Health & Wellbeing

Since April 2013, the Dudley Health & Wellbeing Board (HWBB) has been responsible for the health and wellbeing of all residents in Dudley borough.

Using local evidence, it works to help identify the needs of local residents, improve efficiency, secure better care to improve health and wellbeing as well as tackle health inequalities across the borough.

• Dudley Health and Wellbeing Board website

‘The aim of the joint health & wellbeing strategy is to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Dudley borough and to reduce health inequalities.

• Read the joint health & wellbeing strategy

The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment provides a starting point for discussion and debate about the health and wellbeing of people in Dudley.

• Go to the All About Dudley website

The purpose of the Public Health Annual Report is to demonstrate the state of health within communities. It should add value over and above existing data and health intelligence, which is readily available, and should present an independent view to inform local people about the health of their community.

For this report (2019-2020) Dudley Public Health have chosen to focus on the topic of inclusion. Inclusion is a broad topic, and this can make an easy definition difficult to come by but essentially is based on the belief that all people in society are entitled to the same benefits and resources (irrespective of someone’s protective characteristics). There are multifaceted benefits to an inclusive society which encompass: economic growth, productivity and employment, social cohesion and wellbeing.

In undertaking this report it was important to explore actions aimed at enhancing the prospect of more inclusive places within Dudley and to recognise how the whole population can gain by being more inclusive.

It was also important to have an inclusive and independent approach therefore the Ideas Alliance, an independent research company, were asked to facilitate a community research process which has informed part of the report and shaped the recommendations for improving inclusion.