About This Report:
This is the first report from Mike Sandys, Leicestershire's Director of Public Health, reviewing the infleunce of the wider determinents of health, such as good housing, good education, employment, social interactions and family support, on the health of the population.
In this report we take a structured approach to the determinants of health, as shaped by the recent King's Fund report "Improving the Public's Heath - A resource for Local Authorities". This has led us to consider the way that Public Health operates within the council, which we have defined using the following three roles:
• as a lead (commissioning via the public health grant);
• as a partner (developing joint initiatives); and
• as an advocate (championing public health issues).
Finding the correct balance between these roles is the key to success in improving health. By setting out what we thinks needs to happen at those three levels, we are striving to ensure public health is at the heart of service delivery, decision making and policy setting.