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The community of Donegall Pass has among the worst health indicators of any community in Northern Ireland. Out of the 582 electoral wards in Northern Ireland, Shaftesbury Ward – of which Donegall Pass is a constituent part – is ranked as number 8 (Data Subset ‘Measures of Multiple Deprivation (NI)’, NISRA) and, with a ‘Health Domain’ Score of 1.74, it is within the worst 1.5% in terms of health deprivation. A mere 54% of Donegall Pass residents report their health as ‘good’ – this is 22.86% less that the NI average and 17.93% below the average for Belfast (q.v. 2001 Census). See Donegall Pass: Towards a Sustainable Community, Chapter 5: Health and Wellbeing, and Appendix 1, Table 19 and Table 20.
In general, at least one in five people in Northern Ireland will experience problems that affect their mental health and suicide is on the increase with around 150 recorded deaths each year. Yet very few people are willing to talk about mental health openly. More particularly, and having regard to the ‘legacy of the conflict’ and the negative health factors exacerbated by living conditions, life styles and the environment found in deprived communities - in a locality, such as Donegall Pass, such problems are augmented to a higher degree than the ‘norm’.
The juxtaposition of mental health problems with poor diet, lack of exercise, social isolation, benefit dependency, increased obesity incidence and the myriad other factors that diminish the health profiles and active life expectancies of the people of our community - give the Forum cause to be grateful for the work carried out by the South Belfast Highway To Health initiative in the person of our dedicated Health Development Worker, Liz Fairley.
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