Community Empowerment & Health-Setting out the challenges

March 2010

Edward Andersson, Deputy Director, Involve,

Contents

1. What is CE in Health?2. Why is CE in Health a good idea?3. Why is CE difficult?

1. Research

2. Practice

3. International

What is Community Empowerment in Health?

Arms length funding Engages with Evaluates engagement

Supports engagement

Hospital Trusts

Section 242

Local Involvement Networks

Care Quality Commission

-Arms length regulator

Health engagement in England

Local Authorities

Duty to Involve

Department of Health

Policy consultations

Foundation Trusts

Section 242

Primary Care Trusts

Section 242

Ambulance Trusts

Section 242

PALSPALS

PALS

Membership

What is Community Empowerment?

‘Community engagement’ is the process whereby public bodies reach out to communities to create empowerment opportunities.‘Community empowerment’ is the giving of confidence, skills, and power to communities to shape and influence what public bodies do for or with them.

An Action Plan for Community Empowerment (2007)

Definition

• Engagement –an activity, easily measured

• Empowerment –an outcome, harder to quantify

Support in health

“The NHS is expected to make sure that proposals for plans to develop services or change the way in which they operate will benefit the users of those services as well as improve clinical standards and deliver value for money to the taxpayer.”

David NicholsonReal Involvement (2008)

How are we engaging?

1.Patients (service focus)2.Public (accountability/trust focus) 3.Co-production/Community Development

(longer term focus)

What’s going on?

• Power of Wellbeing (Councils) • World Class Commissioning • Local Involvement Networks (LINks)• Foundation Trusts• NHS Duty to Involve (2001) • NHS Section 242 (2006)• Local Government Duty to Involve (2009)

Why is Community Empowerment in Health a good idea?

Why is this a good idea?

1. Better outcomes2. Democracy in healthcare 3. Health/social benefits

Why is Community

Empowerment in Health difficult?

Why is it difficult?

1. Constant change 2. Complexity3. Tokenism

Short-termismCommunity Health Councils

Patient & Public Involvement Forums

Commission for Patient & Public Involvement in Health

NHS Centre for Involvement

Local Involvement Networks

Top tips

1.More is not better2.Citizens ad patients are capable 3.Consider the participant perspective

Thanks to:

The following Flickr Users who made their images available under a Creative Commons Licence:– 96dpi – batega – BertBeckers– perpetualplum

involveRoyal London House 22-25 Finsbury Square London EC2A 1DX

t: +44 (0) 20 7 920 6472e: edward@involve.org.uk