Shocking rise in poor health and wellbeing

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THE number of people in Inverclyde living with a lifelimiting illness or condition is at its highest level for 25 years, according to a shock new survey.

This is one of the findings of the latest health and wellbeing poll carried out by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

More than 1,100 local people took part in the survey, which has been carried out every three years since 1999, answering questions on their health.

The results also show that those living in the most deprived parts of Inverclyde were most likely to be treated for at least one medical condition.

And the district consistently fared worse than any other part of the health board area.

The survey also revealed a shocking rise in fears about food poverty.

Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) chief officer, Kate Rocks, said: “With 1,138 Inverclyde residents interviewed, it is the biggest single source of data about current health behaviours and perceptions of health and wellbeing across our population.

“It provides information on health trends and for different population groups, enabling us to consider public health issues at local and thematic level within Inverclyde, to inform planning and highlights areas where we need to work with partners and local communities to improve health. It is the first health and wellbeing survey conducted postCovid and provides intelligence on the impact of the pandemic for our community, unsurprisingly showing a decline in selfperceived health since 2017/18.

“Alongside the pandemic, austerity has also had a more disproportionate negative impact on some of our residents.

“Despite these challenging findings, the report provides an opportunity to galvanise and mobilise partners around a shared understanding of the public health priorities for our communities.”

The survey report, set to go before Inverclyde’s Integration Joint Board, says: “There has been a decrease in the proportion of adults in Inverclyde with a positive view of their physical wellbeing, mental/emotional wellbeing and quality of life, and an increase in the proportion with a condition or illness that limits their daily activities, and an increase in the proportion being treated for at least one condition, to the highest levels seen across the last five surveys. Those in the most deprived areas fared worse than those in other areas, and measures of health and wellbeing consistently showed Inverclyde faring worse than the NHSGGC area as a whole.”

With regards to health behaviours across a wide range of indicators, those people in the most deprived areas of Inverclyde were more likely to smoke, be exposed to secondhand smoke, most likely to consume e-cigarettes and less likely to meet targets for fruit and veg.

But of those taking part in this survey those living in the most deprived areas were less likely to drink, but of those who did drink were more likely to binge.

The survey also showed that food poverty among Inverclyde residents has doubled to 14 per cent in the last seven years, which was slightly less than Greater Glasgow and Clyde as a whole.

Results showed that in the most deprived areas more than one in five people were concerned about their ability to afford food.

The report added: “Nearly half of those in the most deprived areas of Inverclyde said they had difficulty meeting the cost of food and/or energy.”

It also showed that less people in Inverclyde feel isolated and more feel like a valued member of the community.