Identification of Target Areas

In Ireland, there is a strong link between poverty, socio-economic status and health.  Data on demographics and health status indicate that 22.5% of the population are exposed to disadvantage and the prevalence of chronic illness is higher in more deprived areas, including stroke (2.2 times higher), coronary heart disease (2.5 times higher) and diabetes (1.4 times higher).  Hence, area based approaches was agreed to identify the most disadvantaged areas to target the health communities programme at in the first instance. A total of 19 target sites across the country were identified.

Sites identified in Westmeath were agreed to be the two RAPID areas in Athlone and Mullingar based on the small area level statistics where deprivation levels are highest in the two largest towns in the county

Sites identified in Westmeath were agreed to be the two RAPID areas in Athlone and Mullingar based on the small area level statistics where deprivation levels are highest in the two largest towns in the county (Diagram 1).