IPH response to the Environmental Protection Agency Consultation on Stategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Process Checklist

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland is an all-island body which aims to improve health in Ireland by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health. The Institute promotes co-operation in research, training, information and policy in order to contribute to policies which tackle inequalities in health. Over the past six years the Institute has worked closely with the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland to build capacity for Health Impact Assessment. The Institute takes the view that health is determined by policies, plans and programmes in many sectors outside the health sector as well as being dependent on access to and availability of first class health services. The importance of other sectors is encapsulated in a social determinants of health perspective which recognises that health is largely shaped and influenced by the physical, social, economic and cultural environments in which people live, work and play. Figure 1 illustrates these multi-dimensional impacts on health and also serves to highlight the clear and inextricable links between health and sustainable development. Factors that impact on long-term sustainability will thus also impact on health.

Response to Draft Guidance on Health in Strategic Environmental Assessment

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Draft Guidance on Health in Strategic Environmental Assessment.  Our organisation aims to improve health on the island of Ireland by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health. The Institute applies a holistic model of health which emphasises a wide range of health determinants, including economic, environmental, social and biological factors. Our work is based on the premise that improving health and reducing health inequalities can only be achieved through addressing these broad determinants of health.

Speech, Language and Communication Therapy Action Plan (2011/12 - 2012/13) - Easy Read (PDF 454 KB)

Easy Read version of Speech, Language and Communication Therapy Action Plan (2011/12 - 2012/13)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy (PDF 383 KB)

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Vision Statement, issued for consultation in July 2001, describes a long-term vision for the use of ICT in the Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS). Responses to the consultation strongly supported the Strategy Vision. The ICT Strategy for the HPSS is aimed at delivering the Vision. It is based on analysis of the current use of ICT in the service and consultation with service users, those directly involved in health and social care, and the Department for Health, Personal Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS / the Department). Developments under way and planned elsewhere, particularly in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, have been reviewed. Suppliers of ICT products and services were invited to present their perspectives on the future of ICT in health and social care. åÊ

Burden of Disease: Environmental Inequalities

A report on Environmental Inequalities in the UK. Part of the Burden of disease. A clean and healthy environment is a vital component of public health. This is particularly so for children. They are more sensitive to most stressors during development and growth and receive relatively more exposure than adults due to behaviour patterns, lack of awareness, size and biological metabolisms.A study of the contribution of environmental pollutants to the incidence, prevalence, mortality and costs of four categories of paediatric disease in American children estimated total annual costs to be $54.9 billion comprising $43.4 billion for lead poisoning, $2.0 billion for asthma, $0.3 billion for childhood cancer, and $9.2 billion for neurobehavioral disorders; 2.8 % of total U.S. health care costs. As well as childhood conditions, some adult diseases, even those that emerge much later in life, e.g. hypertension, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, breast cancer and prostate cancer have some of their origins in utero and childhood. Childhood exposures to environmental health hazards may therefore constitute a source of inequity between generations .

Cleaning up neighbourhoods - Environmental Problems and Service Provision in Deprived areas

There has been growing concern that the quality of public services can be affected by the nature and scale of problems in deprived neighbourhoods and that poor services can contribute to a widening gap۪ between deprived and non-deprived neighbourhoods. There is also an increased emphasis within national policy on the quality of neighbourhood environments the so-called liveability۪ agenda. This report explores the challenges of delivering street scene۪ environmental services such as street sweeping and refuse collection in deprived and less deprived areas and examines the gap in environmental amenity between these different neighbourhoods. It also contributes to our understanding of the interplay between poor services and neighbourhood decline. The research involved a telephone survey of chief officers in local authority environmental service departments across the UK and detailed case studies of policy and practice in environmental service provision in four local authorities with significant levels of deprivation. Each case study involved work in three neighbourhoods within the authority two deprived and one less deprived as well as focus groups with residents and frontline environmental operatives, interviews with senior council staff and observation on the ground

Investing Effectively in Information and Communication Technology in Schools, 2008-2013

Learning is changing. A pivotal force in bringing about this change is the use of information and communications technology (ICT) which provides richer, more immediate, world-relevant educational resources and opportunities. When used well, ICT enriches learning and enhances teaching. It invigorates classroom activities and is a powerful motivational tool that encourages learners to progress in more personalised and self-directed ways. Ireland has achieved rapid change and growth in the past decade, but to sustain this we must prepare the next generation for the knowledge society in which they will live. The challenge we face is to ensure that the emphasis on ICT in schools shifts, in the immediate future, from technology provision to a focus on its deliberate use by the learner. Fostering personal creativity has always been a desirable educational value. The pursuit of creativity and inventiveness are now pivotal skills in a knowledge economy and the embedding of ICT in learning can greatly facilitate their development. Web 2.0 will facilitate greater interactivity and enable greater levels of user-generated content. It is crucial that young people acquire the ICT and related skills to support these new opportunities.

Speech, language and communication therapy action plan

This is the first update newsletter of the Speech, language and communication therapy action plan. The action plan was developed by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) with the aim that all children and young people at risk of or presenting with speech, language or communication needs will be able to benefit from timely support and integrated services that best meet their requirements.The Public Health Agency (PHA), in partnership with the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), has been tasked with implementing the action plan.The update includes news on the publication of the Healthy child, health future framework and highlights other points of progress so far, including the development of the Family Support NI website. There is also an invite for parents to join a focus group to influence and assist with the implementation of the action plan.