Addressing health inequalities through engagement with people and communities

Summary

Define a clear purpose to align engagement with community needs and reduce health inequalities.

Link to health inequalities

A clear purpose ensures transparency, accountability, and focused action on health inequalities. It aligns efforts with evidence and community needs, efficiently using time and resources. Collaborative goal-setting builds trust, manages expectations, and roots work in lived experiences, leading to more effective and equitable outcomes for affected populations.

Activities, skills and resources

Emerging

• Specify clear goals for a given workstream or project.
• Clearly articulate the need for engaging people and communities in a workstream or project.

Developing

• Identify and provide a clear rationale for proposed approaches to engagement.
• Create a clear plan for engaging people and communities.

Maturing

• Develop a clear, shared need and goals for the workstream or project, ensuring it is informed by evidence.
• Identify and provide a clear, shared rationale for proposed approaches to engagement, ensuring it is informed by evidence and context.
• Create a clear plan for engaging people and communities, ensuring it is tailored to community needs.

Thriving

• Work with communities to identify a clear, shared need and co-develop achievable goals for the workstream or project.
• Work with communities to identify and co-develop a clear, shared rationale for proposed approaches to engagement.
• Work with communities to co-create a clear, actionable plan for engagement based on shared needs, goals and priorities.