2017-18 highlights from the Bristol Network for Equality in Early Years Health and Wellbeing (BoNEE)

Dr Patricia Lucas and Dr Jo Williams, Directors of the Bristol Network for Equality in Early Years Health and Wellbeing (BoNEE) Health Integration Team (HIT), look back on the team’s highlights for 2017-18.

BoNEE aims to tackle the health inequalities resulting from poverty and disadvantage that have a profound impact on the health, wellbeing and life chances of children in Bristol.

We reviewed our overall intended outcomes in 2016 and in 2017-18 we continued to focus on our oral health workstream and to run task-and-finish projects relating to social and emotional wellbeing and early nutrition and healthy weight. We aim to:

• reduce tooth decay in under-fives in Bristol
• reduce extraction of decayed teeth in children under general anaesthetic and decayed, missing and filled teeth in first year school children
• improve social and emotional wellbeing for school readiness and at the age of seven
• address early nutrition

As part of this work, we:

• ran supervised tooth brushing activities and evaluation. We are monitoring tooth decay through routine national epidemiological surveys: data collection for the next survey of five-year-olds is underway
• completed a systematic review of enhanced support for early year’s development. We presented our findings to policy colleagues and at the Lancet Public Health conference 2017

The oral health work has been presented internationally to researchers and policy makers in Australia. The HIT also commissioned postcards from a local illustrator specialising in health information and fed back findings to Bristol parents.

Our systematic review of enhanced health contacts has now been accepted for publication.

BoNEE contributed to the mental health chapter in Bristol’s joint strategic needs assessment through discussion and providing additional data sets and research evidence to the lead author.

Because of significant change within several partner organisations, the HIT will ‘pause’ some work streams in 2018-19, and review effective ways to refocus the collaboration.