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Case Studies |
Examples from Partners
Scotland
Inverurie
Inverurie has promoted healthy living by the creation of walking trails around the town, with signage and leaflets (see also component ‘Tourism’). Walking and the use of bicycles is actively encouraged. The Health Service has also promoted walking trails around the town.
Sweden
Public Welfare Co-ordinator
The Local Council in Strömstad has established a position called ‘Public Welfare Co-ordinator’ whose function is to implement the National Welfare Plan into a local level. Every year the Co-ordinator makes a final ‘welfare account’ showing a range of facts that relate to residents’ health. The account contains several indicators such as:
• Participation
• Economic and social security
• Safe and good conditions while growing up
• Improved health in working life
• Healthy and safe products and environments
• A more healthy promoting health and medical care
• Protection against transmission of infection
• A safe and secure sexuality and a healthy reproductive life
• Increased physical activity
• Good eating habits and safe foodstuffs
• Diminished use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.
The balance gives a good picture of health status at the local level and gives good basic data for decision-making.
Public health projects in Stromstad:
(i) Children and parents:
One person is working with tobacco-, alcohol- and drug prevention within the school and with parents. Parents are the best drug preventors. We support a regional centre that gives support and helps schools to develop their health programmes both with lifestyle issues and self-confidence. They also give fun and practical teachings to children of various ages, to learn about the body, sex and relations, tobacco, food/nutrition etc.
(ii) Young adults, young people on their way to adulthood
Mainly by lifting the health perspective through a ‘rehabilitation network’ with the insurance bureau, employment office, public healthcare and the social welfare.
(iii) Safe and secure environment, including domestic violence and a public health approach in all plans for the community.
We have a safe and secure network that is responsible for the prioritized groups. There is a network with people from 15 different settings meeting regularly with our common plan including both promotion, prevention and caring for women, children and men.
(iv) Healthy ageing
We support a programme that gives almost free help to old age persons with physical heavy duties in their homes, with a ‘home janitor’. Two aims are to prevent fall accidents and to give assistants so they can live safe at home a longer period of their lives.
(v) Encourage more physical exercise, especially among groups with low fitness.
We have created a health path around the city; witch is accessible for most people. We have promoted a 4 km walking event - the participants, 150- 200 persons, come with walkingsticks, prams, wheelchairs etc.
Poland
Lębork
A model for developing eQualities in health
Lębork Municipality is a partner in project realised in cooperation with Independent Public Specialist Health Care Institute in Lębork ( Lębork Hospital), and Medical University of Gdansk partners from other countries. The 17 partners participating in the project come from regions covering almost the whole Baltic Sea Region and together they pursue the vision of ‘eHealth for all citizens’. The target of the project is to create the new health care quality, modernization of cure methods, offer the highest service quality and costs savings through implementation of new technology, especially based on data transfer through telephone or internet.
The project partners exchange the experiences and best practices in theory and implemented technology. (see more about this pilot project on: www.ehealthforregions.net/results/31_eCardiology.php ).
E-radiology pilot project aims to establish the co-operation between Polish and German partners to provide second opinion from radiologists via Internet. (see more about this pilot project on: www.ehealthforregions.net/results/32_eRadiology.php ).
These methods can be used not only internationally but in cooperation between small towns and big cities, in which the big hospital centres with specialised staff are placed.
www.ehealthforregions.net (ENGLISH)
Examples from Elsewhere
West Lancashire Primary Care Trust, UK
Improving Access for Migrant Workers
Migrant workers are not confined to urban areas. Their presence in rural areas and small towns in the north west of England has brought up concerns about the quality of health care service provided to them. One of the key concerns is the language barrier, as the majority of the workers do not speak English. In urban areas, this is not a problem as interpretive services are readily available. An initiative co-ordinated by community development officers was established in the regional rural area to overcome the language barrier. They worked with local employers of migrant workers to establish what the likely health needs of workers would be and how the language barrier was addressed in employment training programmes. The majority of access problems were addressed through the provision of multi-lingual registration forms and information about basic service and health issues. Interpretive services were identified and made available where necessary for appointments. In order to further integrate migrant workers, classes to teach the English language have been established with ready access.
