Equal health opportunities
An Early Years test site centre will address inequality in service pathways for children.
East Lothian is the Early Years test site centre for a new initiative to tackle health inequality across Scotland. The local authority has been selected to pilot 'Equally Well', a Scottish Government project designed to address the underlying causes of poor health before they develop further.
The first priority in East Lothian will be to review service pathways of health and wellbeing for children. This is being addressed by encouraging collaborative working between the community and service providers to identify what needs to be done and how it can be carried out.
The importance of Early Years
Early Years is a particularly important part of the health inequalities jigsaw as encouraging positive attitudes towards health at an early age will have an impact that will influence this generation and future generations too. The programme intends to reach out to children from birth to the age of 8, by improving community engagement, and providing extra support to those families who need it.
'This is a new approach for Scotland,' says Karen Grieve, Programme Manager, Health Improvement and Health Inequalities for the Scottish Government. 'We are putting into practice ideas that could make a real difference in improving the way public services work together.'
A further seven test centres will look at other areas of health inequality.
- Posted on 08 September 2009 under Early Years Matters, Food and health, General health promotion, Health Promoting Schools, Healthy attitudes and behaviours, healthy lifestyle, child health, Issue 16, Curriculum for Excellence.
- Tagged as health, equality.
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