Location

Greater Glasgow NHS Board
Dalian House
350 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G3 8YZ

About Us

What is Starting Well?

Starting Well is the National Health Demonstration Project in child/family health. The project is established in two areas of Glasgow and was launched in November 2000. Funded for a three-year period by the Scottish Executive, it covers the Eastern and Western suburbs of Greater Easterhouse and the Gorbals, Govanhill and North Toryglen.

What are the aims of the project?

Starting Well aims to demonstrate that child health can be improved by:

• offering a programme of activities designed to support families
• ensuring parents and children have access to enhanced community-based resources

What does the project do?

The Starting Well Project:

• provides a range of opportunities to promote child health
• improves opportunities for young children to meet and play with other children
• supports parents in their role
• promotes and develops local services in response to families needs
• enables families to identify issues affecting their well-being

How can this be done?

Starting Well employs a large and varied team including Health Visitors, Health Visitor Co-ordinators, Bilingual Worker, Community Support Facilitators, Nursery Nurses and in partnership with One Plus, a well known voluntary sector organisation, Health Support Workers.

Working with Families

The project provides intensive support to families in their home. A Family Health Plan is used to agree goals with the family and keep a detailed record of all home visits. Health priorities identified often include safety, encouragement of breast-feeding, nutrition and oral health. Since March 2002, the project has been tackling child safety by offering all of its families the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Starting Out Safely packs. Starting Well also utilises the Triple P Programme, (designed and evaluated at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia) to enhance the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents with the aim of reducing behavioural, emotional and developmental problems in children.

Working with the community

The project also has a community dimension, which includes providing funding to be spent in the Starting Well localities. Each of the two project areas has a Local Implementation Group and Affiliation Scheme. Local initiatives aiming to improve child health can apply through the scheme for a grant from the Development Fund. Projects funded to date include:

• a local directory for the South East
• an extension to Bookstart (a national scheme encouraging all parents/carers to share books with their babies from a very early age)
• toy libraries in Govanhill and North Toryglen
• a nursery school physical activity programme
• a Dad's Breakfast Club
• the play@home scheme (a programme to increase parents/carers confidence in handling their babies, and to develop skills in helping children learn through creative play).

Who should I contact?

For general Starting Well info...

Dr Michael Killoran Ross, Project Manager
Greater Glasgow Health Board
350 St Vincent Street, Glasgow G3 8YZ
Phone: 0141 201 4715
E-mail: michael.ross@gghb.scot.nhs.uk

Valerie Millar, Development Officer
Greater Glasgow NHS Board
Dalian House, 350 St Vincent Street, Glasgow G3 8YZ
Phone: 0141 201 4770
Fax: 0141 201 4733
E-mail: Valerie.Millar@gghb.scot.nhs.uk

For info on the Local Implementation Groups, Affiliation Scheme and Development Fund...

(In the east)                                                        (In the south)
Margie Hughes                                                 Jacalyn McDonald
Community Support Facilitator                      Community Support Facilitator
Provanhill Neighbourhood Centre                Gorbals Health Centre
39 - 41 Conisborough Road                          45 Pine Place
Glasgow G43 9QN                                           Glasgow G42 7DR
0141 773 0910                                                  0141 531 8216
Margie.Hughes@glacomen.scot.nhs.uk     Jacalyn.McDonald@glacomen.scot.nhs.uk

For info on the Health Support Workers and One Plus...

Adelphi Centre, 12 Commercial Road, Glasgow G5 0PQ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 141 429 6314     Fax: +44 0141 429 2649
e-mail: webmaster@gsera.org.uk home page: www.gorbalslive.org.uk