Glasgow's Healthier Future Forum 17

Thinking ahead in the early years

The foundations for virtually every aspect of human development – physical, intellectual and emotional – are laid in early childhood. What happens during these early years (starting in the womb) has lifelong effects on many aspects of health and well-being. All this makes a very powerful case for investing in the early years and for developing systems and services that can support and nurture all children. This event provided participants with a sense of the direction of travel in child health, wellbeing and quality of life locally and nationally, presented examples of what is working well in services and approaches that care for and support children and families and, together, we discussed how we can build on and develop what we are currently doing to help all of our children and young people to reach their full potential.

Graham Leicester (International Futures Forum) chaired the event, which included a keynote address from Michael Smith (Associate Medical Director for Mental Health, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde).  Other presentations included an overview of child health and wellbeing, the reality of services Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and a service user’s experience of the Family Nurse Partnership programme. The latter part of the morning included a round table discussion and plenary to allow the opportunity for further comment and more in-depth discussion. Mark Feinmann (Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership) opened and closed the event.