A better start

An update to the Healthy Child Programme, the public health early intervention programme, reflects changes in the children's health landscape. The new version, which puts an increased emphasis on pregnancy and the first five years of life, higlights parenting support, applying new information about neurological and children's development, altered public health priorities and a focus on vulnerable families. There are now three core documents, covering pregancy and the first two years, the two year review and five to nineteen years old.

In the margins

Data on marginalised groups in the East of England is provided by Eastern Region Public Health Observatory (ERPHO). Covering looked after children, travellers and gypsies and asylum seekers and refugees amongst others, the figures are provided at local authority level.

Mind the gap

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 1 in 3 deaths in England and Wales and the burden of this falls most heavily on people living in deprived areas of the country, according to the Care Quality Commission. In its report, Closing the Gap, the Commission calls for a renewed drive to deal with CVD. Stroke Statistics 2009 from the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association provides some evidence to support this view. National mortality target monitoring covers data on circulatory disease. The latest release, which includes figures for 2008, shows that, although overall mortality rates for circulatory disease have fallen, the gap between the Spearhead Group (PCTs in the most deprived areas) and England is not reducing at a similar pace.

Immunisation

NICE guidance issued in September aims to reduce differences in immunisation uptake. This latest Public Health guidance document will be supported by implementation tools later this year.

Community spirit

Examples of good practice abound in a report resulting from the Communities for Health Programme. There's also a report on the story so far from IDeA. Also new from the Communities and Local Government Department, Building Cohesive Communities: What frontline staff and community activists need to know, a guide what works in building communities for frontline workers.

Migratory behaviour

Reports from the Office of National Statistics offer a new way of presenting migration data. Information released provides estimates of short term migration at local authority level for the first time. ONS has been working on changes to the reporting as part of the Migration Statistics Improvement Programme.

It's your age...

What do health and social care organisations need to do to ensure that people who use their services are not discriminated against because of their age? The government asked Sir Ian Carruthers, Chief Executive of NHS South West, and Jan Ormondroyd, Chief Executive of Bristol City Council, to review this issue, so that the industry will be ready to comply with the public sector requirements in the Equality Bill, currently working its way through Parliament. Significant recommendations include: research on the upper age limit in breast cancer screening and the use of QALY (Quality Adjusted Life Years) in decision making. There will be consultation on the report's recommendations in December.

... it's so bracing!

Seaside towns should accentuate the positive was one message from a conference organised by IDeA, along with Sefton Borough Council. Is the tide turning? Putting health first in coastal communities looked at how seaside towns can address the health challenges that face them.

Intensive care

Effective help for young first time parents and their new babies is provided by the Family Nurse Partnership. Reporting on the second year of the FNP programme, evaluation by University of London, Birkbeck noted that the project is having a positive effect on reducing smoking during pregnancy as well as increasing breastfeeding rates. FNP provides intensive support to vulnerable first time young mothers and their families. The specially trained nurses work with the families until the child is two.

View from the bridge

Consultation closed on the first phase of the marmot review on health inequalities in England. You can take a look at responses thus far on the UCL website.

A sense of place

The Place Survey gathers information on people's perception of their local area and services. Overseen by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the second phase of results have just been published. The survey also includes questions about satisfaction with decision making, information, community safety and involvement.

Blowing their own trumpet

At least 70 000 lives have been saved in the ten years of NHS Stop Smoking Services' existence, according to figures released by DH in September. Elsewhere, it's clear that there's a long way to go: cigarette packet information is still unclear as to risk, an article in the Journal of Public Health suggests. Researchers in this study from Canada looked at consumer perception of brand descriptors and imagery as well as the association of perceptions of taste of health risk in expressions such as "low tar" or "mild". An article on the BBC website may suggest the direction of travel.