March 2018
Prepared by NHS Highland’s Health Improvement Team, Public Health
/ @nhsh_wellbeing
Topic / Page
Alcohol/drugs / 1
Communities (incl rurality, community planning) / 1
Early Years, children and young people / 2
Food, weight, physical activity / 3
General / 4
Health Inequalities, equalities, poverty / 6
Mental health and wellbeing / 7
Tobacco, smoking, cigarettes / 8
Work, health, employability / 8
Alcohol/drugs
Highland Alcohol & Drugs Partnership – local profiles for the 9 community partnerships in Highland
Minimum unit pricing of alcohol – final business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) underlines the rationale for minimum unit pricing from health and economic perspectives, setting out anticipated costs and benefits for all parties affected by a minimum price of 50 pence per unit. This is a refreshed and updated version of the 2012 BRIA.
Scottish Govt consultation on Update of the Licensing (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 closing date 6th June 2018
Access to alcohol – research into links between alcohol consumption and income. Research analysed: postcodes/ alcohol intake/ number of licensed premises/ income. Media article
See under:
- General for Health Improvement and Health Economics Alerts
Communities: community planning, community development, and rurality issues
Community Health Exchange (CHEX) – snippets ebulletins the March bulletins can be accessed on links to events, funding sources, research reports etc
Highland Community Planning Partnership Board - papers for March meeting can be found on
Institute for Voluntary Action Research empowered communities in the 2020s
- Research briefing – issues
- UK Countries briefing
Highland Community Planning Partnership website - with links to the 9 local Community Partnerships:
Population estimates for settlements and localities, mid-2016 National Statistics publication for Scotland. Key findings
Demographic change in the sparsely populated areas of Scotland research by the James Hutton Institute
- Research note – key findings
- News release
- Research project page – demographic change in remote areas – with links to further papers and background data
Early years, children and young people
Baby Boxes - Scottish Govt press release
21st century children: the state of play seminar from Glasgow Centre for Population Health. Access the presentation from:
Strengthening the voices of young people – initiative by Scottish Health Council to involve young people in the planning and delivery of health and social care. Highland was one of four test sites across Scotland (with events in Inverness and Ullapool focussing mainly on mental health and sexual health) and all reports can be found on:
Young People’s Participation
- in decision-making in Scotland: attitudes and perceptions. Full report
- in decision-making in Scotland: attitudes and perceptions. Research findings
- in out of school activities: research findings
Children, education and skills – Evaluation Strategy of the Attainment Scotland Fund
- Years 1 & 2: interim report. Evaluation aims to provide learning about overall implementation of the Fund and the extent to which its aims have been met over the first two years. Documents can be accessed from
- Interim report – research findings
- Years 3 & 4: report focuses on the evaluation activities between now and year 4 of the Fund
Learner Journey: analysis of Scottish education and training provision for 15-24 year olds - school attainment; apprenticeships; college provision; articulation between HNQs at college and university degrees; transition between school and university
Age Assessment Practice Guidance for Scotland good practice guidance for social workers and their managers involved in undertaking age assessments in Scotland. It aims to provide guidance about the assessment process from the initial presentation, consideration of vulnerabilities of the young persons which may affect the process, planning the assessment, information gathering/ analysis, and follow-up actions
See under:
- Mental health – for Scottish Govt press release about online support for eating disorders; for Mental Welfare report on advocacy
- General for Health Improvement Alert
- Health inequalities for the Glasgow Lone Parent Project
- Food, weight: for 10 Years On report
Food, weight, physical activity
Dignity Project Nourish Scotland and the Poverty Truth Commission - looks at the number of people who are experiencing food insecurity. The project highlighted the importance of community food providers providing emotional and practical support to people experiencing food insecurity, as well as inclusive spaces for people in the community to access, share and enjoy food, regardless of their circumstances
Food Standards Scotland – The Scottish Diet: it needs to change (2018 update of a 2015 report) report updates key findings about the Scottish diet and new insights into consumer attitudes towards changing the food environment, and information on calories consumed from alcohol.
