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The Public Health Well

The Public Health Well is an all-island (Ireland and Northern Ireland) health information website that promotes health and wellbeing by supporting evidence-informed decision making.

Latest spotlights

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7 December 2018

mychild.ie

A new website for parents, containing information and advice on pregnancy and the first 3 years of your child’s life. The site was created after research with parents and parents-to-be across Ireland.

Your guide to pregnancy, baby and toddler health
Trusted information from experts
Health services and support

Designed for parents, by parents

Over 4,000 parents took part in an online public survey - 20% of them were expecting a baby. Face-to-face research was also carried out. These parents included those at different stages of pregnancy and parenthood.

To access the website, click here

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20 November 2018

New Joint Oireachtas report urges a "whole systems approach" to tackling childhood obesity

A NEW report on tackling childhood obesity has been published by the Joint Oireachtas Children and Youth Affairs Committee.

The report contains over twenty recommendations that relate to a whole systems approach (Recommendation 1) that will help schools, communities and families make healthier choices for young people. These cover:

Addressing socio-economic inequalities
Promoting sports and physical activity
Specific school–based initiatives
Amendments to regulations in respect to advertising and marketing in broadcast and non-broadcast media
Increased support for breastfeeding in Ireland
Research and measures to protect children and young people against potential links between obesity, mental health and portrayal af body image in social and traditional media

To access the report, click here

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24 October 2018

Results of Health Ireland 2018 Survey, with a focus on health inequalities, released today.

Healthy Ireland Survey is an annual survey of the health and wellbeing of the Irish population. The data from the Survey provides an up-to-date picture of the nation’s health. The results tell us how healthy or unhealthy Ireland currently is.

Ipsos MRBI, on behalf of the Department of Health, carried out the latest wave, wave 4 of the survey in 2017/18.

The survey provides and reports on current and credible data in order to enhance the monitoring and assessment of the various policy initiatives under the Healthy Ireland Framework

The Survey found that:

• Those in more deprived areas are less likely to rate their health as good or very good, and more likely to have a long-term health problem

• Those in more deprived areas are also more likely to smoke and binge drink

• Self-rated good health declines earlier for men in deprived areas (around the age of 55 to 64) than it does for both men in affluent areas and women in deprived areas

• Women living in more deprived areas are more likely than those in affluent areas to continue smoking and binge drinking into their 50s

To access the report, Click here

To find out more about Healthy Ireland, Click here

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23 October 2018

Guidance on a data quality framework for health and social care

A considerable amount of data is collected on a regular basis about health and social care services in Ireland.

It is vital that there is confidence and trust in the quality of this data and information in order to support the provision of safe and efficient health and social care to patients and service users.

HIQA has recently published The Data Quality Guidance, along with a Background paper and an interactive version of the Data Quality Assessment Tool in relation to a Data Quality Framework for health and social care.

An animation on the importance of data quality has also been developed.

To access the Data Quality Guidance, Click here

To view the animation, Click here

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18 October 2018

Self-harm in Irish Prisons 2017

New data on self-harm in Irish prisons

There were 223 episodes of self-harm involving 138 individuals recorded in Irish prisons last year, according to a new report.

The first report on episodes of self-harm recorded in Irish Prisons found the annual person-based rate of self-harm was 4 per 100 prisoners. The rate of self-harm was higher among female prisoners and those on remand. In 2017, there were four episodes of self-harm (2% of all self-harm episodes) which resulted in the loss of life.

You can read the report here

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26 September 2018

View the presentations from IPH’s Childhood Obesity Symposium

‘Tackling childhood obesity: the economic and ethical imperatives’ was held in Belfast on 24 September 2018.

The aim of the event was to present recent findings about the lifetime costs of childhood obesity in Northern Ireland and the marketing of food to children in a digital world. It provided a platform to discuss the implications for tackling childhood obesity in Northern Ireland.

To view the presentations from the event, click here

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7 September 2018

Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Collective Leadership Strategy was launched in October 2017

The Strategy seeks to create a health and social care leadership community in which all take responsibility for nurturing cultures of high quality, continually improving, compassionate care and support.

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland is seeking your views in developing a core set of values and associated behaviours for Health and Social Care.

The questionnaire can be accessed here and is open until 28 September 2018

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29 August 2018

Fit to Fly report recommends action to reduce alcohol-related harm occurring in airports and aeroplanes

A new report by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) and the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE) has made recommendations to address alcohol-related harm occurring in airports and aeroplanes. The report recommended:

Better licensing regimes in airports, including, in the UK, the application of the Licensing Act so that premises after security are required to follow the same legislation as premises in the rest of the country
Alcohol consumption at airports to be restricted to bars and restaurants, with alcohol bought at duty-free put in sealed containers and picked up by passengers at the gate or put directly into the hold of the aircraft.
Empowerment of local police forces at landing airports through the application of the Montreal Protocol.

The report can be found here

Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS)

European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE)

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27 August 2018

IPH would like to invite you to its upcoming Obesity Symposium

‘Tackling childhood obesity: the economic and ethical imperatives’ will be held in the Clayton Hotel Belfast on 24 September at 10.30am.

The aim of the event is:

To present recent findings about the lifetime costs of childhood obesity in Northern Ireland and the marketing of food to children in a digital world
To discuss the implications for tackling childhood obesity in Northern Ireland

For more details and to register for the event, click here

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24 August 2018

International Healthy Cities Conference to be held in Belfast in 1-4 October 2018

Thousands of cities worldwide are part of the Healthy Cities movement. Healthy Cities is a global movement working to put health high on the social, economic and political agenda of city governments.

This Conference, which takes place every 5 years, offers the chance for cities to engage with their international counterparts and benefit from the Network’s experience. The 4-day programme in Belfast will be packed with opportunities to learn from the work of healthy cities globally, bringing together politicians and key decision-makers from within cities, as well as technical experts.