Person's Geographical Location

Where you can live can affect your health and well being. Using examples from block 3 discuss this statement in relation to both the negative and positive impact that neighbourhoods can have for people who live there.

Many reports have shown how a person's geographical location can effect their health, not only because of the so called ‘postcode lottery' of healthcare provision, but also because of their social and economic circumstances. The World Health Organisation's definition of health is that it is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." (W.H.O. 1946) Similarly, Ronald Labonte puts forward that three elements are needed to experience health and well-being – physical capability, mental health and a social connection to family and others in the community (k101 Unit 9, p.12-13). It is important, therefore, to realise that just as circumstances in individual homes can impact on occupants health, conditions in local communities can also have major effects on health and well-being.

In this essay it will show that a healthy neighbourhood can provide a focus for improving the health and well-being of the community by discussing both the negative and positive impacts on its residents. In this essay will also discuss the ‘Thornhill Plus You' project which was set up to address neighbourhood concerns in poor health indices, low educational attainment, low skills and anti-social behaviour.

The concept of neighbourhood based health initiatives, such as the project in Thornhill, was introduced in a Government green paper ‘Our Healthier Nation' (D.O.H. 1998) which led to a public health seminar and subsequent report ‘Healthy Neighbourhoods' (Gowman 1999), commissioned by the King's Fund. This report suggested that people should feel safe and included in their neighbourhood, feel confident about expressing their health needs and encouraged new, creative ideas linked to opportunities offered by the wider community (k101 Unit 9, p.20). It also suggested that the Government, national organisations and local people should work together to provide resources, such as amenities, local knowledge and accessible services to achieve a healthier neighbourhood (k101 Unit 9, p.20 - 21).

Donald Acheson went further in his report and identified ‘poverty, low wages and occupational stress, unemployment, poor housing, environmental pollution, poor education, limited access to transport and shops, crime and disorder, and a lack of recreational facilities' (Acheson 1998) as things which had an impact on health. The most important of these being poverty as it can directly affect the others. Unfortunately, since 1970 rates of poverty have changed significantly with the overall number of households living below the poverty line increasing, peaking at 27% in 2001 (JRF 2005). Research