Community engagement

Implementing NICE guidance

2008

NICE public health guidance 9

What this presentation covers

Recommendations

Costs and savings

Discussion

Where to find out more

Prerequisites:policy development

Plan, design and coordinate activities that incorporate a community involvement component

Take account of existing community activities, past experiences and issues raised by the communities

Prerequisites: long-term investment

Agree aims and state the intended outcomes of community engagement activities

Set realistic timescales

Identify funding and plan activities accordingly

Build on past experiences

Ensure evaluation mechanisms are in place

Prerequisites: organisational and cultural change

Identify how the culture of public sector organisations supports or prevents community engagement

Use the skills and knowledge of community members

Manage conflicts between communities and the agencies that serve them

Encourage communities to express their views

Give weight (and respond) to those views

Prerequisites: levels of engagement and power

Make everyone aware of the benefits of community involvement

Let community members decide how willing and able they are to participate

Negotiate and agree how power will be distributed

Recognise local diversity

Jointly agree ways of working

Prerequisites: mutual trust and respect

Assess the broad and specific health needs of the community

Tailor the approach used

Negotiate and agree how much control and influence community members will have and the commitment required

Keep communities updated on progress

Infrastructure: training and resources

Develop and build on the local community’s strengths and assets

Provide training for those working with communities

Provide accessible meeting spaces and equipment

Provide opportunities and resources for networking

Train individuals from the community to act as mentors

Infrastructure: partnership working

Develop statements of partnership working for all those involved in activities to improve health or to address the social determinants of health.

Infrastructure: area-based initiatives

Give community groups the power to influence decisions. Provide the necessary resources.

Approaches: community members as agents of change

Recruit local individuals and groups (or use existing groups) to plan, design and deliver activities to improve health

Use mechanisms such as tenant-controlled organisations, estate housing associations, housing boards and committees, as well as working with neighbourhood managers and renewal advisers to ensure the community’s views are heard

Approaches: community workshops

Run community workshops (co-managed by professionals and community members in local venues) to:

•identify local needs

•maintain a high level of local participation in health promotion activities

Approaches: resident consultancy

Draw on the skills and experience of individuals and groups with previous experience of regeneration activities

Evaluation

Identify and agree the aims of evaluation with members of the target community

Involve them in the planning, design and, where appropriate, implementation of an evaluation framework

Costs and savings

The guidance is unlikely to result in a significant shift in the use of NHS resources. However, recommendations on the following may result in additional costs:

•training and development•employing agents of change, either paidor voluntary•evaluation of community engagement

activities

Discussion

How can we integrate community engagement into policy?

How can we met the prerequisites for effective community engagement and do we have the infrastructure in place?

What funding is needed?

What training and development is needed?

Find out more

Visit www.nice.org.uk/ph009 for:

•Other guidance formats

•Costing statement

•Implementation support tools