Appreciating Health For All

Almost every aspect of our lives has an impact on our health. Whether it's our jobs, our homes, our access to education, or our poverty. It all has an impact on our ability to be healthy. Unfortunately, we tend to concentrate on health care and individual choices. This is an issue. It creates a disconnect between what is said and what is done to create a healthy community.

Developing a healthy environment requires greater action on the wider will for health. However, in any public debate about how to improve health in the community, health inequalities and the wider factors are often left out or misunderstood.

Nevertheless, what is advocated is the opportunity to act locally. It is suggested: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ In other words, the first step to our health together; is an act of human compassion. Evidently, this becomes the foundation to all the great achievements of humankind. So far, one of the knock-on effects of the pandemic, is that it really demonstrated the impact of inequalities on health and helped build a bit more public awareness, that health differences, aren’t just down to individual choices.

However, as history shows time and again, waiting for government action is never the best recipe for change. Progressively, we need to appreciate the opportunities that present themselves, daily to do things differently; both ourselves and collectively.

Best wishes, David