Download Discussion - Community Development Alliance Scotland

Community Development: What Vision for Scotland?
Health Workshop
Tony Rednall, Scottish Government’s Creating Health Team – Publish Health
Division, described the work of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities,
highlighting its objectives and priorities to tackle inequalities at a local level. The
focus on social capital, community planning process, 15-44 age group and
implementation of a Place Standard stimulated a lively discussion on the
opportunities and limitations of community development approaches in supporting
community members and practice development with public services.
Janet Muir, Manager of CHEX, highlighted the history and development of policy and
practice related to community development approaches to improving health and
tackling health inequalities. The last 13 yrs have seen incremental recognition,
support and resources towards community-led health and although there is a move
from the margins to the centre, much remains to be done in: addressing
organisational and cultural resistance, building the necessary leadership and
realigning resources to fully invest in this way of working.
Workshop questions & responses
Why is strengthening communities important in improving health and tackling health
inequalities?
The evidence together with reports of experiential learning shows that community
activity on health issues brings about improved health for individuals and the wider
community.
There can be tension with agencies and organisations seeking behavioural change,
example cited obesity leading to diabetes, especially when community organisations
that are more concerned with priorities affecting life circumstances such as housing.
Participants however felt that opportunities should be created to address a wide
range of health issues together with appropriate approaches and support.
Participants highlighted a range of programme and methods that lead to benefits
both for individuals and the wider community e.g. the introduction of ‘Health Issue in
the Community’ HIIC training initiative in schools which is helping young people to
understand about health and what they can do to act on health issues.
There was real caution about viewing community-led health is only one measure to
tackle health inequalities. The approach must be viewed as one of a range of
measures and fit well with other strategic and operational programmes, both at
national and local levels.
What do we need to do to support communities to be able to take part effectively,
and on an equal basis?
Public sector agencies can be constrained to fully support communities to participate
and influence developments and services that affect health. The construct of certain
targets for performance management e.g. HEAT Targets in the NHS can hinder the
motivation, capacity and ability of workforces to work with communities. It was
suggested that if targets must be set, they should enable both strategic managers
and practitioners to work in creative ways with communities to support development
that leads to improved health both for individuals and the wider community.
There was a suggestion for a greater emphasis to be placed on community
development in the registration of health improvement practice and greater
encouragement of practitioners beyond the NHS to register and bring a range of
experience and expertise to improving health.
There is a greater need for community-led health organisations to be supported in
describing their activities and benefits of approaches to improving health to strategic
managers in the NHS.
What is your vision for community development in Scotland – of how different
strands of policy and practice could be brought together to achieve better results
There is a need for a greater focus to improve practice in collaborative working and
partnership working whereby communities will be fully recognised as partners in
carrying out solutions to tackling health inequalities.