Agenda and draft minutes

Items
No. Item

24.

Welcomes, Introductions and Apologies

Minutes:

Everyone was welcomed to the meeting and introductions were made around the table and screen.

25.

Code of Conduct pdf icon PDF 244 KB

26.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 425 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a true record.

27.

Mental Health / Action for Happiness

Dr David Smart

Minutes:

Dr David Smart introduced himself as a retired GP and a Champion of Action 4 Happiness.  He asked whether there were any particular points they wanted covered.

A question was asked whether it was true more women developed dementia than men.  Dr Smart responded that Dementia was a condition of older age and women tend to live longer than men so, statistically, more women tend to develop dementia.  Do what you can do to keep your cardio vascular system in good health.

John Rawlings asked about loneliness – with many widows and widowers living alone must be quite high for mental health problems.  Dr Smart responded that loneliness definitely had an effect on mental health.  One of the 10 keys of happiness was relationships, a befriending service was being rolled out across the county.  Carl added that in rural communities it was likely to be higher.  Another of the keys was giving – this could be volunteering time in the community which would also help recognise who the vulnerable residents were.

Beverley stated that the Welfare Reform 2015 and DWP changes saw many people having money taken away from them with a perceived link to suicide yet suicide was not just an austerity problem.  Dr Smart said that poverty was the biggest issue that Public Health needed to address as a national body.  There is little more important than housing and feeding oneself and family, that, along with safety forms the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  It can lead to eventual suicide but there were also depression and mental health disorders and unless these are seriously addressed there would be little impact.  Karl added that he had just come from the Poverty Truth Commission meeting and some of the stories were simply horrendous.

Dr Smart explained that people had been affected by Covid Syndemic – where an infectious disorder interacts with non-infectious conditions as shown in a slide on page 4 of the slides.

 

 

Another slide (page 5) showed the 2008 Foresight.  How nutrition matters, now early trauma impacts massively on mental health.  Those with good mental health were 50% less likely to catch a cold or have cardiovascular event, 35% reduction in risk of death and significantly better overall health.  Exercise in the morning reduces cortisol, the main stress hormone, this is evidence based and shows vast benefits especially in older age.  Also see pages 11 and 12.

 

 

The 10 keys of happiness are evidence based, it is a national movement - Happier Kinder Together | Action for Happiness  and there is a local hub at Delapre Abbey. 

The 10 Keys are:-

Giving – doing things for others

Relating – connect with people

Exercising – take care of your body

Awareness – live life mindfully

Trying out – keep learning new things

 

Direction – have goals to look forward to

Resilience – find ways to bounce back

Emotions – look for what’s good

Acceptance – be comfortable with who you are

Meaning – be part of something bigger  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

28.

Cyber Protect

David Reed

Minutes:

Amie Freeman & David from the Cyber Investigation Team

The Police worked on the 4 ‘P’s

Prepare – giving advice so hopefully no one was affected.

Prevent – dealing with young and vulnerable people at risk of using their computer skills to attack other systems, working them to deter them and divert their skills.

Pursue – investigation.

Protect – work with and support individuals.  A lot of victims suffer from loneliness and or poor mental health which is sometimes caused by cyber issues.

Passwords

·         should be at least 12 characters long – a good way is putting 3 random words together.

·         Ideally use different password for each site.  Data breaches are where your password is accidently released and criminals will try it on other websites to see if it is the same.

·         Where possible enable 2 factor identification, this will stop the criminal even if they have the password.

Account data breach is where your passwords or other personal details have been leaked.  More information can be found using the data breach site: Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach

Phishing – criminals are after any information they can get.

Emails - It is not always easy to identify a ‘real’ email, they are getting very good at making them look genuine, containing real logos and photos and may even contain your name.  Do not click on any links in the email – either go to the organisation’s website or ring them. 

Texts - Criminals can put fake text message in amongst a thread – never trust a link in a text.

Phone calls – often pretend to be IT support or a phone company.  They can spoof the number and tell you to do things on your computer that gives them control over it,

Sharing information online – every time you do a quiz or click on a link to complete a form you are giving away information, it is safer to check on the organisation’s website.

Courier Fraud – phone and pretend to be an organisation who is undertaking an investigation.  They give a good story and tell you to go to your bank withdraw money and hand it over to a particular person.  They say you will get the funds back but, of course, you would not.

Romance fraud – online dating is usually completely fine but scammers can befriend people, move them to another chat site then start giving sob stories and extracting money from the victim.

David asked for any questions to be sent in via the Forum to be forwarded to him - forums.nbc@westnorthants.gov.uk.

All cybercrime and fraud should be reported to Action Fraud 0300 123 2040

 

29.

Update IDPWD Planning

Minutes:

Debbie explained that, following feedback after the last event, there were going to be 3 social spaces in our Council Offices for people to watch the live screening.  These would be in Northampton, Daventry and Towcester – free tea and coffee would be available and there would be a ‘host’ in each location.  Potential speakers (to be confirmed) were Neil McKenzie for Fraud, Mick Wilson on mental health, Ellie Robinson Paralympian swimmer and Born 2 Perform. Kian was confirmed as host.

So we can have an idea of how many guests to expect it would be appreciated if people could book for their relevant location either via Eventbrite or phone 07826 993847 (leave a message if no answer stating which location and how many people).  Eventbrite links below.

 

Northampton - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-day-of-people-with-disabilities-northampton-tickets-403363409817

Daventry - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/copy-of-international-day-of-people-with-disabilities-daventry-tickets-403365195157

Towcester - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-day-of-people-with-disabilities-towcester-tickets-403369688597

 

30.

Community Information Exchange

31.

Items for Future Meetings

Minutes:

Mental Health – Nick Wilson

Accessible play equipment for children with disabilities in our parks and play areas.

Discussion around communications with other Disability Groups

 

32.

Date of Next Meeting

Minutes:

Mental Health – Nick Wilson

Accessible play equipment for children with disabilities in our parks and play areas.

Discussion around communications with other Disability Groups