Public Health England published the new Health Assets Profile in summer 2017 to help local authorities undertake an asset based approach to health and wellbeing by considering the positive dimension of health and focuses on the factors and solutions that lead to good health. These often lie within the resources of people and communities and the connections between them.

The health asset profile has been grouped into different domains; Economy, Education and skills, Health, Place, Support and Well-being.

What does this mean for Richmond?

  • In 2015/16, 78% of the population aged 16-64 were in employment, which is the fourth highest percentage compared to other London boroughs, although statistically similar to the England average (74%).
  • The median pay per hour for women is 86% that for men, which is better than the England average (79%) and mid-table for London boroughs.
  • Almost a fifth of the population have access to woodland within 500 metres of where they live in Richmond, which is higher than the England average (17%). This is only eighth highest of the London boroughs, which seems surprising; this could be because, whilst there is a large amount of green space in Richmond, in other boroughs, smaller patches of woodland may be more distributed amongst denser residential areas, meaning more people have some woodland close at hand.
  • A high percentage of adults are physically active (69%), which is the fourth highest proportion in the country.
  • 32% of adults have a sports club membership, which is better than the England average (22%).
  • All the indicators for education are better than the national average and are in the top five compared to other London boroughs:
    • 77% of children achieve a good level of development at the end of reception compared to 69% nationally.
    • 89% of year 1 pupils achieve the expected level in the phonics screening check compared to 81% nationally.
    • 73% of pupils achieve 5 grades between A* and C including English and Maths compared to 58% nationally.
  • Richmond has a low percentage for utilisation of outdoor space for exercise/health reasons (9.8% compared to 17.9% for England). However, there are concerns over how meaningful this is: a) the sample size is smaller than 100 people, b) the amount of time spent outdoors is not measured and c) time spent outdoors is likely to have health and wellbeing benefits even if that is not the purpose of the visit. This indicator also contrasts with indicators such as physical activity where Richmond borough is one of the highest performers in the country.
  • Almost 50% of adult social care users have as much social contact as they would like, which is second highest out of the London boroughs and is higher than the England average (45%). However, only 30% of adult carers have as much social contact as they would like, which is lower than the England average (39%).