Other guidance

Some simple ways to keep warm, stay healthy and make the best use of your heating during the cold weather

• heat your main living room to around 18-21ºC (64-70ºF) and the rest of the house to at least 16ºC (61ºF)
• heat all the rooms you use in the day
• if you can’t heat all your rooms, make sure you keep your living room warm throughout the day and heat your bedroom before going to bed
• set the timer on your heating to come on before you get up and switch off when you go to bed
• in very cold weather set the heating to come on earlier - rather than turn the thermostat up, so you won’t be cold while you wait for your home to heat up

As temperatures drop across the UK, Public Health England issues cold weather warning

Dr Angie Bone of the Extreme Events team at PHE said: “Cold does kill, even in places where the temperatures aren’t at their lowest.  Now is the time think of those you know who are older, very young, or have pre-existing health conditions that are particularly vulnerable”.  The top tips to prepare for colder weather are to:

• get the free flu jab now, if you qualify
• look out for friends and family who may be vulnerable to the cold and ensure they have access to warm food, drinks and managing to heat their homes adequately
• try to maintain indoor temperatures to at least 18°C, particularly if you are not mobile, have long term illness or are 65 or over
• stay tuned for weather forecasts, ensure you are stocked with food and medications in advance, have deliveries or ask a friend to help
• take weather into account when planning your activity over the following days
• avoid exposing yourself to cold or icy outdoor conditions if you are at a higher risk of cold related illness or falls
• discuss with friends and neighbours about clearing snow and ice from in front of your house and public walkways nearby, if unable to do so yourself

Have you seen our new training videos for The Health Well and IPH Community Profiles Tool?

We have created new training videos on The Health Well website and IPH Community Profiles Tool.  The Health Well video demonstrates how you can use the website to help you access the information you need, use that information more effectively by using our ‘exploratory tools’ and also outlines other useful features of The Health Well such as creating online webgroups.  We have also made a video on our newly revised IPH Community Profiles Tool.  This tool allows you to view data on health indicators across the island of Ireland and create local health profiles for your area of interest or compare areas of interest.

An invitation to the 2016 Open Access seminar hosted by the IPH & OKI

We would like to invite you to our Open Access seminar organised as part of the Annual International Open Access Week.  Open Access Week will take place from 24 -30 October 2016.  As part of this global event the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and Open Knowledge Ireland (OKI) are hosting their Open Access: Tackling health inequalities seminar in Pearse Street Library, Tuesday, 25 October 2016.  Open Access (OA) is the immediate, freely available, online access to research outputs.  These outputs include peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers and datasets of various types.  The restrictions to use, commonly imposed by publisher copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control do not apply.