Public Health is about helping people to stay healthy and protecting them from threats to their health.
Sometimes public health activities involve helping individuals, at other times they involve dealing with wider factors that have an impact on the health of many people (for example an age-group, an ethnic group, a locality, or a country).
While medicine and nursing are vital for helping and supporting people when they fall ill, public health contributes to reducing the causes of ill-health and improving people's health and wellbeing.
Each local authority has a public health department and you can find out more about what Birmingham's Public Health teams are doing and their work on their dedicated webpages (opens a new window).
Below are some of Birmingham's Public Health offers that you may be interested in.
Many people struggle with addiction of one sort or another. Public Health have pulled together resources provide support to help people with different additions such as smoking, alcohol, drug use and gambling.
Public Health's Addiction Support webpages
Help and support around food including those having difficulty affording food. Additional information and support around healthy eating. There is also information about the "Food Revolution" strategy. More information can be found at:
Food and health eating - https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50351/food_and_healthy_eating
Food Revolution - https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50279/food_revolution
Information about health checks and screening programmes run by the NHS. These include health checks for those aged 40-74, cancer screening programmes and pregnancy screening
Public Health's health checks and screening programme webpages
Support and resources available to help improve wellbeing and support your mental health. Alongside advice and general support, this includes NHS services, as well as information & resources for coping different crises - bereavement, financial, housing insecurity, severe weather.
In additional to these, there is also a section on suicide prevention and support.
Public Health's Mental Health and Wellbeing pages
Information and resources to help you look after your health and wellbeing. Specific section covering those aged 50 to 65 and those aged 65 and over. Additional sections on aging well and your brain health.
Public Health's Health at Different Ages webpages
The benefits of being active every day are huge and being active benefits both physical and mental health and wellbeing at every age and not just that it can be a lot of fun too!
These public health pages provide information on the benefits of staying active, along with resources to help you too to be active.
Pubic Health's Staying and Being Active webpages
