Inequalities in Perceived Health

A report on the All-Ireland Social Capital and Health Survey. This is the first report in Ireland, North or South, which measures and identifies systematically the connections between perceived health and an extensive range of demographic and socio-economic characteristics and lifestyle behaviours. The concept of social capital and the ways in which social capital may be an important determinant of health is receiving increased attention from policy-makers. The Institute of Public Health in Ireland produced a report in 2004 based on its All Ireland Social Capital and Health Survey. The report explores how people feel about their health and highlights how this is linked with perceptions of the local social environment as well as to demographic and socio-economic circumstances and lifestyle behaviours.

Adopting the Future Consultation response document (MS Word 290 KB)

While for most children the best place to grow up is with their birth parents, others are unable to do so. Under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, the first duty of Health and Social Services Trusts, where children cannot live with their birth parents, is to seek a home for them with their extended famly. Finding a safe and caring new home for children with their wider family or friends allows them to keep important attachments and connections in their lives, and is therefore the preferred choice where it is possible. Where this is not possible, society has a clear responsibility to provide children with stability and permanence in their lives. Some children are placed in alternative forms of care. Adoption is traditionally a means of providing a permanent family for a small, but significant number of children who are unable to return to their birth parents. Adoption is, however, much wider than just the service provided to children. Adoption affects birth parents, prospective adopters, adoptive parents, siblings, grandparents and other relatives. The Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety believes that more can and should be done to reflect the complex needs of those affected by adoption. åÊ

Adopting the Future (PDF 865 KB)

While for most children the best place to grow up is with their birth parents, others are unable to do so. Under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, the first duty of Health and Social Services Trusts, where children cannot live with their birth parents, is to seek a home for them with their extended famly. Finding a safe and caring new home for children with their wider family or friends allows them to keep important attachments and connections in their lives, and is therefore the preferred choice where it is possible. Where this is not possible, society has a clear responsibility to provide children with stability and permanence in their lives. Some children are placed in alternative forms of care. Adoption is traditionally a means of providing a permanent family for a small, but significant number of children who are unable to return to their birth parents. Adoption is, however, much wider than just the service provided to children. Adoption affects birth parents, prospective adopters, adoptive parents, siblings, grandparents and other relatives. The Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety believes that more can and should be done to reflect the complex needs of those affected by adoption. åÊ

Eating disorders, overeating and pathological attatchment to food: Independent or addictive disorders?

The thesis of this book is that there are connections between eating disorders and substance abuse. There are similarities in the craving for food to the cravings for substances of addiction; people with eating disorders experience symptoms similar to those of classic addiction. With the increase in obesity in the West, this book hopes to focus future studies on more effective treatment.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.