Making Life Better

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Making Life Better 2012–2023 is the ten-year public health strategic framework. The framework provides direction for policies and actions to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Northern Ireland. It builds on the Investing for Health strategy (2002–2012) and retains a focus on the broad range of social, economic and environmental factors which influence health and wellbeing. It brings together actions at government level and provides direction for implementation at regional and local level.

The Making Life Better framework seeks to create the conditions for individuals and communities to take control of their own lives and move towards a vision of Northern Ireland where all people are enabled and supported in achieving their full health and wellbeing potential and to reduce inequalities in health.

Implementation

The Public Health Agency is the lead agency for regional implementation of the Making Life Better framework. Working across sectors, implementation will focus on strengthening collaboration and coordination to deliver on shared strategic priorities across sectors at a regional level, and on supporting implementation at a local level.

A key responsibility of regional arrangements is to facilitate links with other emerging strategies while focusing on delivery and continuing the cross-sectoral, multi-agency, collaborative approach that is central to Making Life Better.

Aware of this responsibility and in light of a number of strategic developments including the draft Programme for Government 2016–21, Community Planning and the transformation envisaged by Delivering Together, the regional implementation arrangements have been under careful consideration with regard to how Making Life Better could build on these developments and increase momentum for improving health and reducing health inequalities. 

The Network

Through strengthened partnership and collaboration, Making Life Better seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities, reduce health inequalities and to create the conditions for individuals and communities to take control of their own lives and achieve their full health and wellbeing potential.

In order to do this, the PHA has launched the Making Life Better Regional Network. Launched on 4 June 2019, at its inaugural conference, the MLB Network aims to create the conditions for people and organisations, across sectors, to come together as partners, to work towards the vision of Making Life Better that: All people are enabled and supported in achieving their full health and wellbeing, to achieve better health and wellbeing for everyone and reduce inequalities in health.

The MLB Network seeks to help us in this vision through enabling us to:

  • further develop and enable a connected whole-system approach;
  • share learning and inform each other’s efforts;
  • create new connections and strengthen existing ones;
  • work closer together in pursuit of our goal of a healthier Northern Ireland;
  • showcase, expand and spread good practice across the region in line with the needs of local communities.

NINIS
To facilitate the high-level monitoring of progress on the key Making Life Better indicators, a dedicated section has been developed on the NINIS website at www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk

Key documents