Population Health refers to improving the health of an entire population, improving the physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of people, whilst reducing health inequalities within and across a defined population. It includes action to reduce the occurrence of ill-health, including addressing wider determinants of health.

The wider determinants of health such as where we are born, grow up, live, work and age, as well as the decisions we make for ourselves and our families, collectively have a bigger impact on our health than healthcare alone.

As a partnership we aim to address and reduce these health inequalities across Walsall.

As well as the overarching aim of the partnership to do this, the Clinical Professional Leadership Group has set out its plans to ensure that, all their areas of responsibility and programmes of work centre on the following themes:

  • Reducing variation in outcomes
  • Identifying and overseeing implementation of our priorities as anchor institutions
  • Ensuring the COVID restoration and recovery does not exacerbate health inequalities

We are currently developing a Population Health and Inequalities Strategy which will set our how we plan to reduce health inequalities. It will align to the priorities set out by the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) and the development of the Walsall Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

There are a number of other initiatives that are underway which you can read more about below.

Population Health Management (PHM) put simply is using data (for example on how many people smoke, have dementia or have diabetes) to help us understand our current health and care needs as well as predict what will be needed in the future. 

In Walsall we have worked closely with our seven Primary Care Networks (PCNs) as well as our public health and housing colleagues to undertake a review of the needs of their local communities including what matters most to them, based on the quantitate and qualitative data they hold. This includes health data and information on the wider well-being needs including those such as housing, education, employment, mental health.

This information will be used to identify priorities and deliver services at a local level.

This work will be further enhanced by the roll out of a Population Health Management digital segmentation tool.