The VOICES Project works to support ten to twenty people from North and West Belfast to look at the relationship between poverty and health. Participative workshops will support group members to explore what poverty and health mean to them and to identify and prioritise their key poverty and health issues.

REASONS FOR THE VOICES PROGRAMME

Our members told us that things were getting worse for people experiencing poverty (PEP) especially in relation to health.

Some of the worst levels of disadvantage and ill health exist in North and West Belfast. There is no work being done to support PEP to identify the issues that matter to them or to address poverty and health issues through lobbying.

There is a real need to support disadvantaged communities to challenge a negative media representation of those experiencing poverty. There is a real need to support PEP to come together and identify what they have in common and what they can do about poverty and health issues together.

It is NIAPN's belief that people experiencing poverty (PEP) are best placed to define the impact of poverty on their lives. With this in mind we want to support PEP to develop and use their voices so they can speak directly to decision makers in Northern Ireland and beyond.

This project is supported by the Eastern Health and Social Services Board.

The following can be downloaded as Adobe PDFs:

• VOICES Programme membership form
• VOICES Manifesto
• Putting the Learning to Use: Inequalities in Health and Wellbeing

Developing the Anti-Poverty Agenda in the Eastern Area - A Shared Focus

This seminar was held under the umbrella of the Eastern Area Investing for Health 'Wellnet Partnership.'

The partners were EHSSB, NIAPN and the Institute for Public Health.

The seminar was aimed at maximising the links between 'Lifetime Opportunites: Government's Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland and the Investing for Health strategy (IFH).  The purpose of the conference was to address poverty and health ineqaulities by identifying joined up actions.   Stakeholders from across a range of  sectors within the Eastern Board area participated.

• Poverty and Health Inequalities Conference Report April 2007

Below you will find the programme, presentations and briefing papers from the seminar:

PROGRAMME:

      Seminar running order

PRESENTATIONS:

      Investing for Health - Tackling health inequalites and Poverty

      Dr Michael McBride, Chief Medical Officer, DHSSPS

      What can we learn from anti-poverty strategies in Europe?

      Dr Helen Johnston, Director, Combat Poverty Agency

      Inequality and health inequality -finding meaningful measures of progress

      Dr Helen McAvoy, Institute of Public Health in Ireland

     Tackling poverty and health inequalites in north and west Belfast: What makes the difference?

     Goretti Horgan, School of Policy Studies, University of Ulster

BRIEFING PAPERS:

•      Early years Brief 1
•      Early years Brief 2
•      Children and young people Brief 1
•      Children and young people Brief 2
•      Working age Brief 1
•      Working age Brief 2
•      Older people Brief 1
•      Older people Brief 2