Health Trainers Project

The Health Trainers Project is one of the newer projects at the Stifford Centre and has proven to be immensely successful. Over the past year the project has prospered and as a result the Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust has decided to extend the project further.

Why is there a Need?

Tower Hamlets is one of London’s smallest boroughs, covering an area of Just under 20 square kilometres. But, it is one of the most densely populated areas in Britain, with a population density of 10,451 persons per km according to the 2001 census, making it the 5th most densely populated borough in England and Wales. The borough is undergoing an explosive population growth and is expected to have 316,100 people living in Tower Hamlets by 2012.

This population growth over the next 10 to 15 years is likely to be most marked in young children and those aged 30 to 64 years. There will also be an increase in the very elderly, although the numbers themselves will remain small. As the incidence of chronic diseases increases significantly in middle age, this will have significant implications for the provision of health care and quality of life of the boroughs residents in the future.

In the context of the Health Trainers project, the need is to promote health awareness, from analyzing and reviewing the collected data from the assessment needs. A large number of key factors were highlighted in the local LAP3 and LAP4 areas, which included the high levels of smokers to the low life expectancy of men within.

There is a clear indication across LAPS 3 & 4 of the need to provide a health needs based service, which will tackle the health inequalities and offer a service, which will be easily accessible, consistent, of high quality, which will be comprehensively implemented across the whole target population.

How? 

In order to deliver the initiative to the people a range of activities are being delivered which includes:

• Introduction to healthy lifestyle
• Healthy eating workshops
• City Walks sessions
• Healthy lifestyle awareness
• Smoking Cessation
• Mobile screening – including Dental Health