Addressing health inequalities through engagement with people and communities

Summary

Ensure engagement is respectful and inclusive, valuing all perspectives to address health inequalities.

Link to health inequalities

Inclusion is vital to ensuring that everyone in communities that experience health and care inequalities feels valued, respected and able to contribute in a way that works for them. This ensures that engagement includes all relevant perspectives, leading to more effective insights.

Activities, skills and resources

Emerging

• Include a diverse range of participants.
• Achieve basic demographic representation in engagement activities.
• Use clear, inclusive communication that avoids jargon and acronyms.

Developing

• Train staff to recognise and address intersectional barriers such as language, cultural norms, and socioeconomic status.
• Develop materials that are accessible and relevant to participants from diverse backgrounds.

Maturing

• Involve community leaders and members from diverse backgrounds in co-designing engagement activities.
• Work with community groups to explore hidden barriers to inclusion.
• Include a diverse range of participants effectively.

Thriving

• Gather and incorporate community feedback regularly to adapt inclusion practices.
• Integrate lessons from feedback into future planning.