Planning Healthy Places
It is now widely accepted that health and wellbeing is significantly influenced by the environments in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. Healthy spatial planning and placemaking aims to improve the places we live to improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.
Although this work is very important, it can be difficult to do alone. The Planning Healthy Places Community of Improvement was set up to provide a supportive regional forum, bringing together a range of colleagues for peer support, information sharing and mutual problem solving and learning. Our members come from work in public health and a range of other professions, including town planning, housing and transport. We help members to maintain an oversight of work taking place across the Yorkshire and the Humber region, keep up to date with, and contribute to, evidence and policy developments, and connect and work together with each other.
Purpose
The purpose of the Planning Healthy Places CoI is to:
- Work together to drive innovation, collaborate, and explore new opportunities
- Support members to create health promoting places to live and work, reduce inequalities, and protect the long-term health and wellbeing of the population.
- Provide a platform and opportunities for the sharing of best practice and peer support
- Encourage a more co-ordinated approach and better integration across Yorkshire and the Humber between planning and public health colleagues.
In addition to our main COI meeting, we have sub-groups and working groups that explore Transport, Town Planning, School Streets, Health Impact Assessment and Planning Health Food Environments.
Community of Improvement Chair: Tim Fielding, Deputy Director of Public Health, Hull City Council
OHID Programme lead: Karen Horrocks, Health and Wellbeing Programme Manager Healthy Places and Sustainable Communities
Contact information: Karen.Horrocks@dhsc.gov.uk