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Comment: We know what’s wrong, so what will we do?

Posted 25 January, 2023 by Jennifer Drummond

We need a radical shift and long-term prevention measures to genuinely improve outcomes for Scotland’s most deprived communities, writes David Finch (pictured)

Our Health Foundation report ‘Leave no one behind: The state of health and health inequalities in Scotland (click here to access)’ was published earlier in January. It is the summation of a multi-stranded review undertaken over the past 12 months, focusing on how Scotland has fared on health and health inequalities in the two decades since devolution.

The most glaring predicament revealed by the review is that the fortunes of those living in our most deprived communities are peeling away from the rest.

Compiled from research commissioned from the University of Glasgow, the Fraser of Allander Institute, Nesta in Scotland, and the Diffley Partnership, with the help of our expert advisory group, it has revealed some particularly worrying trends.

Poor childhood health, rising infant mortality rates and a persistent attainment gap

Early childhood development and the school years play a crucial role in determining future health. Poor outcomes in childhood can continue to have significant implications in life. For example, school readiness affects educational attainment, eventual access to job opportunities, lifetime income and ultimately health. Yet there are a number of concerning trends that risk the perpetuation of health inequalities for children now and later in their lives.

Infant mortality is a good indicator of societal health. The rate at which children die before their first birthday is rising for people living in the most deprived fifth of areas but is static or falling among the rest.

Since 2000 infant mortality has declined overall. However, from 2014 infant mortality rose in the most deprived areas and fell in the least deprived 60% of areas. Between 2016-18 infant mortality rates in the most deprived areas were 2.6 times the rate in the least deprived areas.

In the past decade, inequalities have also widened for infant immunisation uptake, low birth weight and childhood obesity. The overall proportion of children at risk of obesity has remained stable over the past 20 years in Scotland, with around 1 in 10 children at risk of obesity at the start of school. But the risk of childhood obesity has gradually fallen in the least deprived areas and gradually risen in the most deprived areas. By 2018-19 children living in the most deprived fifth of areas were twice as likely to be at risk of obesity, than those in the least deprived.

Further evidence of the rise in health inequalities is seen in Early Years. The proportion of 27 to 30-month-old children of development concern from the most deprived areas in 2019-20, only matched outcomes of the children from the next most deprived fifth of areas recorded in 2013-14.

The significant poverty-related attainment gap for primary school pupils in Scotland has not closed over the past two decades. The pandemic has reversed any progress in closing a similar attainment gap for secondary age children.

Life expectancy already varies greatly across Scotland. In the most deprived areas, men are dying more than 13 years earlier than their peers in the least deprived areas – and women almost a decade earlier.

Action is needed now to improve outcomes through childhood to support future health and reduce such inequalities.

Building blocks for a healthy community

A healthy community derives from a range of factors: stable jobs, good pay, quality housing and education. Poor health is almost inevitable when some or all of these factors are absent.

Scotland's wide and sustained health inequalities are being driven by the accumulation of severe multiple disadvantages, a lack of improvement in living standards and public service fragility due to the ongoing impact of austerity.

So, we know what is wrong now, in more detail than ever. The question is, what can we do about it? Because, if we fail to change course, Scotland’s most deprived communities are likely to continue suffering from poor quality of life and to die younger.

A radical shift in approach is needed. The Scottish Government, local authorities, businesses and the third sector must come together and collaborate closely with communities. Ultimately, we must shift focus from short-term measures to longer term preventative interventions. This is a wiser use of the funding available which will create a healthier nation.

Our review has shown that the public will support a longer-term approach, and that existing approaches can be adapted to have greater impact. This includes Local Child Poverty Action reports which can be used more effectively to build collaboration across sectors and drive action on underlying causes of poverty which in turn will support better health.

This is no longer about plans and strategies. It is about political will, and decisive action.

David Finch is Assistant Director of the Health Foundation’s Healthy Lives team

Children in Scotland conducted participative research with children and young people about health inequalities from 2019-2020. Click here to find out more about our health inequalities peer research project.

News: New research seeks to better understand the experiences of young cancer patients

Posted 22 January, 2023 by Jennifer Drummond

The groundbreaking work will look to build a new evidence base of the needs of young cancer patients and identify gaps in how the system currently supports them.

