JERSEY needs to expand the way it defines ‘health prevention’ to include building design, community support, the way we travel and eat, and the language we use, a discussion meeting hosted by a think tank has heard.
Organised by Policy Centre Jersey, the event heard from medical practitioners, politicians, health professionals and third-sector representatives, all discussing how Jersey can better shift its healthcare system from treatment to prevention.
It was also suggested that the Jersey could follow the example of another small island jurisdiction, Singapore, in coming a ‘Blue Zone’, with far-reaching polices that encourage healthier and happier lives.
One of the speakers, occupational physician Dr Chris Edmond, said that Jersey needed to focus more on ‘primary intervention’ – which is looking at the world we live in, including housing provision, green spaces and community engagement.
“It has been described to me that we are currently not living longer, we are dying slower,” he said.
“We have a responsibility to provide an environment where people can lead long and healthy lives. Obesity, mental health illnesses, diabetes and dementia are all largely preventable.”
“At the moment, we are pulling people out of the river, whereas we should be upstream, making sure they don’t fall into the river in the first place.”
Dr Edmond gave the example of ‘Alan’ – a typical islander who goes to his GP, who carries out the proper screening to find that Alan has high blood pressure and is overweight. The GP recommends Alan loses weight.
However, Alan struggles to stick to his diet and forgets to go for the diabetes blood tests that his GP suggested. In time, Alan has a heart attack: he cannot work, he loses his job, and he loses his family, whom he can no longer support.
Dr Edmund added: “But imagine if ‘Alan’ was offered the support he needed: he was referred for a lifestyle medical assessment, he joined a supportive weight-loss course, he was helped to improve his diet, he connected with other people, and he felt part of a community that listened and understood.
“This is what is called an optimisation approach – which is a strategic approach to improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes, driven by the use of data.”
Health Minister Tom Binet also spoke at the breakfast event. Deputy Binet conceded that the Island’s heath system had been in poor health itself, particularly since IT and other systems had been centralised.
These had now returned to the Health fold, he said, and would be properly funded, if the States Assembly approved the draft Budget for next year. This included an extra £8m for digital health services and £4m for prevention.
He added that he hoped that the independent Health Advisory Board would ensure continuity through next year’s political change.
Mind Jersey executive director Dr Patricia Tumelty used a service user’s recreation of René Magritte’s famous painting The Son of Man to illustrate the point that people often see what they want to see, rather than the bigger picture
She argued that any healthcare system must make sure that people who are invisible in society are visible. Building supportive communities was an answer, she argued, as well as appraising the language we use around individualism and “the myth of meritocracy”.
Policy Centre Jersey will be organising more discussion events in future.
