Film shows success of health projects

For the first time Wigan Council’s Public Health Annual Report by Professor Kate Ardern, the director of public health, takes on the form of a film showing first hand experiences of people who have been engaging in the many programmes helping people live healthier lives.

The report, called ‘Making health everyone’s business’, follows the work being done throughout the population’s lifespan taking in the Start Well, Live Well and Age Well agendas running across the council.

The Heart of Wigan, Healthy Living Dentistry programme, recovery champions and AWARM are among the many life changing high profile services which are showcased in the video.

The report shows a snapshot of the borough’s health at the moment and highlights the work being done to improve people’s health and wellbeing.

The film links into The Deal for Health and Wellness, which is a partnership between public services and the community to address the health inequalities Wigan Borough currently faces.

The film is one of the innovative approaches to keeping people informed and fits into the #DigitalWigan agenda of Wigan Council who were named LGC Digital Council of the Year earlier this year.

Professor Ardern said: “We wanted to show the borough’s story through the people who are living it and working to make a difference to everyone’s health and wellbeing.

“This helps to paint a better picture of how we, along with our partners, are working collaboratively and the impact of that work. We are immensely proud of the work being done to tackle health inequalities in the borough but we are aware that there is much more still to be done and the report has a number of recommendations which we will work hard to address and improve on.”

The full film and the separate chapters of Start Well, Live Well and Age Well are available to watch and download online on Wigan Council’s YouTube page.