Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between life-long exercise and long-term health; what steps they are taking to promote life-long exercise; and what support they give to voluntary initiatives such as the Daily Mile and Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The importance of physical activity across the life-course is highlighted in the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines published in September 2019, including: good physical and mental development in childhood, prevention and management of health conditions in adulthood and maintaining functionality in later years. A copy of the Guidelines is attached.
Public Health England (PHE) promotes physical activity across the life course, including: resources for healthcare professionals through the Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme; public campaigns such as ‘Change4Life’ and ‘One You’, including digital behaviour change tools such as Couch to 5K; resources for schools, such as the ‘What works in schools and colleges’ guide; and resources for local areas such as the physical activity data tool.
PHE partners with many voluntary sector partners to promote the benefits of exercise, including supporting the new ‘We are undefeatable’ campaign by 16 health charities which aims to support people living with long-term conditions to get more active.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the benefits to date of bringing health and social care together in one political portfolio, and (2) the benefits that will arise in future years of bringing the two areas together.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department was renamed the Department of Health and Social Care in January 2018 and took on responsibility for the Social Care Green Paper.
Whilst we have made no specific assessment, the Department has been working on bringing health and social care together to achieve whole-person, integrated care with the National Health Service and social care systems operating in a joined-up way. The Better Care Fund continues to drive forward the integration of health and social care in England.