The work is being conducted by leading cancer charities Young Lives vs Cancer, the Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Group, the Ellen McArthur Cancer Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust across the whole of the UK.

Dartington Service Design Lab, a charity which aims to improve children’s outcomes through research, systems thinking and co-design approaches, has been commissioned as the research partner. In partnership with Edge Hill University, Dartington will undertake experience-led research, co-designed by young people, parents of children with cancer and key stakeholders.

The project will bring together the voices of children, young people and families, as well as new evidence and systems thinking that will help inform developments and ultimately improve the outcomes for the young people the charities work with.

Scottish cancer rates

Each year in Scotland, around 330 children and young people under 25 are diagnosed with cancer, according to the latest statistics from Public Health Scotland - almost one person every day.

Speaking specifically about the involvement of Scottish young people and their families, Nathan Sheach, Strategic Lead for Service Design at Dartington Service Design Lab said:

“This research seeks to align the service provision of care, advice and support to the true needs of the young Scottish people (and others across the UK) with experience of cancer and their supporting peers, guardians or families' experiences.

“Scotland is unique in its positioning in terms of what’s available to young people with cancer. Large third sector organisations, National Health Service trusts and local peer-to-peer and community support groups are heavily spread out across the country. Each person's experience, needs, support around their cancer diagnosis will be different among what is quite a complex system of support services available.“

Young people’s views will be crucial

The project is seeking participants who are 14-25 years old, with experience of cancer in the last five years, to participate in workshops between now and May to help better understand the needs of young people in Scotland and strengthen the evidence about the support available.

Parents and guardians who have supported a young person with cancer are also invited to participate to share their experiences and insight into strategies for this vital area of work.

Research will be taking place during the first half of 2023, with findings expected in the autumn.

Click here to read more about the project

News: New research explores the costs of a choice-led, nutritious family shop

Posted 18 January, 2023 by Nina Joynson

Research exploring what families would choose to eat if income was sufficient shows the inaccessibility of a healthy, choice-led food shop, with the politics of the school canteen adding to the cost.

Going shopping

Nourish Scotland worked with public health experts, academics, Scottish Government representatives and people with family experience to create shopping lists that reflect the realities and aspirations families in Scotland have for their food.

Starting research in 2020, four case study families were identified and community advisors collaborated to define an ideal weekly shop for each, considering lifestyle and nutrition.

Two distinct case study families were defined: large families of two adults and three children aged 7-15, and small families of a single mother and two children aged 2-5.

Cost of eating

After the shopping lists were created, researchers monitored their costs quarterly.

In December 2022, the large families' weekly spend would average at £235.75, while small families would spend £108.90, in order to have what is considered a realistic and healthy diet.

The cost-of-living crisis added £106.81 to the large families' monthly cost, against what they would have paid in December 2021.

From this, researchers concluded that it would be difficult for any of the case study families to afford the shopping lists, showing that aspirations for what should be affordable is not matched by sufficient income.

Food stigma at school

One of the primary questions on the shopping list relates to school lunches. The advisory groups recognised that school meals become a contentious issue as children grow older and their eating preferences change.

It was also recognised that eating environments also become more important and stigmatised, such as circumstances where children with packed lunches eat separately to those with school meals.

Arguments begin in primary school and mount to "tremendous pressure" in secondary school, where young people want to join their friends in eating out, to socialise and avoid stigmatisation.

Therefore, the advisors recommend any ideal family budget needs to accommodate for both packed lunches and out-of-school options.

Government support

While the ideal food shop is currently unaffordable to many households, the research reveals that policies such as universal school meals provision and the Scottish Child Payment can make a real difference.

Under December 2022 eligibility, the Scottish Child Payment would cover 46% of the small families' and 32% of the large families' ideal weekly shopping list.

Click here to learn more about the Our Right to Food project

News: Dyslexia genes identified by Scottish-led study

Posted 25 October, 2022 by Jennifer Drummond

Scientists have for the first time pinpointed a number of genes that are reliably associated with dyslexia.

The researchers say their findings will aid understanding of the biology behind why some children struggle to read or spell.