- 2018 update
- Access the original 2015 report from
10 Years On: new evidence on TV marketing and junk food consumption amongst 11-19 year olds, 10 years after broadcast regulations report by Cancer Research UK
Fair Food Fund Scottish Govt press release
See under
- General for Health Improvement and Health Economics Alerts
General
What makes us healthy? An introduction to the social determinants of health download or read online from:
Local Government benchmarking framework source of graphically presented social care data by local authority. Areas of performance include: children’s services; corporate services; adult social care services; economic development; environmental services; culture and leisure services; housing services.
Experiences of social care in the Health & Care Experience Survey 2016/16 – analysis of free-text comments chapters focus on: Access (eg, information, availability, eligibility, location); Co-ordination and management (care management, inter-agency working, discharge planning); Delivery (relationships with professionals, compassionate care, continuity, employment conditions, choice and control, person-centred support, not feeling listened to, time); Outcomes (independence, social connectedness, stress and anxiety, recovery, safety); Unpaid care.
People’s experience in adult social care services: improving the experience of care and support for people using adult social care services NICE guidance
- background and links
- guidance
Code of practice for Continuing and Welfare Attorneys – second edition – updated February 2018 sets out guidance regarding continuing (financial) and welfare powers of attorney, as required under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. The Code covers information on creating a power of attorney, when an adult who has capacity to make his or her own decisions can appoint a person or persons to act on their behalf and make decisions on financial and/or welfare matters should capacity be lost in the future. The Code also sets out guidance for persons appointed as attorneys who are acting on behalf of an adult who has lost capacity to make their own decisions
New GP contract–
- introduction for a 3rd sector audience. Briefing by Voluntary Health Scotland
- Primary Care: people as partners, reflections on emerging models of care and support publication by Health & Social Care Alliance describes “opportunities to strengthen supported self management approaches for people as a result of the contract” It can be downloaded from:
Health improvement alert - publications and articles on range of health improvement topics: alcohol; children and young people; disabilities; food and nutrition; mental health and wellbeing; obesity; older people; oral health; physical activity; sexual health; smoking; substance misuse and addictions
Health Economics alert – recent publications and journal articles covering aspects of health economics. This edition covers September 2017-end January 2018: in future the alert will be produced bi-monthly. Range of subject areas including: alcohol; healthy eating; physical activity; smoking; social justice; parenting programmes; hospital admissions; mental health; obesity; winter fuel payments; HIV; breast screening; falls prevention; public health interventions; drugs; sexually transmitted infections
Births, deaths and other vital events, 2017 Q4 publication by National Records of Scotland
- Scottish Govt press release with summary
- publication, includes figures for NHS Boards and local authority areas
Scottish Health Council – Participation Standard National Overview Report summarises the self-assessment reports submitted by each of the NHS Boards in Scotland.
Co-production – project planner resource from Iriss
Health and social care standards – My support my life - published by the Scottish Government in June 2017, the new Health and Social Care Standards will go live from April 2018. The Standards set out what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland
Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 – Statutory Guidance the Act takes effect from 1 April 2018. This statutory guidance for local authorities, health boards and integration authorities includes: adult carer support plans and young carer statements; provision of support to carers; carer involvement; local carer strategies; information and advice for carers including short breaks services statements.
Smoke and fire alarms in Scottish homes – analysis of responses to the Scottish Government’s consultation
Nuisance calls -
- research into effectiveness of actions to reduce harm from nuisance calls. A lengthy report - but there is an Exec Summary.
- Citizens Advice Scotland webpages on nuisance calls
Social prescribing – the role of social enterprise briefing by Senscot
The evidence summit 2018 – report by Iriss on this event which “convened leaders from major practitioner, policy and professional bodies with an interest in the adoption and use of high-quality evidence across their organisations and sectors.”
Health inequalities, equalities, poverty
Scottish govt press release: future-proofing social security
Gender pay gap –
- video
- report exploring the causes and solutions to Scotland’s gender pay gap
The Living Standards Outlook 2018 – report by the Resolution Foundation. Different sections look at: wages, productivity and inflation; employment, hours and demographics; benefit and tax policy; housing, student loans and pension saving; prospects for average income growth; prospects for particular groups; inequality
Poverty and low pay in the UK report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies
Consultation by the Low Pay Commission gathering evidence on the effects of recent increases in the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage to inform thinking about future upratings. Closing date 1st June 2018.
