Richmond residents have one week left to fill out a survey regarding what the council can do to help them ensure they are living healthy lives.
The Healthy Living Survey, run by charity Healthwatch Richmond in collaboration with Public Health Richmond, aims to identify the barriers that prevent residents from living a healthy lifestyle.
Mike Derry, Chief Officer, Healthwatch Richmond said: “Have you ever tried to improve your lifestyle? What were the biggest barriers to making a change? What would help you to achieve your goals?
“We’re working with Richmond’s Council’s Public Health team to help shape a healthier community.
“By answering our short survey you can help shape and improve services in Richmond and help remove the barriers making it easier for you and your community to have healthier lifestyles.
“Get involved and encourage your friends and neighbours to have their say too!”
Richmond is one of the healthiest places to live in London with people being more active and living longer, healthier lives here than in the rest of London and beyond.
But beneath the headlines, Healthwatch Richmond claims to be beginning to see indications of declining health of the community.
More than half of the population is now overweight or obese, alcohol consumption and harm from drinking are rising, ill-health and inequalities within Richmond are growing, according to the charity.
Healthy eating, staying active, reducing alcohol and stopping smoking can have a significant impact on our physical health and wellbeing, but these behaviours can be hard to maintain.
Their survey is a great opportunity for people to voice their lifestyle needs and have a say in upcoming changes to council services in Richmond.
Richmond residents have until the end of July to fill in the survey.
To get involved visit www.healthwatchrichmond.co.uk or call 02080 995335.
Featured image credit: Doug88888 via Flickr under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license
