What is a Healthy Living Centre?
Healthy Living Centre (or HLC) is catch-all description for a group of health-orientated projects established in the north of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales since 1998 with financial assistance from the Big Lottery Fund (previously New Opportunity Fund). There are 19 in the north with 5 in the Western Board area: two in Derry, one in Castlederg County Tyrone, and two in the Fermanagh towns of Roslea and Irvingstown.
HLCs are usually community led projects with various types of partners within the statutory sector and have generally been established to improve health and well being within a geographical area or of a community of interest.
When was the Health Forum established?
The first meetings of a putative community health initiative took place in April and May 1999. It was agreed that the area would benefit by the community and health sectors combining to form the nucleus of a health project. As a result a joint Steering Group was established to oversee the early stages of the project, to undertake a health needs action research project (Sláinte Linne – Health in our Hands) and to work together to submit a First Stage application to the Healthy Living Centre Programme which was available at the time.
The Health Forum became fully functional in 2001 when the necessary resources were secured as a result of the submission of a business plan by Bogside & Brandywell Initiative (BBI) on behalf of the Forum.
Why the Bogside & Brandywell and not the Culmore Road?
The area that created the Health Forum and within which it is based, suffers disproportionately worse from poor health than practically all other geographical areas within the city. It used to be a radical thing to equate social and economic deprivation with ill-health. Now, even the British Tory Party says it!
Put simply, if you are from a disadvantaged area you are more likely to suffer from life-limiting illnesses during your lifetime and more likely to die younger. Deaths from cancer, stroke and heart disease are alarmingly high within the greater Bogside & Brandywell neighbourhoods. The Brandywell Ward, which takes in a large part of the Bogside is the is considered by the Department of Health as being among the top ten unhealthiest wards in the north and is the only ward outside of Belfast.
The following table illustrates that if you live in the Brandywell Ward you are on average exactly twice as likely to die prematurely from a preventable illness.
Mortality – Life Expectancy
SMR Standardised Mortality Rates for people aged under 75: 1997 –2001. Top 10 worst wards. SMR = risk of people dying prematurely.
| Ward |
Local Government District |
SMU Under 75 |
| Falls |
Belfast |
240 |
| Ballymacarrett |
Belfast |
228 |
| Shankill |
Belfast |
214 |
| Crumlin |
Belfast |
201 |
| Whiterock |
Belfast |
199 |
| The Mount |
Belfast |
196 |
| Brandywell |
Derry |
195 |
| New Lodge |
Belfast |
193 |
| Scrabo |
Ards |
182 |
| Shaftsbury |
Belfast |
178 |
Worst 20% Wards 148
NI Average 100
Source: Equality & Inequalities in Health & Social Care DHSPSS 2004
“This shows that the risk of people living in these wards of dying prematurely is 48% higher than in Northern Ireland as a whole. The rate for males is higher than for females. The wards with the highest standardised mortality rates for people aged under 75 are mainly located in urban areas”. Pages 207-8
The corollary of the above is that people in affluent areas live healthier lives, live longer and will probably have better access to health services than people in poorer areas.
Are Health Forum staff medically qualified?
No. The Health Forum is not a medical group and does not ‘practice’ health in the way a General Practitioner does. We encourage people and groups to do something about the state of their own health, for instance in relation to smoking, diet, or exercise, thereby reducing the chances of becoming ill and requiring medical treatment.
Health Forum staff are experienced in developing programmes of health and social care improvement which are designed to meet the health needs of specific groups within the greater Bogside & Brandywell neighbourhoods.
Is all the Health Forum’s work targeted solely at the Bogside & Brandywell?
No. The Health Forum is funded primarily to improve the health culture of the Bogside & Brandywell and we usually insist that we draw at least 75% take up of any programme from within the immediate area. We do however carry out specific projects of work in other areas such as, in 2004, implementing a series of community-based seminars, entitled “A Pill for Every Ill?” throughout Derry. This led directly to the Health Forum taking a lead with Foyle Trust in the Foyle Tranquilliser Initiative (FTI). In 2006, we also carried out two pilot projects on behalf of investing for Health in Roslea and Gobnascale, both designed to transfer our experience of inter-sectoral working for the benefit of older people to other locations. Both have proved very successful.
How can other communities and initiatives benefit from the Health Forum’s experience?
We have hosted delegations from many communities throughout Ireland and have delivered presentations at health conferences since 2002. We have a very positive approach to providing assistance and advice to external organisations regardless of their locality or background. The Gasyard Centre, where we are based, has facilities for visiting groups.
If you are interested in finding out more about us, simply call us at (028) 71 365330 or at tonydoherty@freederry.org
