April Edition Newsletter

Welcome to the April edition of Shropshire Health & Wellbeing E-News. This E-Newsletter is for everyone interested in health and wellbeing.

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On Your Feet Britain 2015

Today, Friday 24th April, sees the launch of ‘On Your Feet Britain’ a campaign run in partnership by Get Britain Standing and the British Heart Foundation.

On average, British people sit for 8.9 hours a day. Sitting for more than 4 hours a day can be harmful for your health, it can lead to: reduced calorie burning, disrupted blood sugar levels and increased blood pressure levels.

Amongst other ill health, this can contribute to increased risk of:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• And some cancers

On Your Feet Britain challenges you to convert your ‘sitting time’ into ‘standing time’ at work. You can make small changes and reduce your sitting time by:

• Standing up during phone calls
• Eating your lunch away from your desk
• Walk to your colleague’s desk instead of phoning them
• Standing up and taking a break from your computer every 30 minutes

Get involved and find out more at https://getbritainstanding.org/onyourfeet-britain/

Shropshire council’s Public Health team are supporting 'On Your Feet Britain’. Find out more and read the full Shropshire Newsroom article here.

See and Hear Event 2015

On Wednesday 13th May 2015, Shrewsbury Sports Village will host this year’s See and Hear Exhibition.

The event is open to everyone to learn about the support that is available to those who have sensory impairment such as sight or hearing loss. On the day, visitors will be able to try equipment, take up the complementary eye screening service and receive information and advice about how sight and hearing loss can be prevented.

Go to the Shropshire Council website to find out more about the event.

Sexual Health Surveys (extended consultation)

Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council’s consultation on sexual health services has been extended.

The consultation aims to seek the views of the public about sexual health services. You don’t have to have accessed any sexual health services to take the survey. Click on the links below to find out more and to take the survey:

For those aged 26 and over the survey is open until 26th April 2015 http://new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/sexual-health-services/

For those aged 25 and under there is a young person’s version of the survey open until 28th April 2015 http://new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/sexual-health-services-young-persons-version/

Public Health team highlight dangers of secondhand smoke

Public Health England’s Smokefree Cars and Homes campaign highlights the fact that 80% of cigarette smoke is invisible, and opening windows and doors will not remove its harmful effect.  Shropshire Council’s Public Health team are urging residents who smoke in their home or car, to consider the dangers of secondhand smoke.

In particular, children are more vulnerable to secondhand smoke because they breathe more rapidly and have less developed airways, lungs and immune systems. Breathing in secondhand smoke can increase the risk of many serious conditions, including bronchitis, pneumonia and meningitis. For many smokers, knowing the damage that smoking can cause their children provides motivation to get help to quit.

Secondhand smoke also effects pets. Research has shown that exposure to tobacco smoke has been associated with certain cancers in dogs and cats, allergies in dogs, and eye and skin diseases and respiratory problems in birds.  Veterinary practices across the county are helping the Public Health team raise awareness of this issue and the good news is that many smokers, once they become aware that secondhand smoke is bad for their pet's health, are being motivated to quit.

Support is available for those wishing to kick the habit and smokers can get help and advice from Shropshire’s local stop smoking service, Help2Quit.  The service is available in almost all GP surgeries in Shropshire and is also provided in many pharmacies, community venues, hospitals and selected supermarkets. Call 0345 678 9025 to contact Help2Quit and find out more information about leading a healthy lifestyle.

Visit the website: http://www.healthyshropshire.co.uk/ or follow on Twitter: @Help2QuitShrops

Shropshire Council awarded national quality mark for parenting programme

Shropshire Council is celebrating after being awarded the CANparent Quality Mark from the Department of Health for its ‘Understanding Your Child’ parenting programme.

Shropshire Council’s ‘Understanding Your Child’ programme offers parenting workshops and groups which provide easy to implement, proven parenting solutions that can support families to understand their children’s behaviour, improving relationships and prevent future problems before they arise.

Find out more about the success and how Shropshire Council is helping families and parents; read the full Shropshire Newsroom story here.

Working Conference on Compassion

This workshop will be held on Thursday 1st October and Friday 2nd October 2015 at Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury.

The event will offer the opportunity and forum to share ideas and learning around compassion, to debate and build bridges, to identify questions that require exploration and to form new alliances with leading experts and thinkers in the field of compassion.
 
There will be a range of workshops and opportunities for debate with international experts across the field of compassion.

You can find out more information including prices at: http://www.theatresevern.co.uk/shows/talks/working-conference-on-compassion

For further details please contact Julie Vernon: compassionconference2015@gmail.com or call 01743 341739

To book your place, please contact Theatre Severn on 01743 281281

New guide to help prepare people on what to expect when someone they know is dying

NHS England, Marie Curie, Sue Ryder and Hospice UK have come together to produce a new guide for what to expect when someone close to them is dying.

The free guide is shaped by people who have experienced the death of someone close to them, and is intended to make the last hours and days of someone’s life less distressing for all concerned, including friends, family members and carers. It details what people can do to make someone more comfortable as well as providing information about where you can go for support.

The guide is intended to help address serious concerns raised by friends, family members and carers of dying people as well as health and social care professionals about the current inconsistent provision of information about the dying process.

You can download the guide for free here.

Catch up on Newsletters from around the county

Shropshire Community Health News

Shropshire Community Health Trust

Each quarter the team produces a newsletter for the public, patients and professionals. The most recent edition provides information about the Future Fit programme, Community Nursing and how the Trust is working with patients to improve services.

You can catch up with past editions on the newsletter here.

Got some news to share?

If you have a topic or article that you would like to feature in this newsletter, please contact us by email: shropshiretogether@shropshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01743 253937.

Health and Wellbeing Board - Next Meeting:

The next public Health and Wellbeing Board meeting will be held on Friday 8th May 2015, 9.30am at Shirehall in Shrewsbury.

The agenda and relevant papers will become available on the Health and Wellbeing webpage prior to the meeting. Please see the attached link below to access previous meeting agendas:

Health and Wellbeing Board