www.ruralhealthgoodpractice.org.uk
Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston North Ayrshire, Scotland UK (combined population 31,350)
3 Towns – Healthy Living
The ‘3 Towns – Healthy Living programme’ is a lottery-funded initiative to promote healthy lifestyles in south-west Scotland. Its main goal is to ensure all residents have access to information and services that will help improve their health. In order to reach the widest range of residents, this involves a number of initiatives. Information about services and educational information about health issues are available on the programme website. The same information is also available at a centrally located drop-in information shop. The programme supports health-related community groups by providing them access to a free venue three days a week. In addition, it sponsors free exercise classes, stress management classes, bereavement counselling, and lifestyle coaching. These programmes are tailor-made to the residents and groups who use them. In addition, they run a programme called “Good Morning Three Towns” which call each morning to check on vulnerable members of the community.
www.healthy3towns.org.uk
Northern Wheatbelt Region, Western Australia (population 6,098)
Sporting Social Capital
Rural sports research has typically focused on access to playing fields or the effects of sports on physical health promotion. In a study published in 2005, the important role sports plays on culture and social systems in rural areas was highlighted. In urban areas, there are countless ways of building new relationships through social interaction. This is not the case in rural areas, where the social network of a town is limited in numbers. Sport is typically an activity intended for children, with fewer adults taking part in sporting clubs. The study used adult participation in sporting clubs to measure its importance within the community. The research found that between 25-30% of people over the age of 15 were found to take part in sporting clubs in urban areas around Australia. However, in the Wheatbelt Region of Western Australia, results revealed over 60% participation for people over the age of 15. The drastic difference suggests that the motivations for joining sporting clubs go beyond the desire to be physically active. In fact, a high percentage of people were involved in the club in a non-playing capacity as umpires, coaches or spectators. The study found that sporting clubs were the most efficient way for people in this area to take part in a group leisure activity, build new relationships and find a sense of identity within their community.
(Tonts 2005)
Isanti County, Minnesota USA (total population 34,000)
Active Living by Design
The ‘Active Living by Design programme’ recognises the challenges residents in small towns and rural areas have in maintaining active lifestyles. Despite normally having more open space than is available in urban areas, there can be barriers to accessing that space. The programme encourages small town and rural areas to provide the infrastructure necessary to overcome these barriers. This includes planning and developing walking and cycling paths, making route information available and supporting active community groups. In Isanti County, local authorities have worked hard to provide all three of these services to the local community. In addition, walking buses have been employed to get children safely from home to school in an active way. Fun Runs and half marathons have been used to raise money for trail development. Local churches have been recruited to support senior walks and physical activity classes for elderly residents. Maps and route information has been published and made available for residents in health clinics, churches and schools.
www.activelivingbydesign.org
European Rural and Isolated Practitioners Association
Supporting Care Providers
EURIPA is an organisation currently operating in 21 countries within Europe. Practitioners in small towns and rural areas have very different needs than those in urban areas. Programmes delivered by EURIPA are specifically designed to help rural communities and health practitioners deal with the problems of isolation, deprivation, access to care, professional education and personal development. EURIPA holds annual meetings to facilitate communication and partnerships between rural practitioners from around Europe. At these meetings, it presents the results of its research into rural primary care issues. It has also established specialised health care partnerships to ensure appropriate information and support is given to the right people at the right time. At present, it is developing a new publication, ‘The European Journal of Rural Health’ to distribute information more efficiently to health professionals and care providers around the continent.
www.euripa.org
Principal Contacts
The Institute of Rural Health (IRH) - www.rural-health.ac.uk
IRH "Database of Good Practice in Rural Health and Wellbeing" - www.ruralhealthgoodpractice.org.uk
European Rural and Isolated Practitioners Association - www.euripa.org
Active Living by Design network (USA) - www.activelivingbydesign.org
Countryside Recreation Network, (2006) ‘The physical and mental health benefits of green exercise’ – email
CABE, (2006), ‘Designing for Care: Neighbourhood Healthcare Buildings’ – www.cabe.org.uk
CSIP, (2007), ‘Connecting housing to the health agenda’ – www.icn.csip.org.uk/housing
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