Plan sets out strategy to tackle health inequalities in Northamptonshire
Integrated Care Northamptonshire (ICN) has set out its vision for tackling the causes of health inequalities in our county with the publication of a new strategy and action plan.
Health inequalities are described as ‘unfair and avoidable differences in health across populations and between different groups’ (The King’s Fund, 2020).
These differences are influenced by people’s widely varying experiences of the social factors affecting our health – such as education, housing and employment. They lead to inequalities in physical and mental health, people’s ability to prevent sickness and to get treatment when ill health occurs.
The Northamptonshire Health Inequalities Plan, now available to download from the ICN website, describes how we plan to work with communities so that everyone in our county has the chance to thrive and to access quality services providing excellent experiences and the best outcomes for all.
Addressing health inequalities is a core principle behind the establishment of integrated care systems and is one of the four key aims of Integrated Care Northamptonshire.
The long-term ambition set out in the Northamptonshire Health Inequalities Plan is to see:
- An increase in people’s healthy life expectancies
- A reduction in health inequalities
- A reduction in early death
- Improved community cohesion
To achieve these ambitions, the plan outlines a set of guiding principles for how we need to work together as an integrated care system to understand and address health inequalities. These principles will be embedded across all our health and care organisations working across Integrated Care Northamptonshire.
Alongside these principles, specific actions are being developed at every level of our integrated care system – from county-wide down to local neighbourhoods – to address health inequalities. The key areas of focus for 2022/23 are set out in the plan and will be reviewed every year.
An online toolkit of resources is available to support health and care colleagues across Northamptonshire to understand and address health inequalities in their work.
This toolkit now has a new home on the ICN website at icnorthamptonshire.org.uk/health-inequalities. It includes a host of useful online resources, including training materials, data and insights, links to key information and how-to guides, and templates such as equity audits and impact assessments.