The 1st Living Well Summit!
Over 150 people attended our first Living Well Summit on 18 March, held at the amazing Bradford Live venue.
It was a district-wide opportunity to come together and make a real, lasting difference to the lives of our residents.
This landmark event brought together people already working to tackle health inequalities and improve wellbeing, with the aim of energising and strengthening this vital work. The Summit also helped to ensure that Living Well aligns with the NHS Long Term Plan, the latest NICE guidance on obesity, and the new national food strategy vision.
The chief executive officer for Airedale Hospital Foluke Ajayi, kicked off the summit with a presentation about the secondary care perspective of Living Well.
Interactive workshops were delivered throughout the day tackling key themes for health and wellbeing.
A physical activity workshop talking about ‘being unapologetically ambitious in increasing activity levels in Bradford district’ was chaired by James Brown, the chief exec for Active Bradford. Panel members: Carl Hawkes, chief exec Yorkshire Sport Foundation & Saira Ali president elect of the Landscape Institute joined this lively discussion.
The food workshop was chaired by Tim Howells, the head of public health at Bradford Council, joined by panel members: Professor Bob Doherty, University of York principal investigator of the ‘FixOurFood’ research programme, Professor Maria Bryant professor of public health nutrition and Nichola Harris, area operations manager for FM catering where they discussed improving our food system to provide healthy and sustainable food for all.
A biology workshop delving into healthy weight, the impact of medications and their nutritional impact both now and in the future was chaired by Collette Brauns, the head of Living Well West Yorks NHS ICB joined by panel members: Kirsten Foster head of nutrition and dietetic service BTHFT & Johanne Bird, principal dietitian BTHFT
After lunch the afternoon began with a presentation by William Roberts, the chief executive officer for the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) which was followed by Professor Louisa Ells, co-director of the Obesity Institute talking about obesity and stigma.
The afternoon continued with a psychology workshop chaired by Rose Dunlop, consultant in public health at Bradford Council. Rose was joined by panel members: Dr Megan Wood, research fellow at the Bradford centre for health data science, Isobel Keeling, head of services for children and young people and all age MIND in Bradford and Dr Jo Charsely, clinical psychologist BTHFT. They discussed the role of mental wellbeing impacting food behaviours and the relationship with social media.
Another session tackled society and wider determinants workshop with Joe Minton, public health registrar at Bradford Council joined by Laura Bentley, clinical services lead for New Vision, Natalie Wright, Living Well service manager and Martin Lee Living Well business & partnership manager where they discussed cultural and societal norms, economic and commercial conditions, environment and planning, governance and policy that could impact obesity in the future in Bradford district.
These sessions all explored the ‘whole system approach’, a collaborative, long-term way of addressing the complex, interconnected challenges that shape people’s health. Instead of looking at issues in isolation, the aim is to look at the bigger picture and see how all the pieces fit together.
This fantastic event was a chance to spark ideas, build momentum, and shape a healthier future for everyone in our district.
We received lots of positive feedback from attendees about the quality of the speakers, how interesting and useful they found the presentations and workshops and how much people felt they had learned throughout the day.
People learned about influences on health and wellbeing and links to obesity that they hadn’t previously considered, and we have received multiple requests for the presentation slides so they can be used for their work and shared with colleagues.
