Healthy Places Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)
The places where people live, work, study, and travel have a significant impact on their health and wellbeing. Healthy places are environments that allow people to be as healthy as possible, whether it is improving air quality around schools, mitigating risk of flooding in a village, or creating opportunities for people to get to know one another. Healthy places are created holistically and designed to support the local
needs of a community.
The Healthy Places Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (HP JSNA) provides the evidence base for how we can ensure Cambridgeshire and Peterborough best support the health and wellbeing of our communities. The HP JSNA draws on an evidence base of data from hundreds of published studies; local, regional, and national policy and guidance; case studies of good practice and lessons learned, both across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and beyond; and the values and lived experiences of residents.
Executive Summary and Recommendations
The Healthy Places JSNA includes five chapters and a section on Community Survey and Engagement:
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- Chapter 1: Demography – Chapter 1: Demography
- Chapter 2: Climate change – Chapter 2: Climate Change
- Chapter 3: Built and Natural Environment – Chapter 3: Built and Natural Environment
- Chapter 4: Infrastructure and Services – Chapter 4: Infrastructure and Services
- Chapter 5: Communities and Social Cohesion – Chapter 5: Communities and Social Cohesion
- Community Survey and Engagement report – Community Survey and Engagement
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The JSNA produced 43 policy recommendations that aims to bring together diverse partners across our system and to create healthier places across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, available below.
Executive Summary and Recommendations
Chapter 1: Demography
This chapter outlines the differences in demographic profiles between new and existing communities. New communities, defined by living in developments built since 2011, have lower average ages, higher birth rates, more people per household, and greater ethnic diversity. These factors impact of the health and care needs of new communities. This chapter also presents data on
housing affordability, as well as population forecasting and expected changes in age structures across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Healthy Places JSNA Dashboard – this interactive dashboard presents population and housing data used to support this JSNA.
Chapter 2: Climate Change
This chapter summarises evidence on the current and likely future impact of climate change on human health. The two key sources of evidence used are the UK Health Security Agency’s 2023 Health Effects of Climate Change report and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Commission on Climate
Change. Major risks include excessive heat, flooding, and vector borne disease. The role of the built environment in mitigation and adaptation is described, alongside the importance of reducing healthcare-related carbon emissions through a focus on prevention.
Chapter 3 : Built and Natural Environment
This chapter introduces the planning system, the NHS Healthy New Towns Programme, and standards for assessing healthy places. A comprehensive overview of the evidence for how the built and natural environment impact on human health is then outlined. This evidence base covers topics including air quality, active travel, and local food environments, as well as highlighting specific impacts on children and young people, older adults, and people with disabilities.
Chapter 3: Built and Natural Environment
Chapter 4: Infrastructure and Services
This chapter describes the role of local built and digital infrastructure and explores on the need for robust healthcare-related infrastructure delivery plans. New communities’ usage of primary and secondary health services is described using local data.
Chapter 4: Infrastructure and Services
Chapter 5: Communities and Social Cohesion
This chapter explores community development and engagement, highlighting the roles of community development officers, the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise, and community forums. The functions of community safety partnerships and local resilience forums are also described,
highlighting their role in supporting social cohesion.
Chapter 5: Communities and Social Cohesion
Community Survey and Engagement Report
To understand residents’ views on the built environment across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the HP JSNA undertook a community survey that explored what people value in their local built environment, and if their current access aligns with these values. Across over 700 responses, the most important areas of unmet need were around access to local healthcare and healthy, affordable food. Further
engagement has been performed through Healthwatch’s Health and Care Forums and Partnership Boards to explore survey responses across the Cambridgeshire districts and Peterborough, and to understand how the built environment impacts specific vulnerable groups.