ROLE
EXPLANATION
EXAMPLE
Monitoring the health status of the population
Tracks changes in health of the population and alerts people to potential problems
The current estimates show that Manchester has 90,000 adults and 14,000 children that are obese in a total population of
464,000. The fi gure for adults is expected to rise to 137,000 by 2015 with an additional 168,000 overweight adults by that time.
Identifying health needs of population
Identifies patterns of ill health implications for services
The National
Health Service (NHS) currently spends £2.3 billion per year on treating obesity alone and is projected to spend a further £17.4 billion on treating diseases for which elevated body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor
(Foresight, 2007).
Develops programmes to reduce risk eg early screening
Attempting to reduce the levels of ill health by introducing new programmes that identify people as being ‘at risk’ of a condition and engaging them in preventative programmes.
Being overweight and obese shortens life expectancy and increases the risk of developing many diseases including coronary heart disease (CHD), type 2 diabetes, stroke and some cancers (Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives (HWHL): A tool kit for developing local strategies, 2008). There is strong evidence to link childhood obesity with increased risk of elevated blood pressure, glucose intolerance, adverse blood lipid profi les and adverse changes to the heart. For example, a doctor identifying that someone is at risk of developing diabetes because of their obesity and referring them to a weight management programme for support in losing weight.
Health promotion
Reducing the impact of infectious diseases through immunisation and other control measures.
Encourage
an environment that supports active lives with more active travel options, and enables people to eat a healthy balanced diet.
Planning and evaluating
Assessing the provision of relevant health services and whether or not they are having sufficient impact on the problem.
“We need wide ranging interventions on information, education, food provision, active lifestyles, transport and behaviour change to tackle obesity and achieve improvements in the population’s health.” Give examples of what is needed to be assessed in the case of obesity. In the case of obesity, this might include assessing breathing, weight height, BMI and assessing whether or not:
-Local services can meet the demand for weight management services
-There is sufficient ‘capacity’ (e.g. service provision) to meet the rising demand for obesity-related services.
-The existing model of services is managing to help people to reduce their weight and sustain that change.
Target setting
Defining targets for a locality, region or country that might lead to disease reduction, improved vaccination rates, etc.
A national government target is to halt the rising rates of obesity in children under the age of 11 by 2010. A relevant local target might be based on weighing and measuring reception and Year 6 children. The data could be used to track progress against the national target.
Controlling communicable disease