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Health and social inequalities in the Mid-West

As there are many disadvantaged areas in the Mid-West, health and social inequalities are important issues locally. This is because deprivation is linked with poor health and poor access to healthcare. Under the Healthy Ireland Framework, taking actions to address health inequalities is a key priority.
In the Mid-West, many organisations are working to understand and tackle inequalities. Some efforts have been made to increase partnership, including research partnerships between UL and the HSE. However, there are opportunities to help develop a wider range of partnerships between organisations so they can support one another’s efforts.
In 2017, the Department of Public Health, Mid-West set up a local health inequalities network group. To date, the network group has had input from local stakeholders including Healthy Limerick, UL, Limerick City and County Council, CYPSC and the HSE. Activities have included information sharing and group discussions.
The purpose of this proposal is to build upon the work of developing a local health inequalities network group. This proposal aims to organise and host a local health inequalities conference targeted at key organsations. The conference will encourage broader partnerships between research and knowledge user organisations to help tackle health inequalties.
The conference will be organised and planned by a range of stakeholders including researchers, knowledge users and will include public involvement. The conference will allow for the exchange and sharing of knowledge and experience between organisations. This will help develop consensus on key priority areas for a more targeted approach to collectively tackle inequalities locally.