Coventry Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2019-2023

We are proposing three strategic ambitions for the health and wellbeing of our residents which together encompass our long-term vision for change for health and wellbeing in Coventry.

The outcomes we hope to achieve are:

1. People are healthier and independent for longer

By this we mean promoting healthy lifestyles and behaviours to help people stay healthy and well and prevent limiting long-term health conditions. This also means, where people have existing health problems, preventing these from escalating to the point where they require significant, complex and specialist health and care interventions. It means helping people to age well, with health and social care working together to prevent long term health conditions and slow the development of older people’s frailty. The focus is on empowering people to take action to improve health and wellbeing for themselves and others (our Year of Wellbeing vision) and providing effective, timely and appropriate support where it is needed.

We will monitor our direction of travel against this ambition through key performance indicators, for example:

• Healthy life expectancy
• Physically active adults
• Screening and immunisations take-up
• Emergency readmissions
• Dementia diagnosis
• Premature mortality / morbidity (years lived with disease)

2. Children and young people fulfil their potential

By this we mean we want to work together as partners to make sure that every child in the city has the same opportunity to thrive. We want to make sure that every child has the best possible start in life because we know that getting this right is key to tackling health and social inequalities and preventing poor outcomes. This also means that all children are supported to reach their potential in school, further education and employment, and that families are supported to make healthy lifestyle choices. Improving opportunities for children and young people will help address concerns in the city around violence and exploitation and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

With a younger than average population in the city, we know that a specific focus on children and young people in Coventry is important. We will monitor our direction of travel against this ambition through key performance indicators, for example:

• Good level of development (five year olds)
• Healthy weight Year 6 (childhood obesity)
• Young people feeling safe
• Proportion of young people progressing into sustainable education, employment or training
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services – demand / performance
• Children living in poverty

3. People live in connected, safe and sustainable communities

By this we mean working together to create communities that have a healthy environment, economic prosperity and where the social needs of people are met. This includes action to address climate change and improve air quality, for example through promoting active travel. It is also about working together in local places to build community resilience and promote community cohesion. It means building communities where everyone in our diverse population has a stake and has the opportunity to thrive – where people have access to jobs, secure housing, feel safe and are connected with people around them.

We will monitor our direction of travel against this ambition through key performance indicators, for example:

• Families in temporary accommodation
• Fuel poverty
• Self-reported wellbeing
• Gross Disposable Household Income
• Air quality (NO2)
• Residents’ self-reported ability to influence / improve local area