Agenda item

Briefing note and presentation of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing

The Board considered a briefing note and received a presentation of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing which informed of the Council’s participation in the Year of Wellbeing and sought direction on the focus of future local activity to promote lifelong wellbeing messaging to staff and residents. The Board also viewed a short video which provided a Coventry perspective of the year of activities from a range of organisations including schools and community groups.

The briefing note indicated that the 2019 Coventry and Warwickshire Year of Wellbeing was a public campaign across both authority areas driven by the joint Health and Wellbeing Boards acting as the ‘Place Forum’. The campaign provided a visual and messaging framework for the 24 individual Board partners to promote wellbeing and prevention activity throughout 2019 with a long-term intention to keep people well and reduce demand for health and care services. The main thrust of the activity focused on the development of a visual ‘brand’ that could be used by any partner and the use of positive, strengths-based language to showcase the benefits of staying well. The City Council was a strong adopter of the campaign, promoting it through media campaigns, public signage, intranet stories and opportunities for staff to engage in ‘wellbeing’ themed activity. The strength of the brand had been multiplied through its adoption by key partners across the NHS, police, universities and third sector. The Board were informed that in taking a ‘dispersed ownership’ approach to the event, this had grown the visibility and reach of the campaign.

Reference was made to the tie in with the European City of Sport.

Recognising the positive impact of the year, the branding and logo had been revised under the banner ‘Wellbeing for Life’ to secure longevity of use. A radio campaign was launched in early January to engage the annual ‘New Year resolution’ momentum with a longer-term aspiration for wellbeing. Support was being sought to maintain the use of the brand on Council materials where there was a ‘wellbeing’ element that was being highlighted.

It was proposed to launch, later in the spring, a Coventry and Warwickshire approach to ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’, a simple national model for promoting wellbeing that was intended to build the capacity of individuals to understand, value and act to balance their own wellbeing.

The briefing note and presentation highlighted the main targets of activity that had been delivered during the year as follows:

i) 100 local primary schools increasing child physical activities during 2019 - through partnership working with Think Active, Schools Games Organisers, School Sports Trust, CV Life and officer capacity, the target had been exceeded for contacts, activities delivered and advice/resources shared.

ii) Starting a conversation about loneliness and social isolation - national campaigns were supported and promoted to target messaging aimed at reducing stigma and generating social action. A strategic approach to loneliness was being developed in Coventry with a range of partners.

iii) Promote ‘Thrive at Work’ to Health and Wellbeing Board members and other employers - the majority of Board members had signed up for the ‘Thrive at Work’ wellbeing accreditation and results were very close to securing workplace wellbeing improvements for 19% of the working age population employed through the public sector.

iv) Achieve 1000 pledges by individuals to promote wellbeing – this figure had been exceeded by around 800 pledges. This figure was higher if the ‘One You’ web-based health pledges were included.

The year had been delivered with a total budget spend of £300,000 plus in kind contributions of staff time by partners.

Place Forum partners had now been consulted about their preferences in terms of legacy activity for the Year of Wellbeing. The health and care system was particularly interested to progress explorations into ‘anchor institutions’ models, whereby large, community-embedded organisations reviewed their purchasing power, facilities and estates, employment opportunities, partnerships and environmental impact to drive positive change for the communities in which they were located.

An external evaluation of the Year of Wellbeing had been commissioned through a company called Risk Solutions Ltd. Their final evaluation findings were expected in early February and would feature in the final report that was due to be published in March. A decision had been taken to continue funding 1 full time employee for a further 12 months to embed legacy activity and drive forward the ‘next steps work’.

The presentation highlighted the learning from the past year.

The Board questioned the officer on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Support for the success of local primary schools increasing child physical activities

·  Further information about the ‘anchor institutions’

·  Information about the support that had been provided for disabled citizens

·  What reach did the message of the Year of Wellbeing have for local residents

·  A request for specific examples of conversations about loneliness and social isolation and an acknowledgement of the difficulties of measuring successes for this action

·  How did Year of Wellbeing information reach people who had no access to the internet

·  Future opportunities for the Board to be able to scrutinise political decisions made by the Executive.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The proposals for the ‘Wellbeing for Life’ brand and messaging set out in 3.4 and 3.5 of the briefing note to support the visible legacy of the Year of Wellbeing be endorsed.

(2) The Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport be recommended to support the promotion of ongoing participation across Coventry City Council in the health and wellbeing agenda, particularly in relation to improving staff wellbeing.