Poverty: recent publications from Scottish Government
- press release
- Poverty and income inequality in Scotland 2014-17 rolling updates of the percentage and number of people, children, working-age adults and pensioners living in low income households in Scotland. Report and data/spreadsheets downloadable from:
- Persistent poverty in Scotland 2010-2016 (‘experimental statistics’) estimates of the proportion of people, children, working-age adults and pensioners living in persistent poverty in Scotland in 2010-2014, 2011-2015 and in 2012-2016. Persistent poverty identifies the number of individuals living in relative poverty for three or more of the last four years. It therefore identifies people who have been living in poverty for a significant period of time, the rationale being that this is more damaging than brief periods spent with a low income, with the impacts affecting an individual through their lifetime.
Cumulative impact of tax and welfare reforms report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Social Security Experience Panels – About Your Benefits and You – Qualitative Research Findings report analysing focus group and written responses within About Your Benefits and You . Includes analysis of priorities for improvement in the new social security system in Scotland, what currently works well, and what could be improved
- report:
- visual summary of findings
Consultation on Adults with Incapacity reform – easy read version
- easy read version can be downloaded from:
- the consultation pages of the Scottish Govt website are
The Equality Trust – national, local and individual manifestos:
- national manifesto for a fairer society
- local manifesto – the Fairness Fifteen
- individual manifesto – ten things you can do to tackle inequality
Holyrood Magazine article – Women and equality
Glasgow Lone Parent Project - evaluation report on impact of the Glasgow Lone Parent Project. Set up in 2014 by the Poverty Leadership Panel, the short-term project aimed to improve how mainstream services supported lone parents. There is scope to share this learning more widely to raise the profile of groups known to have poorer health, social and economic outcomes, and ensure that mainstream services provide more tailored support to improve these outcomes.
Ending rough sleeping in Scotland – interim report
See under:
- food…. Dignity project; Fair Food Fund
- work & health for report on working and workless households in the UK
- General for: What makes us healthy – introduction to the social determinants of health
- Alcohol – for research into access and income
Mental health and wellbeing
Suicide prevention – Scottish Govt consultation on draft action plan seeking views on themes and draft actions for possible inclusion in the action plan. Consultation closes on 30 April
- consultation NB the list of engagement events includes Inverness on 11 April – see
- press release
Befrienders Highland working to improve the lives of people who are lonely and isolated and have experience of mental ill-health, memory difficulties or dementia, and carers. More info on the website
Scottish Govt press release – online support for young people with eating disorders
Living well with dementia (revised 2017)
Coping with dementia (revised 2017) – publication for carers of people with moderate to severe dementia
The right to advocacy: a review of how local authorities and NHS Boards are discharging their responsibilities under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 information was collected in questionnaires and full responses can be found in the two (very legthy) appendices.
- report
- appendix 1: responses to Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 Advocacy Duty, adults – NB very long document
- appendix 2: responses to Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 Advocacy Duty, children and young people – NB very long document
The impact of loneliness and social isolation five students share their research with the Alliance
See under:
- General for Health Improvement and Health Economics Alerts
Tobacco
Supporting a smoke-free working environment simple guide by NHS Health Scotland
Work & health including employability
Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services – Work First and Work Able Scotland. Experimental statistics for 2017 (quarters 1-3)
Health & Social Care Staff Experience Report 2017 brings together national results from the NHS iMatter survey and the Dignity at Work survey
The future of working practices in Scotland. Scottish Affairs Committee report. Chapters include: employment status and modern employment practices; unfair employment practices; productivity and industrial strategy; devolution and employment support.
Working and workless households in UK: October to December 2017 statistics on the economic status of households in the UK, taken from the Labour Force Survey
See under:
- Tobacco: for smoke-free working environment guidance
- Health inequalities for consultation by Low Pay Commission
- Children, early yrs and young people – attainment fund; learner journeys
Margaret Brown | Policy Officer | Health Improvement Team | Public Health | NHS Highland |
Larch House | Stoneyfield Business Park | Inverness | IV2 7PA | Tel: 01463 704913
Email:
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