Spotlight on: Community-led health
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 14th August 2024.
Community-led health is a way for people in a community to take joint action to improve things for their community, leading to improved health and wellbeing.
This approach follows the social model of health which recognises that health and wellbeing is about much more than the treatment of disease and illness.
It uses community development approaches to tackle health inequalities – systematic, unjust and avoidable differences in health outcomes and life expectancy. These differences are generally based on the social determinants of health, which include economic policies and systems, social and cultural factors, environmental effects and political systems.
By helping communities to organise, community-led health creates opportunities for people and groups to actively address these wider causes of inequalities, not only in their local area, but also at a strategic level where community organisations engage in decision-making processes.
One of SCDC’s main programmes of work, the Community Health Exchange (CHEX) supports a network of community-led health organisations and individuals working in the sector.
Recent engagement work with the CHEX network paints a stark picture of increased demand, reduced resources and struggling services. However, there are several actions identified in the latest CHEX briefing, which could be critical in turning the tide and tackling Scotland’s worsening health inequalities.
What you need to know this week.
The SCDC Weekly gives you everything you need to know around community development and beyond.
It’s free, concise and delivered directly to your inbox every Wednesday.