Family genes

First recognised in the 1870s, a definition was not reached until the 1960s. Now, dyslexia is typically given as a diagnosis if reading and spelling abilities are poor and much lower than a person’s other academic skills or cognitive abilities.

According to Dyslexia Scotland one in 10 children and adults has dyslexia in Scotland.

Dyslexia is known to run in families but, until now, little was known about the specific gene that increase the risk of developing it.

Research findings

The most recent study, led by the University of Edinburgh, is the largest genetic study of dyslexia to date.

Researched tested the association between millions of genetic variants with dyslexia status and found 42 significant variants.

Some of these are associated with other neurodevelopment conditions, such as language delay, and with thinking skills. Many, however, are novel and could represent genes that more specifically associate with processes essential for learning to read.

Many of the genes associated with dyslexia are also associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A much smaller overlap of genes associated with dyslexia was found for psychiatric, lifestyle and health conditions.

Researchers say they were able to predict how well children and adults from four other research studies can read and spell sing the genetic information from the study. However, these would not be accurate enough for diagnostic use.

Lead researcher Dr Michelle Luciano from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences said:

“Previous work suggested some brain structures may be altered in people with dyslexia, but we did not find evidence that genes explain this. Our results also suggest that dyslexia is very closely genetically related to performance on reading and spelling tests, reinforcing the importance of standardised testing in identifying dyslexia.”

The study, led by the University of Edinburgh, was done in partnership with Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (Netherlands), QMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (Australia) and US company, 23 and Me Inc.

Comment: We've promised change. Now it's time to deliver

Posted 11 Aug, 2022 by Jennifer Drummond

A recent report has highlighted the unmet needs of young people in foster care, as well as the lack of support for foster carers. Something needs to change, writes Jacqueline Cassidy (pictured)

Foster care provides children with stability and security and offers some children their first positive experience of family life. It can help to improve children's mental wellbeing and educational outcomes. However, children's needs can't fully be met if the support they need from other services isn’t readily available to them.

The Fostering Network’s latest report (click here to read) shows that we are still failing to meet some of our children and young people’s most basic needs and uphold their rights, particularly when it comes to their health, education and cultural identity.

State of the Nation's Foster Care

The report is based on results from the State of the Nation’s Foster Care 2021 survey, which provides the most comprehensive insight into fostering in Scotland and across the UK. It gathers the views of foster carers who are providing support and care to thousands of children and young people. Their view strongly indicates that both local and national government are failing to meet their responsibility as a parent to these children.

Key findings are:

A quarter of foster carers were looking after at least one child who they felt needed mental health support but was not getting it.
Fifty-four per cent of foster carers were looking after at least one child who receives additional support to assist their learning. Of these foster carers, a quarter felt that the additional support was not sufficient.
Thirteen per cent of foster carers reported having looked after a child with suspected Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Nine per cent of foster carers reported having looked after a child with a diagnosis of FASD, however, only a third received follow-up support post-diagnosis.
Fifty-five per cent of foster carers had not received any support or advice around supporting a child’s cultural and/or religious needs.
Scotland continues to have no minimum allowances for children’s needs despite multiple commitments from the Scottish Government.

Responsibilities of the state

Foster carers are dedicated to transforming children’s lives – but they cannot do this alone.

We are calling on national and local government across Scotland to ensure that children living in foster care are able to access all the services they are entitled to, and so desperately need; and that they are listened to by all agencies working with them.

Awareness-raising, training and support

We need to invest in awareness-raising, training and therapeutic approaches. This is so practitioners across all public sector organisations that support children have the understanding and skills they need to best support children with care experience.

Furthermore, we want to see a learning and development framework for foster carers introduced, such as that already in place in Wales, so foster carers can access the learning and development they feel they need to ensure the children in their care can thrive.

Working for change

So what are we doing? We continue to lobby the Scottish Government to introduce minimum allowances for children that are at least as good as the best allowances available in Scotland.

We are raising awareness and providing support to our members to positively engage with The Promise. Internally, we’ve committed to a review of our organisational language and framing of care so we can work towards eradicating the stigmatisation of care experience, and we’re investing in trauma training for our staff team.

