Community Development & Health Network

1. Community Development & Health Network Community Development & Health - Making the Link Kathy Martin Network Development Manager

2. CDHN’s New Strategic Plan Mission “Tackling health inequalities through community development”

3. What is Health? • Your own beliefs and attitudes about health can affect the service/care you provide. • Reflecting on your ideas and what influences them can assist you in your understanding of community development approaches to tackling inequalities in health.

4. WHO (1948) ‘Health is a state of complete physical, social and mental wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainment of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction of race, religion, political beliefs or economic and social conditions’

5. Defines health mainly as the absence of disease. This is driven by the belief that medical science must find cures for Diseases in order to return people to health. This concept may be easier to understand as it make health an attribute you can measure. However this may not be a measure of what others believe health to be. Carefully considers the wider determinants of health i.e.. The range of factor that impact on people’s health and well being. These range from a persons cultural and belief system to level of income, access to housing, educational attainment and opportunities as well as the wider environmental, political and socio-economic conditions in which people live. Medical Model Social Model

7. Why Community Development? • CD&H work uses the energy, leadership, skills and knowledge of people to tackle a community’s problems • Recognises the importance of social support networks • Encourages partnership working across sectors • Emphasis is on collective action to redress inequalities in health and access to health care • Encourages communities to articulate their own health needs

8. Determining needs we need to take into account other things that impact on people’s ability to manage and take responsibility for their health. Using a community development approach enables us to identify and work to address these issues as well as those that are specific to individuals ie reduce the steepness of the hill = partnership approach Individual orientated preventative action Community orientated preventative action

9. Seeing health as an individual responsibility Health professional conceptualising problems Delivery an expected/ traditional service Treatment on basis of knowledge of diseases Treatment at the end point Understanding health as a social issue Seeing views of lay people as equally important Partnership approach to planning and delivery of services Taking a holistic view of health ‘look upstream’ i.e. at the causes and effects Prevention at the point of origin in the community From ……. To………

10. Mind the gap Improved health needs Higher social economic groups health Individual health choices Access to services & support Gap in inequalities remains the same before After Improved local health needs Community development approach CD Project s target group - deprived areas

11. Mind the gap Improved health needs Higher social economic groups health Individual health choices Access to services & support After Before Improved local health needs Gap in inequalities reduced Community development approach CD Projects target group - deprived areas

12. The Journey of Inequality • Health Inequalities are differences between the health of sections of the population which occur as a consequence of differences in social and educational opportunities, financial resources, housing conditions, nutrition, work patterns and conditions and unequal access to services. (HDA, 2003)

13. Contact us… CDHN 30a Mill Street Newry BT34 1EY www.cdhn.org/inscape Ph: 028 3026 4606 E-mail:kathymartin@cdhn.org