This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Tackling child health inequalities
18/04/2005
Phase Two of the Starting Well project was launched
today, giving vulnerable families support from a range of
agencies to improve confidence in parental skills and give
children the best start in life.
The second phase of the project is based on final
guidance on Health for All Children Four (Hall 4) which was
published today.
The Executive will provide over £1.6 million to Starting
Well until the end of March 2006. An independent
evaluation of Phase One of Starting Well is also published
today.
Deputy Health Minister Rhona Brankin said:
"A happy parent means a happy baby - this is the common
sense thinking behind the Starting Well project. Since the
launch of Starting Well in 2000, over 1800 families have
benefited from support on a range of issues from mental
health, positive parenting, debt and employment
advice.
"Starting Well teams have helped to improve children's
health by improving parental self-esteem and psychological
well-being and making parents feel better equipped to look
after their children.
"Mothers taking part in the project showed lower rates
of depressive symptoms after six months and the number of
children registered with a dentist also increased.
"The Hall 4 guidance published today emphasises the best
use of existing resources to enable good communication
between health, education and social work professionals,
local authorities, charities and organisations who have an
interest in child welfare. That is what Phase Two of
Starting Well will do, by creating a multi-skilled team to
help vulnerable children and families across Glasgow.
"Hall 4 is also about refocusing existing resources to
ensure they are more effectively directed to areas of
identified need. In line with Hall 4 guidance, the second
phase of Starting Well will focus on targeting vulnerable
families across Glasgow rather than working with all
families in two specific communities.
"By this time next year, vulnerable families all over
Glasgow will benefit from Starting Well.
"Children deserve the best possible start in life, and
by tackling health inequalities we can help ensure the
future health of all children in Scotland. The learning
from Starting Well will be shared across the country."
Dr Michael Killoran Ross, Project Manager for the
Starting Well project in NHS Greater Glasgow said:
"Phase Two of the Starting Well Project is a direct
response to 'Health for All Children'.
"In Phase Two, we will develop multi-agency teams that
will provide support to the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged children in our communities.
"The implementation of the Project in Phase Two will
provide valuable national lessons in intensive family
support."
Phase one of Starting Well was launched in Glasgow in
2000 with the long-term aim of improving child health and
families' well-being in two deprived areas of Glasgow
(Greater Easterhouse and Gorbals/Govanhill/North
Toryglen). It was given £3 million of support from the
Scottish Executive. A further £1.6 million was allocated
for the transition year to plan Phase Two of Starting
Well. The Executive has committed £1,609,000 of funding to
the Starting Well project until the end of March 2006
(Phase Two). Phase Two of the project will be extended so
it covers the whole of Glasgow city by March 2006.
Usually new mothers will receive a minimum of six
contacts over five years with the health visiting service
but with Starting Well they were offered about 34 contacts
with the home visiting teams over the first three years.
The support is offered by a mixed-skill team which includes
health visitors, lay health support workers (employed from
the local communities), community nursery nurses, a
bilingual worker and community support facilitators. The
families are offered wide ranging support from home-based
debt advice, baby massage, respite childcare, advice on
community facilities, employment advice, to accompanying
the mother to hospital appointments.
Starting Well is a partnership between NHS Greater
Glasgow, NHS Health Scotland, Glasgow City Council, One
Plus, the local community and voluntary organisations.
An independent evaluation report carried out by the
Public Health and Health Policy Unit at the University of
Glasgow of Phase One of the Starting Well project will be
published today on the Scottish Executive website. This
report shows that improving child health and mothers'
well-being requires sustained, long-term effort. The
findings support shorter-term benefits to the psychological
health of the mothers and potentially longer-term cognitive
and emotional developmental benefits of the children. Also
an internal report of Phase One which includes contact
details and comprehensive information on different areas of
Starting Well's work will be published today by NHS Health
Scotland.
This project is one of three national health
demonstration projects that has been given the go-ahead for
a second phase. The other projects are Have a Heart
Paisley and Healthy Respect. Each project was set up by
the Executive to test new ideas on health improvement and
act as a learning resource for the rest of Scotland.
Further information on Starting Well's work can be found on
the Early Years Learning Network web site:
www.phis.org.uk/projects/default.asp?p=fa
The fourth edition of Health for all Children (known as
Hall 4) was published in December 2003. The report is the
most recent review by the Royal College of Paediatrics and
Child Health of UK child health screening and surveillance
practice. It is a move away from solely checking for
abnormalities towards a greater emphasis on health
prevention and promotion, particularly targeting children
living in deprived areas. A consultation on the draft
guidance finished on the 31st of March 2004. 153 responses
were received in addition to a report from Children 1st,
these responses have been analysed in the document
published today.
The main aims of Hall 4 is to:
- Ensure parents and supported and
empowered to keep children healthy and safe.
- Develop an evidence base of
screening, surveillance and health promotion that
supports child health.
- Identify the needs of vulnerable
children and families and ensure these are met.
- Promote the development of
support through integrated models to make use of skills
across different agencies.
- Highlight the need to monitor
population health through effective data
recording.
- Stress the need for efficient
information sharing.
- Develop an evidence base of
screening, surveillance and health promotion that
supports child health.