Dear Colleague
It was lovely to catch up with many of you again at the November Platform meeting, Work & Health and
Evaluation seminars. The PowerPoint presentations for the Platform meeting have been placed on the
Platform website at: http://www.regionalplatform.org.uk/Past-Events-Presentations and the seminar slides will follow and will accessible with the same link.
GEM Vending presented details of their new QR Code nutritional information programme and were grateful to members for their suggestions and as a result will be adding information on recommended daily allowances to the site. To look at their nutritional information site go to: http://www.gemvending.com/healthy-sustainable/healthy-vending
Future Seminar topics identified by members included MINDSPACE and Motivational Interviewing and marketing skills for health and social gain, and we will be looking at how we can support these over the coming months.
Those attending the Evaluation made Easy Seminar benefitted from one to one support from a
University colleague and found great value in being able to talk through how to evaluate their project, service or programme with an expert. If you were unable to attend and would like some one to one support please let me know and I will find appropriate support for you from university colleagues.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) – Linda O’Hara gave a presentation on MHFA at our work and health network meeting. With one in four of us experiencing mental health problems, one in six workers likely to experience anxiety, depression or stress - and work related stress, depression or anxiety accounting for an estimated 13.5m lost working days, workplaces would benefit from having a range of support systems available. Having a mental health first aider alongside a physical first aider in the workplace makes sense – not least as “you are more likely to come across someone having thoughts of suicide than someone having a heart attack”.
If you are interested in offering mental health first aid training to your staff or being trained yourself the training is an intensive 2 days course, aimed at those without specialist mental health training.
There is also a half day MHFA light course available. Charges for courses vary dependant on numbers, whether full or light courses or hosted at your venue,. For more information contact Linda O’Hara:
Mobile: 07585 969 733, Email: linda.ohara@dimensions-uk.org
Website: www.mhfaengland.org.uk
Liver disease is the only major cause of mortality and morbidity that is on the increase in England while it is decreasing among our European peers. Between
2000 and 2009, deaths from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in the under 65s increased by around
20% while they fell by the same amount in most EU countries. And all 3 major causes of liver disease – obesity, undiagnosed infection, and, increasingly, harmful drinking – are preventable. For more information go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/cmo/
Many of you will recall the excellent presentation we had at the June Platform meeting about the consultation on food labelling. The Government have recently announced the outcome of the consultation and that as a result they will be introducing a combination of guideline daily amounts (GDA), colour coding and high/medium/low text. Many retailers already use variants of a hybrid system, and some provide only GDA. However they each display the information with different visuals, colour and

content making it hard for consumers to compare foods. The UK Governments will be working with industry and other partners to agree the detail of the system and make sure they use consistent visuals to show, on front of packs – how much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar, and how many calories are in food products.
A new smartphone app and enhanced online drinks checker are now available to help people see the impact alcohol can have on their health, waist and wallet.
The new tools are part of the Change4Life campaign to raise awareness of the health impacts of drinking over the lower risk guidelines on a regular basis. For more information go to: http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/sneaky-drinks.aspx
More than 9 million drinkers in England are potentially putting their health at risk by regularly drinking above the guidelines, yet a YouGov survey in
2011 found that most people are unaware of the serious health problems which drinking can lead to. The campaign also offers handy hints and tips on how people can cut down – such as having alcohol free days, not drinking at home before they go out, swapping to low alcohol or alcohol free drinks and simply using smaller glasses.
The campaign will encourage people to look out for the ‘hidden nasties’ – salt, fat and sugar in many everyday foods and remind us all that eating too much of these ca be bad for our health. Supported by TV, radio, digital media and free resources which include lots of ideas for cheap, quick and healthier meals as well as hits and tips and money of healthier products. To access free resources to help you promote the campaign go to:
C4Lpartnerships@dh.gsi.gov.uk
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EE resources to help you engage with people locally. If you want to order these, please contact us at C4Lpartnerships@dh.gsi.gov.uk sources to help you engage with people locally. If you want to order these, please contact us at
C4Lpartnerships@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Provisional statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that in Britain between
April 2011 and March 2012:
 22,433 major injuries such as amputations, fractures and burns, to employees were reported. The average for the past five years is 27,170
 88,731 other injuries serious enough to keep people off work for four or more days were reported.
