Website of the Department of Health

Sites for first health trainers announced as report shows progress on reducing health inequalities

Twelve areas have been named as the first sites for the new health trainers, an initiative announced in the Choosing Health White Paper. These areas will each receive £200,000 additional funding to provide personalised plans for individuals to improve their health and prevent diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease. 

The initiative is targeted first at the most disadvantaged areas to make it easier for individuals in these communities to make healthier choices. It will extend to the rest of England in 2007.

A report also published today shows some progress has been made in reducing the gap between the health of people living in the most disadvantaged areas, compared to the rest of the country but recognises that a significant challenge remains.  The analysis will provide valuable information for developing the Government's long-term health inequalities strategy set out in the Programme for Action. The strategy is designed to tackle the deep-rooted causes of poor health and meet the 2010 target to reduce health inequalities in life expectancy and infant mortality.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said:

"Many people have difficulty in changing to a healthier way of life. There is support for people but it may be available at the wrong time of day or only accessible to people who speak and read English well, and access can be unequal and erratic. Health trainers are designed to address these problems.

"They will give support to local people in their communities and provide information to help them develop personal health plans and carry them out. This might include giving a pregnant woman information about her local stop smoking services or accompanying a woman to a breast screening appointment.  Equally, health trainers will identify barriers to individuals making healthier choices and help find solutions to get over them.

"This report out today shows encouraging signs that we are moving in the right direction on some of the problems associated with health inequalities.  The publication of the Choosing Health white paper has built on the twin pillars of improving health and tackling health inequalities. Health trainers are one of the many initiatives in the white paper which will help narrow this gap by supporting people to make healthier choices in their daily lives."

The report was overseen by the Department's scientific reference group, made up of independent experts on health inequalities. They reviewed a range of factors and, as expected at this early stage, the group found no reduction in the health gap.  It did, however, find signs of progress in key areas likely to contribute to a future narrowing of the gap.  These include:

Other areas to show some early signs of a narrowing of inequalities include cancer death rates, which has shown a marked fall in the national death rate, and educational attainment, which is a powerful determinant of future health status.  Other issues covered in the report include smoking prevalence, fruit and vegetable consumption, road accidents and teenage conceptions where overall national improvements have left the gap unchanged.  

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Chair of the scientific reference group on health inequalities who oversaw the development of the report said:

"The Government has set as a major goal the reduction of health inequalities.  It is therefore vital to monitor what has been happening.  This report is an important step in that process"