Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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Strategic Priority 3: To make it possible for communities
to ‘Choose Health’ positively and more easily
6.13 Choosing Health – the 2004 White Paper – identifies six over-arching priorities:
• Reducing the numbers of people who smoke
• Reducing obesity and improving diet and nutrition
• Increasing exercise
• Encouraging and supporting sensible drinking
• Improving sexual health
• Improving mental health.
6.14 Against this backdrop, the third Strategic Priority within the Theme of Health in Sustainable
Communities is concerned with shaping and informing the choices that people make, recognising –
as Choosing Health itself makes clear – that many of the decisions affecting our health are choices
we make as consumers.
6.15 Consumption decisions are influenced by many factors, some of which are national or international
in scope. The role of the media is, for example, substantial and there are, inevitably, limits as to
what can be done at a regional scale in response.
6.16 Nevertheless, making it possible for communities to ‘Choose Health’ more actively and easily is
a key Strategic Priority. At root, it links to the underlying determinants, and income and access are
key factors: a national study found that financial problems (linked mainly to the costs of accessing
transport) had restricted uptake for 23% of people seeking to use mental health services. 108 Hence
building a strong economy – with opportunities for broad participation – ought to be a priority in
advancing Healthy Futures and encouraging individuals and communities to ‘Choose Health’. 109
In addition, there are clear links to the first two Strategic Priorities from Healthy Futures: individuals
are far more likely to ‘Choose Health’ if their peers are doing likewise (Strategic Priority 2), 110 and, the
design of settlements (Strategic Priority 1) must influence the ease with which good choices can be made.
6.17 Within this broad context, there are more immediate steps that also need to be taken. Making it
possible for communities to ‘Choose Health’ more actively and easily means, for example, ensuring
that all people who live and/or work within the East of England have access to good and relevant
information in appropriate media. Hence in those parts of the Region which have communities of
Portuguese migrant workers (for example), information in Portuguese may be needed. In addition,
information must be provided in a way that is relevant and appropriate. Activities and initiatives aimed
at health promotion and health awareness need to be tailored to the specific circumstances facing
particular communities; for vulnerable groups within the Region, improving health literacy 111 must be
a continuing priority. ‘Making it possible for communities to ‘Choose Health’ more actively and
easily’ also means that regional-level frameworks/action plans that have been (or are being) developed
for food and health, tobacco control and physical activity must be implemented effectively.
108 Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion, Report by the Social Exclusion Unit (Crown copyright), February 2003.
109 This links strongly with the Vision set out in the Regional Economic Strategy and the eight strategic goals that underpin it.
110 For example, there is a great deal of evidence that most people who smoke start smoking during their teenage years, a life stage during which
the power of peer pressure is especially strong.
111 This is defined as the capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret, understand and use basic health information and services in ways which
are health-enhancing.