JSNA Summary East Sussex 2024
The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is a resource containing a wide range of local and national information to inform plans and decisions to improve people's health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.
In December 2023, updated priorities of the JSNA were agreed at the East Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board. This report provides an infographic summary of key data pertaining to the five JSNA priorities for East Sussex.
The five JSNA Priorities for 2024
Quicklinks to sections:
Understanding our population
The population of East Sussex was estimated to be 550720 in mid-2022, 4% more people than in 2012 (530358). Internal migration from within the UK is the main driver for the rising population in the county.
East Sussex has a much older population profile than the country as a whole, and compared to England, has a significantly lower population who are non-White British/Northern Irish.
East Sussex is the 5th most deprived of the 26 county councils, although deprivation varies significantly within the county, with Hastings being the 17th most deprived of the 317 local authorities nationally, and Wealden being the 65th least deprived.
Building blocks of good health: Housing
Good health is about much more than just good health care services, for example: a good education, a good job, and a safe place to live. At its most basic, access to safe and secure housing is a key determinant of health. Across the county there are increasing numbers of people who do not have access to housing or whose housing is temporary.
Poor housing impacts on both physical and mental health and wellbeing and is estimated to cost the NHS over £1 billion annually. Poor and unsafe housing can occur in all forms of home ownership and occupancy, but in general the private rented sector has the highest rates of poorer housing.
In East Sussex, a smaller proportion of houses are fuel poor than in England, however, housing price compared to income is much higher than nationally.
Building blocks of good health: Education
Education and academic achievement shape our life opportunities and are a strong foundation for a good quality of life. Along with the learning and development of skills, education influences our prospects for where we live and work, and for our health.
People with the highest levels of education can expect to live around 4 years longer than those with the lowest, and are less likely to live in poverty during their working age.
In East Sussex, Educational achievement is variable across the county and exclusion from school is above the England average.
Building blocks of good health: Employment
Access to good-quality jobs is one of the building blocks of a healthy society, from having enough money to meet basic needs, to broader benefits for our physical and mental health and well-being.
People who are unemployed are over five times more likely to have poor health than those in employment, while employees working longer hours are more likely to suffer from depression than those not working longer hours.
In East Sussex, there is a greater gender gap in earnings than nationally, but a smaller employment gap between those with and without a long term health condition. A higher proportion of people with learning disabilities are in paid employment than nationally.
Building blocks of good health: Connection and community
The nature of our social networks (the quality of our relationships, the support we have, whether we feel we belong where we live, whether we feel lonely) can influence our health and wellbeing in a range of ways, with those feeling a sense of belonging and connectedness less likely to experience poor mental health and more likely to have strong relationships.
The growing demands, in the context of an ageing population, increasing prevalence of long term conditions and multi-morbidity, highlight the importance of focusing on prevention and early intervention, part of which is the strengthening of social and community networks. In order to achieve this we must support the empowerment of individuals and local communities and work together to design and deliver the services they use.
In East Sussex, around a third of people don't feel a sense of community belonging, and a similar proportion would like to see friends or family more often. Around a quarter report feeling lonely, but a high proportion feel satisfied with the area where they live.
NB: It is worth noting that the main source for the data below is the East Sussex Community Survey which was last undertaken in 2019 so does not show any potential impact of the pandemic.
The importance of a life course approach
A life course approach values both current and future generations of residents and offers opportunities to consider the protective factors and risk factors that influence a person's physical and mental health and wellbeing throughout their life.
Whilst there are many indicators that can be measured, this section summarises a few key ones to paint a picture of the East Sussex population.
Open a larger version of the life course summary diagram, pdf 242 KB
Reducing health inequalities
'Health inequalities are avoidable and unfair differences in health status between groups of people or communities.' (Public Health England, 2017)
Health inequalities refer both to preventable differences in health status and can also refer to factors that contribute to health status, such as differences in the care that people receive or the opportunities to lead healthy lives.
A person’s chance of enjoying good health and a longer life is influenced by the range of interacting social, economic and environmental conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. These conditions are the determinants of health, and include individual lifestyle factors, community influences, living and working conditions, and more general social circumstances that influence our health.
In East Sussex there is a gap of over 10 years between the highest and lowest life expectancy for both men and women. Further information on health inequalities in East Sussex can be found here [ADD LINK]
Improving Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE)
'Healthy life expectancy at birth is an estimate of the average number of years babies born this year would live in a state of ‘good’ general health if [current] mortality levels at each age, and the [current] level of good health at each age, remain constant in the future.' (Public Health England, 2017)
Across our lives there is systematic variation in both protective and risk factors of health which lead to differing trajectories and outcomes over the course of a person’s life. This in turn impacts on our life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Those more impacted by negative influences of health, are more likely to have shorter life expectancy and more years living with disability.
In East Sussex there is a 20 year gap between those with the highest and lowest healthy life expectancy. Further information on differences in healthy life expectancy in East Sussex can be found here [ADD LINK]Mental Health and wellbeing.
Mental Health and wellbeing
1 in 4 of us will experience mental ill-health at some point in our lives, with mental illnesses constituting the largest single burden of disease nationally. Mental illness also has a considerable economic cost to our health and care system, and to individuals, families and communities.
In East Sussex, the GP recorded prevalence of severe mental illness and depression are higher than England. Mental health is a lifetime issue, requiring a joined up approach across the lifespan. We need to promote good mental health for all and the importance of early intervention, particularly in childhood and the teenage years, both to prevent mental illness from developing and to mitigate its effects when it does.