The Fostering Network also continue to develop our participation opportunities for children and young people so we can protect and uphold their right to express their views and be heard. Most recently, we’ve launched a recruitment campaign to establish an advisory board of young people with experience of foster care or as a child of a foster carer, who will guide and inform some of our work.

In addition, we provide training and support to foster carers, and services and all those in the fostering community. We want to nurture and support those adults who care for our children and young people so that foster care is a positive, loving and supportive experience that meets children and young people’s needs, and helps them thrive.

Foster carers provide children who can no longer live with their birth families with stability, security and a positive and supportive home environment. They help young people recover from trauma and encourage them to believe in and fulfil their potential. But they need to be supported by other services and with adequate funding.

We have committed to change, now we owe it to them to deliver.

Jacqueline Cassidy is Director of Practice and Scotland at The Fostering Network
Click here to find out more

News: Learning hub launched to help tackle inequality

Posted 05 July, 2022 by Jennifer Drummond

A new learning hub aims to help public services professionals improve their skills and day-to-day working practices in order to take more action to reduce inequalities.

The Virtual Learning Environment, launched last week by Public Health Scotland, provides practice improvement support for making services inclusive, and strengthening partnership working and community advocacy.

Designed for those who provide essential and emergency public services including police, fire and rescue services, and health, social care, education, housing across all sectors, individuals can select sections most relevant to their learning needs and source information about how to integrate actions into their daily work.

It focuses on three broad areas:

Making services inclusive for all
Effective partnership working to reduce inequalities
Advocacy to reduce inequalities.

Vicky Bibby, Director of Strategic Planning and Performance at Public Health Scotland said:

“Understanding the necessity of addressing inequalities in our community is important; having the tools and support to put this into practice is vital.

“This new resource has been specifically developed to offer practical guidance, methods and frameworks to help those in public service roles reduce inequalities in the services they provide.”

The hub is hosted on the Public Health Scotland website.

Click here to find out more and access the hub

News: Report highlights success of family support programme

Posted 24 May, 2022 by Jennifer Drummond. Image provided by Scottish Government.

The Family Nurse Partnership programme has been recognised by the Scottish Government for its success in helping more than 10,000 young mothers and their children.

The pioneering programme supports young, first-time mothers to prepare for motherhood and throughout the first two years of their child’s life.

First launched as a pilot programme in NHS Lothian, the programme has supported thousands of young women in their first steps into parenthood.

An analysis report published by the Scottish Government shows positive results for mothers and babies in areas such as increased breastfeeding rates and uptake of childhood immunisations.

Val Alexander is the Service Manager of the Family Nurse Partnership and has been with the programme since it began. She said:

“We are so proud of the Family Nurse Partnership and everything our clients have achieved.

“FNP was fist delivered in NHS Lothian and to see it extended across Scotland to reach thousands more families is something very special for us all.

“This 10-year analysis of the delivery of the service across Scotland will help us see how far we have come and map out our goals and ambitions for the future of the programme and young families.”

Committed to improving lives

The report, published earlier this month, acknowledges the significant and complex challenges faced by parents who enter the programme, with neglect, mental health issues, homelessness and poverty found to be more prevalent in the FNP group than in the general population.

Despite these challenges, those who engaged with the Family Nurse Partnership programme were found to show a “determination to improve their lives and the lives of their children” through their voluntary participation in FNP as a long-term intervention.

The majority (80%) of clients complete the programme and graduate, making a commitment to have regular home visits from a Family Nurse for the next 2.5 years.

Expanding delivery and qualifying criteria

Earlier this year the Scottish Government committed to extending the successful programme to all first-time mothers aged 21 and under by the end of 2024. They also have hopes to extend the qualifying criteria to those under the age of 35 who are care experienced or from the most deprived communities. The expansion programme is expected to mean support for an additional 500 families by 2025.

Click here to read the Family Nurse Partnership: 10 year analysis

News: Young people present key issues to Scottish Cabinet

Posted 1 March 2022, by Jennifer Drummond. Image from Children in Scotland event, September 2018.

Young people across Scotland met today with the First Minister and her Cabinet in the sixth annual Cabinet Meeting with Children and Young People (Cabinet Takeover).