The average for the past five years is 103,627
 An estimated 1.1 million people said they were suffering from an illness caused or made worse by their work, down from 1.2 million in 2010/11. Of these, 452,000 were new illnesses occurring in-
 year. The average for the past five years was 1.25 million with an average 554,000 new cases each year
173 workers fatally injured - down from 175 the previous year. The average for the past five years was 196 worker deaths per year.
This latest evidence briefing from the BHF National Centre summarises what is known about active video gaming (known as exergaming) from both laboratory and ‘real life’ research. It also provides recommendations on the use of exergaming as a physical activity intervention.
Key findings from the research evidence include:
 Most exergames are considered to be a light-to-moderate intensity activity for both adults and children
 In older adults, most games are likely to be a light intensity activity.
 Exergames provide an alternative to sedentary behaviours, but they only contribute a small amount to daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
 More high quality research is needed to assess exergaming’s potential for providing long term changes to levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
To download a copy of this report go to: http://www.bhfactive.org.uk/homepage-resources-andpublications-item/353/index.html

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Aimed at health co-ordinators, managers and workplace champions, this seminar is designed to build skills and confidence to promote health in your organisation. The programme includes details of the BHF free
Health at Work programme and the range of resources available, examples of successful workplace health programmes, top tips and ideas from experts and local organisations.
£50 which includes Health at
Work toolkit, lunch and refreshments. Organisations based in LN1 to LN5 and LN12 are welcome to
attend the seminar for free as part of the BHF Lincoln Heart Town and East Lindsey Heart Support
Group projects. To book a place: http://www.bhf.org.uk/HealthAtWork/resources_and_events/health_at_work_seminars/east_midlands_s eminar.aspx
27th February 2013, Manchester
Conference Centre.
The event will be exploring what action can be taken to combat raising obesity levels examining what really works. The agenda will debate the key issues associated with individual behaviour, government legislation, food production and labelling, physical activity, childhood obesity and medical and financial interventions. A new approach is needed to help to tackle the causes and consequences of excess weight and help support individuals to make healthier lifestyle choices. Though expensive the event has a number of eminent national speakers. For more information go to: http://www.publicserviceevents.co.uk/programme/238/obesity-and-related-conditions
- Behaviour and social context can have a significant impact on health.
Increasingly, health psychology has a key role to play in public health. The Health Psychology MSc at
Coventry University provides a thorough grounding in the theories, practice and application of health psychology. Available on a full or part time basis. For more information contact: MSc Health Psychology
Course Director, Carol Percy c.percy@coventry.ac.uk
The presentations from the British Heart Foundation National Centre November Innovate to
Activate - New ways to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour are now available to download from their website: http://www.bhfactive.org.uk/conference2012/index.html
The Home Office is consulting on a number of measures contained in its Alcohol Strategy which was published earlier this year. The Strategy sets out proposals to crack down on the 'binge drinking' culture; cut alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder that blights communities; and slash the number of people drinking to damaging levels by introducing a new minimum unit price of 45p.
For details and to respond to the consultation by 6 February 2013 : http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/alcohol-consultation/
I attach a word version of this newsletter , requested by several of you making it easier to share with colleagues, so please feel free to circulate to colleagues in what ever way is easiest for you.
Trish Crowson
Platform for Health & Wellbeing, www.regionalplatform.org.uk
Hosted by East Midlands Councils, platform@emcouncils.gov.uk
, www.emcouncils.gov.uk
trish@beskeen.com
Mobile: 07930 386 781 Phone: 01636 525 544