fishing used to be a thriving industry but has declined in recent years, with fewer vessels operating, an ageing workforce and generally fewer people working in the industry. At the end of 2011 there were 66 vessels operating along the Holderness coast – 42 from Bridlington, 7 from Hornsea and 9 from Withernsea and 8 from other settlements, employing around 145 people – 97 in Bridlington, 14 in Hornsea and 18 in Withernsea and other smaller settlements.1 The Health Trainer Service estimated that the number working as fishermen had fallen to 132 by the time of the pilot (112 in Bridlington, 12 in Hornsea and 8 in Withernsea). Bridlington is the country’s leading shellfish port, exporting most of its lobster catch to Europe.1 Fishermen in Bridlington operate from the harbour and each skipper has a hut around the harbour where they mend pots and nets. Hornsea and Withernsea by contrast, do not have harbours and the fishermen launch their boats from the beach. Fishing – dangerous for your health? Despite improvements in equipment etc, fishing is still one of the most hazardous of all occupations. Fishermen in Britain have a one in 20 chance of being killed on the job during the course of their working lives and ten fishermen continue to lose their lives at sea, on average, every year.2 The number of work-related injuries is high for example cuts to hands with the risk of infection are particularly common, as are back and neck injuries due to having to hold awkward positions, operate in restricted spaces etc.2 The work is often physically strenuous, plus the hours are unpredictable and anti-social, with fishermen dependent for their livelihood on the weather and the availability of fish. Falling quotas and allowable catches have added to the stress skippers in particular are under, with their income being unpredictable and variable across the year. So it’s hardly surprising that many fishermen find it hard to look after their health. As it says in the Fishermen’s health manual2: ‘Hard risky work with long irregular hours can make health choices difficult when it comes to booze and grub’2 Fishing is a virtually all male occupation (we were told of one woman who went out to sea with her husband) and as the Fisherman’s health manual says because of the nature of their hours and work: ‘At the best of times men aren’t particularly great at getting to the doctor, dentist or optician. It can be even more difficult for fishermen.’ 2 1 Holderness Coast Fishery Local Action Group Strategy August 2011 2 Seamen’s Hospital Society, Fisherman, A Health Workshop Manual for working fishermen 2012 3 One of the stakeholders interviewed said: ‘that reluctance to go to the doctor or to some other health professional is part of the psychology which is present within the industry.’ (P9) 3 Another stakeholder commented that fishermen, because the work is so hard ‘tend not to think about themselves and live life to the full.’ (P8) Fishermen themselves recognised this: ‘we work funny hours so I just end up forgetting to eat half the time.’ (P11) ‘although fishing is active it is not good for sleep or rest. The young ones in Bridlington are fishing for hours.’ (P3) However several of the clients interviewed were aware of the need to look after their health and were already making efforts to for example, eat a healthier diet. One who was a bait gatherer walked many miles every day and another regularly walked his dogs, so it would be a mistake to paint all fishermen as neglecting their health, despite the difficulties that their occupation present in terms of sticking to a regular, healthy routine. How did the project come about? In 2010 the Seamen’s Hospital Society invited coastal health trainer services to bid to do some outreach work with fisherman and the East Riding Health Trainer Service was successful. These funds enabled the project to get established, then in November 2011 the Fishery Local Action Group for the Holderness coast was awarded £1.15m of European monies to develop the local fishing industry and the Health Trainer Service were given a small grant to further develop their work with fishermen. The initial pilot programme enabled the employment of one part time female health trainer working a total of two days a week. The hours worked were stretched over a working week to make it possible to offer early morning or late afternoon appointments to fit in with the fishermen’s working hours. Further funding was found for year two from both the Seamen’s Hospital Society and substantially from FLAG. So when the original health trainer went on maternity leave she was replaced by two health trainers (one male, one female) working 2.5 days between them across the working week which enabled them to provide an even more flexible approach. It was envisaged that when the dedicated funding came to an end the Health Trainer Service would continue the work with fishermen within its mainstream service, and that this would be supported by the identified health champions within the fishing community. 3 P stands for participant and is used to attribute quotes without using names. 4 How did the project operate? The health trainers had an office base in the Health Trainer Shop in the centre of Bridlington but for their work with fishermen they were based in the Harbour Office (which was made available free of charge) on Bridlington harbour. From year two of the programme they started to offer free NHS health checks (blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and body mass index, lung function), plus information and advice on a wide range of health issues, in the huts, warehouses etc. on the harbour as well as in the office. The health trainers went out into the harbour area and talked to not just fishermen but those working in support roles (e.g. bait gatherer, harbour shop and office workers). Their aim was to interest not just active fishermen and those working in the harbour, but fishermen who were out of work or retired and their families, in doing something to improve their health. The health trainers also organised events such as a healthy eating day with a free healthy breakfast and recipes, and a ‘fit2fish’ competition to encourage fishermen to become more physically active. The competition ran over two months, January/February 2013, and built on the fact that the fishermen were quite competitive with each other and involved throwing competitions as well as signing up for health checks.