The meeting, which took place online, represents a key opportunity for young people to communicate the views of their generations to some of the most senior politicians in Scotland.

At the Cabinet Takeover, key decision-makers from across areas of the Scottish Government listened to speeches delivered by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) and Members of the Children’s Parliament (MCP).

With a strong focus on children’s rights the meeting was particularly timely, taking place the day after it was revealed Deputy First Minister John Swinney has written to the Secretary of State for Scotland vowing to reintroduce a Bill to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots Law.

Issues of importance

Issues raised covered a range of topics including rights, education, climate emergency, health and wellbeing and more. Amongst the speeches made today:

Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) Chair, Josh Kennedy, spoke about the need to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots Law
MSYP Wiktoria Orlicka called for more protection of LGBT rights
SYP Trustee Sophie Reid spoke about female safety, calling for more action and improvements to physical spaces
Cameron Garret, Convenor of the SYP Education Committee, spoke about the need for a better education system for young people, including meaningful participation and involvement in decisions about their educational future and adopting a rights-based approach as standard
SYP Trustee Mollie McGoran focused on the climate emergency, highlighting the enthusiasm and passion of her generation.

Passionate presentations from representatives of the Children’s Parliament focused on gender equality in education, children’s mental health and wellbeing and adults realising children’s rights.

Next steps

Both the children and young people present, and those they represent, will be looking for some activity from the First Minister and the Scottish Government in the coming months in direct response to the meeting and the issues raised today.

Cathy McCulloch, Co-Director of the Children’s Parliament said:

“[Our MCPs] are keen to see some real action taken in response to their Calls to Action.

“They feel very strongly about the issues they are raising and we fully support these as represent many issues children have raised through Children’s Parliament programmes across Scotland.”

Josh Kennedy, Scottish Youth Parliament Chair added:

“Today's meeting is an opportunity for Ministers to hear about these topics, and more, directly from children and young people. But it will only matter if we see action to address the issues raised and I'm looking forward to seeing what's done to ensure young people's views are taken into account in the year ahead."

For more information from today search click here to search #CabinetTakeover on Twitter.

Good Food Nation consultation response: right to food 'must be incorporated into Scots law'

20 December 2021

Children in Scotland has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Good Food Nation Bill, calling for the right to food to be incorporated into Scots law.

The Bill proposes new legislation covering ‘the interconnected mechanisms of how food is produced, harvested, processed, distributed, sold, marketed, consumed and wasted’.

In our response we make clear our fundamental belief that all children, young people and families have the right to food, a right which extends to food that is adequate in terms of nutrition, safety and cultural appropriateness.

Amy Woodhouse, Head of Policy, Projects and Participation, said:

"In our response to the Proposed Right to Food (Scotland) Bill of September 2020, we asserted that incorporating a right to food would give children, young people and families a necessary mechanism for redress if they are facing food insecurity.

"We see this as a key measure of accountability for ensuring that the Scottish Government meets its obligation to provide all children, young people and families with access to healthy, affordable food and drink.

"A right to food is about more than food insecurity – it is about taking a whole-systems approach to tackling challenges such as poverty, diet-related illness and climate change.

"It has an opportunity to play a transformative role in supporting children, young people and families who most struggle to access food."

Within our consultation response, we also call for the Good Food Nation Bill to make a direct reference to the incoming new multi-treaty Human Rights Bill.

We understand that this is being committed to as part of the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership's new framework for human rights for Scotland.

The Human Rights Bill includes the incorporation of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This encompasses a right to adequate food as an essential part of the overall right to an adequate standard of living.

Nourish Scotland's Senior Projects Officer Stephanie Mander writes about the Good Food Nation Bill proposals in the first edition of Insight, our new members' publication.

In her article Stephanie calls for the Bill to include:

clear policy targets
meaningful engagement with young people, and
transparency on the tools for holding Ministers or public bodies to account with regard to the legislation.

Click here to read our consultation response in full

For more information about Insight and how you can become a member of Children in Scotland, click here to read the news story on the publication launch.

For more information about International School Meals Day, which is managed by Children in Scotland, click here to visit the home page.

