Healthy Communities Initiative

Our Healthy Communities Initiative brings together private, statutory and community stakeholders to develop a local Healthy Community Plan. The approach is based on positive examples of local initiatives from the World Health Organisation’s Healthy Cities Network and good practice identified in Dublin and further afield.

We know that in many neighbourhoods in our area, people are less healthy than the national average. Health means more than the absence of illness. Community health also relates to people’s quality of life, safety, and opportunities for education, employment, housing and participation in decision-making processes that affect their lives. We held a series of meetings with local people, community groups and state agencies to find out:

  • What are the most serious issues in our area?
  • What causes people to suffer from poor health and stress?
  • What is being done to improve health and well-being in our communities?
  • What other things can we do?
  • How can we work together to make our community healthier?

Working groups that were established under this initiative:

  • mapped existing services and activities in the area. You can click here to view this Healthy Communities Map.
  • are organising healthy lifestyle festivals in local shopping centres to increase health awareness and promote local health-related services and activities
  • carried out a number of research projects in the area of public transport, walkability and cycling to establish evidence for planning and activities. You can click here to view these reports and publications.

Healthy Communities Map

As part of our Healthy Communities Initiative, a working group was established to map existing services for people living in the Healthy Communities pilot area of Belcamp, Bonnybrook, Darndale, Glin, Priorswood, Kilmore West and Moatview. The map above is the result of this mapping exercise and shows the location of services in the following categories:

  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Youth Services
  • Childcare / Family Support
  • Education / Training
  • Recreation / Art / Sport
  • Addiction Support
  • Community Facilities / Resources
  • Residents / Community Support
  • Employment Support
  • Older Adults

The map is now available on our website in beta-test format so that local organisations can review its contents and let us know if any services are missing or if their details are incorrect. If you would like to suggest any changes to the map, please contact Maureen Downey by emailing maureen.downey@nspartnership.ie or call 01-8485630.