To help shape and develop the best policies for health and wellbeing on the Island, a programme has begun collecting data and opinions from the public and the third sector.
Public Health Isle of Man will be leading on a national Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Programme. The JSNA is split in to chapters and for 2022-23 the programme will focus on two of these, ‘Starting well/Developing well’ and ‘Ageing well’.
For these chapters information will be gathered on several topics including adverse childhood experiences, physical and mental health, isolation and loneliness, housing and mobility.
The JSNA hopes to gather information about local health needs by looking at the impact of our socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. These factors are known as ‘Wider Determinants of Health’.
This is a ‘health in all policies’ approach – and will mean that the data collected locally will be used to make recommendations for improvements to ensure our services address local needs.
It will also take in to account the changing need in how health and care services are to be delivered in the future, moving to a whole systems approach that’s largely preventative and addresses wider determinants of health in communities.
The programme will be reviewed annually to re-focus on prioritised topics for that period.
Head of Health Intelligence at Public Health Isle of Man, Madeleine Sayle said:
‘It has long been a goal of ours to launch a solid Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Programme in the Isle of Man. Although we have been collecting data and using that to help inform new policies for a number of years, the JSNA will give us the foundation to address the core health and wellbeing needs of the population and provide the evidence-base for decision makers.
She continued:
‘Health and social care services are only a small part of what affects our health. Outside factors such as living and working conditions, social and community networks and individual lifestyle factors are major contributors to our wellbeing. Using a ‘health in all policies’ approach and involving everyone early on in the process, will enable us to tackle the issues that contribute to the health and wellbeing of Island residents.’
For more information on the JSNA Programme or email publichealth@gov.im
