4% of our people are “pessimists”.
There are more women in this population, more under 45’s, less over 45s, with just as many “seldom heard” people as the average.
When discussing what hinders or helps people to take charge of their health? Their conversation reveals three priorities:
- Facilities and the physical environment
- Provision of public health and social care information and services
- Self-awareness, belief and confidence
We can create a “typical narrative” from their ideas, comments and votes in the online workshop too.
I think I am unhealthy because…
Facilities – environment
My noisy environment disturbs my life and affects my health. On top of this, there are not enough fitness facilities for me to use at a reasonable price. I see all these empty spaces that could be used for exercise classes but nobody is using them.
“I am constantly woken by aircraft going over my property. I don’t live near enough to the airport for help with glazing, but still am frequently disturbed.”
“Investing in groups and classes gets people together socially, improves self-esteem by achieving something, and gets us out of the house.”
“Knowing people who teach yoga / Pilates / exercise classes it is clear that availability of clean / available / inexpensive spaces to run these classes is limited.”
Provision of public health and social care information/services
I am not sure what constitutes a healthy lifestyle because there is too much conflicting advice/information out there. On top of this, there is not enough health and care support to help me deal with my health issues.
“There is too much conflicting “advice” about what constitutes a healthy diet. Weight watchers and slimming clubs help educate people, but ultimately push their own processed, low fat products (which are full of artificial sugars).”
“I am one of thousands of people with an underactive thyroid. My GP has never had the time to fully explain all the implications.”
Self-awareness, self-belief and confidence
No matter what I do, there’s always room for improvement – its like I’lI be unhealthy no matter what I do.
Interestingly, solutions offered by this population include:
>Introduce local specialised support clinics for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, depression.
>Use public spaces, such as libraries, charity shops, etc. to hold exercise classes
Each of these groups is present in every locality of Great Manchester and, as we’ll show below, contains, on average the same proportion of “seldom heard” residents.