Agenda item

The Board received a report which outlined the main findings of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey undertaken in Haringey. A copy of the findings from the survey were attached as an appendix to the report. The report was introduced by Tamara Djuretic, AD Public Health and was included in the agenda pack at page 73 and the survey results were included at pages 77-155.

The AD Public Health outlined some of the key headlines from the findings:

• The survey was conducted in July last year and encompassed 1000 people being canvassed, 500 from across the borough and an additional 500 responses sought from the most deprived areas.
• The Haringey Mental Wellbeing Survey 2015 results would provide the baseline, with the specific aim of increasing the average short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) score by 2018.
• Average WEMWBS score for adults in Haringey measured by a survey across the borough was 26.10 and in the most deprived areas was 26.21. Any score of 21 or less was regarded as low in Haringey, scores between 22 and 29, or 30 for most deprived was a moderate score and anything over 30 was regarded as a high score.
• Respondents between 16 and 24 years old were most likely to have low mental wellbeing in the “across area” sample, whilst those aged 65 years and over were most likely to have low mental wellbeing in the most deprived sample. More men than women were categorised as having high mental wellbeing across both samples.
• Good health and fewer medical conditions were associated with better mental wellbeing
• Employment was associated with better mental wellbeing, whilst those unable to work due to sickness or disability were most likely to report low mental wellbeing.  Poor educational attainment was associated with worse mental wellbeing, as were financial difficulties.

The survey also explored the overall health of the residents in

relation to mental health and wellbeing. Some of the key

findings identified were:

·         The prevalence of smoking was 20% across the borough and increased to 24.2% in the most deprived sample. Smoking was strongly associated with lower mental health and wellbeing scores.

·         The prevalence of cannabis use was approximately 6% across the borough and a further 16% of residents were ex-users.

·         The most common medical conditions reported by residents were high blood pressure (12-15%), anxiety, depression and stress (9-10%) and diabetes (5.3 – 6.5%).

·         Those with three or more conditions had significantly lower mental wellbeing scores.

It was proposed that the survey was repeated on annual basis.

In terms of the next steps, the AD Public Health advised that as well as taking the Mental Health Survey to the Priority 3 Board, it would also be taken to the Priority 1 and Priority 2 Boards.

The Chair, Healthwatch Haringey commented that there seemed to be a lack of data broken down by ethnicity, advising that this seemed to be an important dimension of the mental health picture in Haringey. The AD Public Health advised that around 200-300 of the 1000 respondents provided their ethnicity details, as a result it was felt that the analysis would have been unreliable.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Health enquired whether there was any information broken down by ward level.  The AD Public Health responded that again, this was not done due to the relatively small sample size that would be created by breaking down the data on a ward level basis. 

RESOLVED:

I). That the Board note the overall findings of the borough-wide mental health and wellbeing survey and consider its implication for the overall Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Corporate Plan.