Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL)

We asked

In 2020 the Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership identified Health and Wellbeing as one of its priorities. One of the strands of this work is Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) We all know that keeping healthy means eating well and keeping active. We also know that this can sometimes be hard for all sorts of reasons. We worked with communities to find out what keeps people well and what challenges they have, and then building on the skills and expertise of communities to work with services to help make Aberdeenshire a healthier place for everyone.

For a full report of the engagement please see https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/heal

The engagement consisted of 3 phases

Phase 1 – asset mapping around what helps and what makes it hard for people to keep active and eat well. Using a survey, pop up stalls and meetings with groups this phase was intended to involve a broad cross section of the population as well targeting particular groups identified as more likely to struggle with HEAL

Phase 2 – further exploration of key themes coming out of phase 1 through focus groups and online forums.

Phase 3 – community members and service representatives working together to discuss and make recommendations for the HEAL action plan through a mini public process

You said

There is much to build on in terms of what is valued – our parks, beaches and countryside - and other local assets – shops, food networks, community groups and community activists, and local knowledge and expertise.

Some groups struggle more to eat well and keep active than other groups, cutting across and compounding other inequalities

Cost, accessibility, mental health/wellbeing and education/self management were seen as the main causes of not eating well and keeping active.

Ongoing community engagement was valued as a way of improving understanding of community priorities and also as a way of involving communities in bringing about change

The mini public working with service representatives identified priority action areas largely in line with rest of engagement. They also emphasised the need for clarity, simplicity and an awareness of how language can reinforce health messaging

We did

We reported back to the HEAL strategic planning group with recommendations on the action plan. The next step for the SPG will be to agree the HEAL action plan for the next 3 years. The group will then move to focussing on delivering the plan with specific contributions by organisations and services to implement the actions effectively. The HEAL actions will be monitored and evaluated to ensure that the plan is making a positive difference for communities in Aberdeenshire to eat healthily and to be active.

We reported back to communities and local community planning groups –. Working with and through our communities will continue to be a key focus of the HEAL action plan. Local community groups will be updated on the progress of the plan and involved in exploring solutions to HEAL issues

Public Health to lead on ongoing engagement as detailed in actions. Ongoing involvement with communities was a key action to emerge from community engagement process on how best improve HEAL in Aberdeenshire communities. This will continue to be a vital part of the work going forward.