Proposed legislation

Find out more about the Scottish Government's Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill

Click to visit the website

Children in Scotland's Manifesto 2021-26

Rights, Inequality and Health and Wellbeing all feature as themes in our manifesto

Click here for more

Food, Families, Futures (2016-2020)

Our award-winning project addressed the underlying causes of food insecurity

Click here for more

Insight

Our new publication for members of Children in Scotland

Click here for more

Join us in membership

Be part of Scotland's largest children's sector membership organisation

Click here for more

Design is for everyone

16 December 2021

Head of Learning at V&A Dundee, Jo Mawdsley, on how good design can bring us together, foster wellbeing and strengthen partnerships

Design shapes our world. It's part of everyday life and it's everywhere. V&A Dundee is a museum with a vision of the future where everyone is inspired through design and recognises its far-reaching impact in our lives.

As a result of the pandemic, the museum was acutely aware of how crucial good design is to all of us. Good design is about equity, value, access, and joy. Reflecting on our role as a 21^st century design museum and a centre for design excellence in Scotland, we have been refreshing our mission and vision.

Following the appointment of our wonderful new director, Leonie Bell, we have been on a journey in recent months to examine what we are, what we do and how we can make changes and a lasting impact for the future.

Things have changed this past year or so, and this is true for V&A Dundee. We are a pivotal part of Dundee, a city which is transforming. Throughout lockdown we engaged hundreds of families through our fun Design Busters hotline – every week a new challenge would be shared with budding designers via the special phone line. These design challenges encouraged intergenerational learning in fun and creative ways, using things most people have around their home.

Deepening our reach and impact across the community

Through our Learning Programmes, we are building on and developing a programme for all, that has at its core care, health and wellbeing.

Our successful and ongoing partnership with social empowerment, Dundee-based organisation Front Lounge has welcomed a new cohort of seven young people from their Kindred Clothing project. The eight-week course, Totes Sewing, is an introduction to machine sewing skills in which participants design and create bags inspired by the museum. What is so lovely about this project is that the participants, many of them young mums, feel so much part of the museum, using our studio space to socialise with each other and their young children.

We are developing a strong relationship with our fellow members of Children in Scotland and Families Outside – a national charity that works solely on behalf of families in Scotland affected by imprisonment. A series of outreach workshops is being developed with one of the outputs being some wonderful Christmas tree decorations designed by a group in Castle Huntly that will be displayed on the tree in the museum.

Promoting community health and wellbeing

Following on from the success of our first health and wellbeing trail, Labyrinth, we continue to work closely with medical students from the University of Dundee and design students from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design to develop the second trail, Orikalmi – aimed at people who are feeling stressed, under pressure and experiencing anxiety. Using design, architecture, and museum spaces as a starting point for exploration and reflection, the trails will be available to anyone and will be distributed in partnership with NHS Tayside.

Sensory-Friendly Days for families and communities are core to our programme and offer a more relaxed way to enjoy the museum for those with autism spectrum conditions, sensory processing differences or profound and multiple learning difficulties. We work with key partners across the city, such as Dundee Carers Centre and Capability Scotland, to build on this programme.

This is just a taste of some of the wonderful programmes and activities we offer, so if you are interested in learning more about how you can engage with V&A Dundee, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Click here for more information about V&A Dundee

About the author

Jo is Head of Learning at V&A Dundee

Click here for more

Increasing access to arts and heritage

Our Living Museums projects explores how the sector can engage 14-21-year-olds

Click here for more

25 and Up: improving access to the arts

As part of our 25 Calls campaign update, artists told us why creativity must be a the core of child support

Click here to read

Our projects

We work on a huge range of projects with young people and partner organisations

Click here for more

Comment: We know what’s wrong, so what will we do?

We need a radical shift and long-term prevention measures to genuinely improve outcomes for Scotland’s most deprived communities, writes David Finch (pictured)

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Scientists have for the first time pinpointed a number of genes that are reliably associated with dyslexia.

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A new learning hub aims to help public services professionals improve their skills and day-to-day working practices in order to take more action to reduce inequalities.

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The Family Nurse Partnership programme has been recognised by the Scottish Government for its success in helping more than 10,000 young mothers and their children.

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