Southend Local Health Flashcards
Climate in southend
Southend has the highest amount of annual sunshine in the UK. Positive health impacts include Vitamin D levels and general weĺ-being implications
Rainfall is significantly lower than in the west of the country so it attracts people for retirement
Air pollution
Estimated approx 100 premature deaths due to air pollution in 2015. Traffic and wood fires account for most nitrous oxide. Lung conditions like asthma are affected by air pollution and COPD rates are high and worsening
Air pollution is bad near roads slike the A127 ams the A13 especially during rush hour jams . Extra tourist traffic (7 million visitors a year) add to the pollution
Coastal breezes + lots of woodland e.g. Belfast help offsetting pollution so overall figures are not high
Poverty
19% of children live in low income households
60% of households have incomes lower then the national median
15.5% of households receive some sort of benefit
9 areas in Southend are in the top 10% most deprived nationally.
These include Blenheim Park, Shoebury, Southchurch and St Lukes
Life expectancies in deprived areas are 10% lower than in the
wealthiest areas
Lack of affordable and flexible childcare adds to the pressure
Strong links to mental health issues and lifestyle issues
unhealthy lifestyles
68 % adults are obese and 63% are underactive
18% smoke
1863 people are alcohol addicts and 25% of the population drinks enough to risk harm to
their health. Alcohol was listed as a cause of death on 3756 death certificates in 2017
Drug misuse is the 3rd most common risk of death in 15-49 year olds
There are 26 county line drug gangs known to the police.
HIV is detected later than in many cases elsewhere in the country
Seafront provides lots of takeaways and snacks e.g fish and chips, donuts and candy floss
Lack of time to exercise when commuting
Mental health sufferers are less likely to exercise
Cost of joining gyms is prohibitive to low income households
Healthy lifestyles
Pier is 1.3 miles long and seafront is 7 miles long so lots of space for walking, jogging, cycling
Woodland areas e.g Belfairs
8 swimming pools, 3 golf courses, 14 gyms, 12 racket sport centres
32 parks and 36 play areas
Mental health
45% of adults have a mental health condition. 7.3% use services to
help them cope
9.1% of children have a mental health condition
Worse than UK average
Links to small living spaces, low paid jobs, expensive child care,
stressful commutes
Targets for local agencies
Stroke, heart disease and diabetes identification
Wellbeing service expansion
Vocational education to increase employment rates
County lines to tackle drug gangs
Teenage pregnancy reduction
Affordable housing increase
Traffic pollution reduction
elderly
34,500 over 65s
Increasing by 4% a year
18,000 patients over 75 seen at hospital last year
Dementia rates high and worsening
13 nursing homes and 81 residential homes
Links to specific diseases
Why do they retire here? (nostalgia (childhood holidays from
London), sea air, relatively flat, warm weather, good transport links,)
