Minister Burke publishes the Healthy Ireland Fund Round 4 2023 Progress Report

Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke, has today published the Healthy Ireland Fund Round 4 2023 Progress Report.

With a total budget of €15.7 million, the Healthy Ireland Fund Round 4 successfully reached 154 target groups, supporting enhanced health and wellbeing in communities all over Ireland.

Adopting an outcome-based approach, the Round 4 projects targeted a broad range of vulnerable and socially disadvantaged communities and individuals. The projects were designed to be more inclusive and accessible for hard-to-reach groups, allowing individuals of all ages and abilities to participate in health and wellbeing activities.

Examples of funded activities included:

• 12 weeks of recovery-focused activities in the natural environment in Roscommon for disadvantaged women and men.
• A Chronic Disease Risk Management programme in disadvantaged areas of Meath to provide free comprehensive health checks to adults aged between 40 and 64 years.
• A six-week programme known as the “Autumn Wellbeing” delivered in Galway City that focused on building resilience, communication skills and emotional awareness for participants.

Working closely with community groups and fostering solid partnerships was essential to promoting shared responsibility toward health and wellbeing outcomes for all individuals and communities.

Key highlights of this round include:

• 30 Local Authorities successfully embedded the outcomes-based approach to local health and wellbeing programmes. This enables the Local Authorities to measure the added value of their projects and support a wider evidence base for a variety of health interventions.
• 57 outcomes were selected from the outcome framework across Local Authorities. The selection process involved various stakeholders to reflect the broad local needs and priorities.
• A radial effect of positive contributions was observed with unselected outcomes during the delivery of selected outcomes. This reflects the multifaceted benefits that go beyond the delivery of one outcome.

Minister Burke said:

.“I want to commend all involved in the design and delivery of these projects for making a valuable and lasting contribution to the physical and mental wellbeing of participants. This work, and the insights evident in this report, are crucial to informing our future efforts to create a healthier Ireland for all.”

CEO of Pobal, Anna Shakespeare commented:

The four high-level goals of the Healthy Ireland framework are:

• Increase the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of life.
• Reduce health inequalities.
• Protect the public from threats to health and wellbeing.
• Create an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part in achieving a healthy Ireland.

The selection of the outcomes by the Local Authorities was a collaborative and consultative process involving multiple stakeholders, reflecting the broad local needs and priorities.

The Healthy Ireland Fund Round 4 2023 Progress Report, which includes a number of case studies, is available below.

The First Healthy Ireland Fund was launched in 2016 to support implementing project activities that contribute to the National Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing. The Department of Health has approved four rounds of the fund over the years. The first three rounds (Rounds 1-3) focused on the implementation of project activities or actions delivered locally by Local Authorities, Children and Young People's Services Committees and their local partner organisations and administered funding for national actions.

Round 4, which had a total budget of €15,681,955, is centred around an outcome-based approach delivered by the Local Authorities only. This marks a substantial advancement in the journey towards a healthier Ireland. The Healthy Ireland Fund Round 4 is also grounded on five core components which makes it unique from other rounds. These core components include:

• Outcome-based approach: Focus on clear, measurable results instead of just tracking the progress of activities or outputs.
• Healthy Ireland Fund Local Strategy: A three-year strategy (2023-2025) by developed by each Local Authority that demonstrates their plan to achieve the selected outcomes.
• Annual Activities Workplan: A new introduction to the fund that assists with project planning and implementation. This gives the Local Authority an opportunity to adjust for change in their planned activities, if necessary, to meet the needs of those accessing the activities, and to achieve the desired outcome.
• Partnership Approach: Ensures effective involvement and coordination of both national and local stakeholders in the planning and delivery of outcomes, outputs, and activities.
• Healthy City/County Coordinator post: Standardised and streamlined to full-time post at grade 6 in every Local Authority.

Additionally, Pobal provided training and support to all Local Authorities on the outcome-based approach, outcomes data collection, measurement tools and reporting to ensure effective delivery and monitoring of progress. In the implementation of the Round 4 outcome-based approach, the Local Authorities entered into two grant agreements with Pobal for the Healthy City and County Coordinator post and the activities that were set out for the programme.