IPH response to A Healthier Future: A 20 year vision for health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland aims to promote cooperation for public health between Northern Ireland and Ireland, to tackle inequalities in health and influence public polices in favour of health. In its work, the Institute emphasises a holistic model of health which recognises the interplay of a wide range of health determinants, including economic, social and environmental factors as well as health and social services.

IPH Response to Draft planning policy statement 18 Renewable energy - March 2008

IPH welcomes the Planning Policy Statement 18 Renewable Energy (PPS18) and the opportunity to comment on the publication.  IPH applies a holistic model of health which emphasises a wide range of social determinants, including economic, environmental, social and biological factors. IPH considers that the health impacts of renewable energy should be considered as part of PPS18. We wish to make the following general observations in relation to the Proposed Plan:  IPH welcomes the sustainable approach by the Department of the Environment to encourage and facilitate the provision of renewal energy in Northern Ireland. PPS18 can support the move to reduce pollutants entering the environment. However there is a need to consider wider public health concerns in the adoption of PPS18. Encouraging renewable energy (while balancing this with environmental and conservation concerns) will benefit health locally, and on a global scale. Climate change has been identified as one of the most important public health challenges of the 21st Century and therefore any policy which seeks to address this major issue is welcomed.

Response to Draft Guidance on Health in Strategic Environmental Assessment

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Draft Guidance on Health in Strategic Environmental Assessment.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.

New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs 2006-2011 (NI) - Consultation response

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the consultation paper on the New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs 2006-2011 (NSD). We particularly welcome the approach taken in the strategy, which, from the conceptual base of the Programme Logic Approach, is firmly based on desired outcomes and the pathways leading to them. The Institute aims to improve health in Ireland, North and South 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 social determinants, including economic, environmental, social and biological factors, as well as the health and social services. The Institute’s work is based on the premise that improving health and reducing health inequalities can only be achieved through addressing these broader determinants of health.

NI Draft Priorities and Budget Consultation 2006-2008 - Institute response

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland works to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health in Ireland, North and South. The Institute applies a holistic model of health which emphasises a wide range of determinants, including economic, educational, environmental, social and biological factors, as well as public services. The Institute’s work is based on the premise that improving health and reducing health inequalities in a sustainable way can only be achieved through addressing these broader determinants of health. We believe that the strategic direction of public spending in Northern Ireland has enormous potential to impact on people’s health, well being and prosperity.  We welcome the opportunity to comment on the draft priorities and the associated budget for 2006-2008 as set out in the consultation document.

National men’s health policy consultation response

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland aims to improve health in Ireland, North and South, by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health. The Institute’s work is based on the premise that improving health and reducing health inequalities will be best achieved through taking a broad determinants of health perspective. It applies a holistic model of health which emphasises a wide range of determinants on health including social, economic, environmental and biological factors. The Institute also recognises the importance of accessible, effective and efficient health and social services in determining health and the quality of life experienced by people. The Institute of Public Health welcomes the consultation process undertaken by the Department of Health and Children on a National Men’s Health Policy. In our response we focus on how inequality impacts on Irish men’s lives and how, as a consequence, ways to combat inequalities need to be at the heart of a health strategy for men

A Grounded Theory Model of the Counselling Referral Process in Primary Care Methadone Treatment in Ireland.

In terms of the treatment of illicit drug abuse, methadone maintenance is a well researched and widely applied systematic response. The approach to primary care methadone treatment in Ireland is based on the methadone protocol. Primary care plays a central role in the delivery of methadone treatment. Beginning with a view that a system evolves within the constraints and influencing factors of its context, the aim of this thesis is to model the process that has developed by which patients on primary care methadone treatment are referred to counselling. It investigates the role primary care practitioners perceive they have in relation to managing the psychosocial aspects of the methadone patient's treatment regime. It analyzes individual medical practitioner counselling referral mechanisms to determine what common processes operate across different practitioners. It identifies the factors that influence the use of counselling on primary care methadone programmes and structures these in a cause/effect model. This research used interviews and documentary analysis to acquire grounded data. The sample consisted primarily of medical practitioners involved in the delivery of methadone programmes. Others closely involved in the implementation of drug treatment in the primary care context made up the balance of interviewees. The study used a grounded theory methodology to induce the process that was latent in the grounded data. Concepts emerging were grouped under the headings of referral factors, decision making factors and factors related to the unique positioning of primary care at the interface between medicine and society. The core finding was that, in primary care in Ireland, there is no psychological model to complement the pharmacological intervention of methadone substitution. The findings from this study offer insight into the factors at work and their impacts, in the context of the use of counselling in primary care methadone treatment. The study suggests a possible direction for further evolution of opiate abuse treatment in Ireland which would transform it from a harm reduction to a holistic patient centric paradigm.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.