Read the full Birmingham Economic Review 2024.
Birmingham’s workplaces have a vital role in improving health and wellbeing, with many employers already supporting staff through free services that boost both health and productivity.
However, significant health inequalities remain, and businesses can help tackle these by promoting healthier lifestyles, early treatment, and better workplace wellbeing initiatives.
Many employers in the City are already promoting the health and wellbeing of their staff. There is plenty of free to access help for employers and employees who want to boost their health and wellbeing … and their productivity.
We all know that good employment protects health, and that income and employment are key determinants of health and drivers of health inequalities. It stands to reason that workplaces have enormous potential to improve health and wellbeing of Birmingham’s citizens.
What we know about the population in Birmingham and their healthy life expectancy
Healthy life expectancy is the average age that a person is likely to live in good health. Of course, there will be lots of variation between individuals but to understand inequalities and work out what we can do about them, we need to look at the difference between groups of people.
Men in Birmingham can expect to live to 59 years in good health. This compares to 63 years for men across England. Women in Birmingham can expect to live to 60 years in good health. This compares to 63 years for women across England. Both figures are well below the age of retirement. It’s not good for people who are in poor health. It’s not good for those that become carers for them and it’s not good for business.
Years lived in good health also varies across the City. There is almost 20-year difference between those who live in the least deprived and most deprived communities. There are also differences between ethnic groups and very starkly between those with and without a disability and between those with and without a mental health condition.
Differences cut across a range of preventable and treatable conditions, including muscular skeletal problems, mental health, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma, heart disease and cancer.
The causes of such health inequalities are complex. They are not just about people’s behaviours but also about income, education and housing, racism and discrimination, access to health information and services. There is so much that we can do together to better promote good health, prevent ill health and to treat conditions early on.
What businesses can do
There are lots of free services for businesses and for employees who want to improve their health and improve their productivity. They don’t have waiting lists and are spread right across the City, close to where people live or work.
The Combined Authority-led Thrive at Work programme helps employers to develop healthy workplaces. They can be contacted at thrive at work (wmca.org.uk)
Workplace Champions can motivate their peers to improve their health and wellbeing. Birmingham City Council Public Health Division fund Optima to recruit and train Champions. They run regular networking events to keep motivation. They can be contacted at Birmingham Workplace Champions (optima-uk.com)
Smoking is still the biggest killer. We know that most smokers want to give up and many do successfully. It is much more likely to stick with the help of a smoking cessation service. These are available free at pharmacies across the city. An example of this is the Help to stop smoking scheme.
Small changes can reap big benefits to health. Encouraging active travel, walking or cycling to work is a really easy way of promoting heart health and reducing pollution.
Finally, Birmingham is still the youngest of all English cities but has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment with around 1 in 7 young people unemployed. Unemployment is bad for anyone’s health but particularly for young people. Let’s all work hard to get this shocking number down.
This blog was written by Jo Tonkin, Interim Director of Public Health, Birmingham City Council.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the authors and not necessarily those of City-REDI or the University of Birmingham.