Who are we?
South Belfast Highway to Health is a Healthy Living Centre and a member of the Healthy Living Centre Alliance. Our purpose is to contribute to reducing health inequalities through enabling local people to take action on their own health and their communities’ health, by identifying need, developing skills, raising awareness and developing networks and initiatives. The project originated in 2002 after discussions between, and needs identified by the South & East Belfast Trust and the South Belfast Partnership.
South Belfast Highway to Health is not a product of tokenism, rather a necessary service needed to alleviate the health and social disadvantages burdened upon the locality. Our approach is multi-faceted, tackling many issues under a single strategy; promoting community cohesion, combating segregation and improving quality of life through a healthy living initiative. Year on year community involvement has grown, becoming more representative of the area.
Mission statement
South Belfast Highway 2 Health aims to “Contribute to a reduction in inequalities in health, by facilitating access to information and supporting disadvantaged individuals and communities in south Belfast to take action to improve their own health and wellbeing and to enable them to renegotiate their relationships with service providers”
Objectives
Objective 1
To identify health and well-being needs in the local communities and develop community focused action plans.
Objective 2
To support individuals and groups in developing confidence and community skills by providing health and well-being training and programmes.
Objective 3
To raise awareness with regards to health and well-being issues.
Objective 4
To develop inter-community networks and health and well-being initiatives.
Issues and Problems
The South Belfast Highway 2 Health project is a cross-community project attracting users from many backgrounds.
Inner city south Belfast suffers from severe deprivation and social and economic disadvantage, which is borne out of recent figures from the Belfast Regeneration Office (DSD) showing inner city south Belfast to have a Deprivation intensity score of 100%, putting it on an equal footing with inner and outer west Belfast, inner north Belfast and inner east Belfast.
It is well documented that Northern Ireland’s health record is very poor; amongst the worst in the developed world. Compared to the rest of the UK it has;
- The worst rate of heart disease;
- The highest number of admissions to hospital;
- The highest rate in breast cancer;
- The highest prescribing costs.
This is confirmed by the recent ‘Investing for Health’ document, stating NI has one of the highest death rates from heart disease in the world and cancer survival rates are amongst the worst in Europe. Although there is no specific data available, it can be assumed with confidence these problem are exacerbated within the target communities of South Belfast Highway to Health, as it is severely socially disadvantaged communities, which generally suffer the worst health. Ill health is the result of a wide range of factors and can be dealt with effectively in a holistic way through partnership working.
“Over 70% of what determines our health is outside the control of the Health and Social Services, so to improve health, we need to address broader economic, cultural and environmental conditions” Annual Report of Chief Medical Officers, DHSS, Dec 1998.
All of the communities involved have suffered the devastating effects of the conflict. Many of the areas are well-known flash-points on the interface between Protestants and Catholic communities, such as the Lower Ormeau, Ballynafeigh, Donegall Pass, The Village and Taughmonagh. There is a long history of community tension and all involved have suffered substantially. This has lead to segregation, isolation and fragmentation.
South Belfast Highway to Health is about moving forward. It is about collaboration, joint initiatives and addressing disadvantage. The collaborative approach is not exclusively between community organisations. Rather, it is about reaching into the grass roots of communities, improving from ground up. It is the identification of problems, and contributing actively towards breaking down barriers, making communities less isolated, creating better understanding and increasing the areas overall health.
