Demonstrating the ability of communities to lead in the delivery of healthier places
You will find here with detailed examples a compelling demonstration that local people have the knowledge, motivation and capacity to provide essential aspects of wellbeing and successful neighbourhood health services.
.png)
We set out to discover to what extent local people can...
...identify and take responsibility for their own health needs and wellbeing
...shape their environment and local services to address them
...be involved in delivery and long-term stewardship
Why is this important?
We need to think about health and wellbeing as something that we make rather than something that’s done to us
The Government’s 10 year plan for a ‘neighbourhood health service’ is proposing a shift from centralised, hospital-dependent care to localised provision focusing on prevention and on people taking greater responsibility for their own health. It is broadly supported, but to succeed it requires a fundamental shift in behaviour.
We strongly believe this will only be achieved by leveraging the capabilities, resources and networks that already exist in places.
Current healthcare relies on top-down and often disjointed delivery, which is experienced by many as impersonal, slow and unequal
Will this create a lasting transformation?
Health must become the focus of development and regeneration, and we must collaborate across sectors to achieve it
​
We cannot address healthcare in isolation. Thriving places encompass people’s physical environment, their sense of belonging, their economic strength, their ability to contribute to decision-making and services.
Self-determination, collaboration and trust are key.
This is the aim we share with a fast-expanding group – community and voluntary organisations, health and built environment practitioners, elected officials and public servants, funders and investors.
This is a place where people are health aware and mutually supportive; and where local services are focused, accessible and fairly distributed
So what if neighbourhood health services were shaped by local people?
With proper support and resourcing,
community-led health will pay huge dividends​​
Capacity
By tapping into the capacity that exists within places – local knowledge, connectedness, mutual support – health and social care become rooted in local needs and therefore more focused, accessible and equitable. This helps address health inequalities and the social causes of poor health, while bringing other social, environmental and economic benefits.
​
-
Local knowledge and experience specific to the communities that make up a space
-
Established trust and connections within communities to allow for deeper and more specific engagement and uptake
-
An understanding of the exact needs of the community informed by lived experience​
Barriers
​
But in order to deliver - at scale - health services that are shaped by local people, communities must have the opportunity, skills and funding to overcome key barriers standing in the way.
​​​​
-
Failure to value the contribution of local people, stifling innovation and preventing collaboration
-
Lack of clarity about mechanisms for including local people in decision-making and partnerships
-
Inadequate access to the resources needed to sustain community-led initiatives or involvement
-
Absence of a shared long term vision, preventing collaborative models from being embedded
Confirming the ability of local people to contribute to healthy places
Prompted by need and innovation, there are already many successful examples: in peer-to-peer support; in improved uptake of services; in trusted partnerships between users and providers; in overcoming barriers to access. These successful projects are already contributing to places where people are health aware and mutually supportive. They are already demonstrating the potential to make services more focused, accessible and fairly distributed.
To demonstrate the sheer range and potential impact of community involvement, we have created a framework.
Expressed as a virtuous circle, it has people at its core.
This allows a breakdown of the types of contribution, the areas in which it can be applied and to what effect. Active examples - from rural Somerset to urban Manchester - illustrate how each aspect is being harnessed and delivered.
