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Healthy Waterford

Well Waterford is the Health and Wellbeing subcommittee of the LCDC (Local Community Development Committee).

Well Waterford


Well Waterford is an interagency Health & Wellbeing Working Sub-committee of Waterford Local Development Committee (LCDC). A Healthy Waterford committee was established in 2007 by the then Waterford City Development Board to develop and implement initiatives to support health and wellbeing in Waterford City.

One of the key objectives was to attain World Health Organisation Healthy City status which was successfully achieved in 2009. Waterford become one of three cities in Ireland to become members of WHO European Network and developed actions to meet policy priorities over the following years.

In 2017 the committee became a working sub-committee of Waterford LCDC to respond to local, regional, and national policies across Waterford City & County – ‘One Waterford’ approach. The Healthy Waterford Strategic Plan 2018 to 2021 created a focussed approach to identified local needs.

The Healthy Ireland Fund Local Strategy (HIFLS) 2023– 2025 sets out the Local Authority (LA) priorities under the Healthy Ireland Fund (HIF) for the period. The strategy provides a rationale for the selection of Healthy Ireland outcomes under HIF and identifies how work under HIF will be aligned with wider health and wellbeing policy and interventions locally.

 

In 2021 Waterford was prioritised within Healthy Communities by HSE Sláintecare and Active Cities by Sports Ireland. The focus of the two programmes is to address health inequalities within designated deprived areas within Waterford City.

With the continuation of Healthy Ireland Fund under Round 4, Waterford has the potential to develop and implement a collaborative model in meeting health inequities within our local communities.

Well Waterford is the rebranding and broadening of the previous Healthy Waterford Sub-Committee of the LCDC which now incorporates Healthy Waterford, Sláintecare Healthy Communities and Active Cities.

Healthy Ireland is a government-led initiative aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of everyone living in Ireland.

‘Healthy Ireland, A Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing 2013-2025’ has 4 key goals:

  1. Goal 1: Increase the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of life
  2. Goal 2: Reduce health inequalities
  3. Goal 3: Protect the public from threats to health and wellbeing; and
  4. Goal 4: Create an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part in achieving a healthy Ireland

Healthy Ireland takes a ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of society’ approach. The Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan 2021-2025 provides a roadmap towards good health, access to services, healthy environments, and the promotion of resilience in a manner that leaves no one behind.

Healthy Waterford a member of the Healthy Cities and Counties Network under the National Healthy Ireland Framework. It is funded through Healthy Ireland (Department of Health) and HSE and is administered under Pobal for the Waterford LCDC.

The goal of the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme is to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of people living in the most disadvantaged communities in Ireland.

The aim of the Healthy Communities Programme is to identify specific areas in which high risk factors to the health and wellbeing of the population are particularly prevalent due to deprivation, with a view to implementing targeted initiatives to tackle these challenges from within these communities. This will be achieved through partnership with a range of stakeholders and through the provision of dedicated services to build sustainable improvements in the health and wellbeing of those of all ages living in these communities.

The purpose of the programme is to reduce health inequalities by addressing the social determinants of health in Waterford City communities experiencing high levels of deprivation.

The social determinants of health are:

  • The non-medical factors that influence health outcomes
  • The conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age
  • Arise from the social and economic conditions in which we live and are not so fixed
  • The housing and environments we live in
  • The incomes we can generate
  • The health or education services we have access to

There will be intensive and ongoing collaboration with other stakeholders including the HSE, relevant government departments and agencies, the local area partnerships and the community and voluntary sector to identify existing relevant programmes and resources that are being delivered in the selected SHCP areas.

Contact our Healthy Ireland team