Research for IDeA on Health Improvement Agenda
In the summer of 2008 the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), in association with the Department of Health and the Local Government Association, commissioned Ipsos to conduct a survey of local government chief executives and other senior staff to find out what they know about, and how they are responding to, the Government's Health Improvement Agenda.
The fieldwork, conducted using CATI, was carried out between 21 August and 26 September 2008, and consisted of 400 interviews with local authority chief executives and other senior staff across 265 authorities. This was preceded and informed by 10 depth interviews. The results were further supported by 15 depth interviews with senior representatives of partner organisations.
The findings were broadly positive but demonstrated that there was still room for improvement. There is a high level of awareness of the health improvement agenda and a feeling that it has had a positive impact on tackling health inequalities. There is also a high level of engagement and keenness to address the issue; in particular there is a clear desire for greater partnership working, which is seen as crucial.
However, while most agree that tackling health inequalities is a core function of their authority and commitment to the agenda is becoming more embedded, few say that it is central to their authority or that it is a prominent topic at director's and senior management meetings. Financial resources are local authorities' biggest concern and perceived to be the greatest challenge over the next five years. Despite this, the majority think that health improvement will become a bigger priority in this time.
The report fed into a conference held by the IDeA and formed the basis of a pull-out section in the Guardian.
More details are on the IDeA website: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=9072231
