CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English
  • Home
  • >
  • 🏛️ Blog
  • >
  • 5 ways community engagement and the health sector intersect

5 ways community engagement and the health sector intersect

By Sara Jalal Civic Engagement 26/05/2021
CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English
a hand holding medical equipment

One of the key actions to improving healthcare provision is to work directly with community members on the issues affecting their wellbeing.

The WHO has identified community engagement as fundamental to any strategy addressing health goals. Our most recent client event brought together health organisations from across the UK, including the Care Inspectorate and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which shared their experience in leveraging community engagement platforms to better connect with residents. Their insights inspired us to share the takeaways of the event with all of you.

Here are 5 ways you can optimise community engagement in the health sector:

1. Base your project on lived experiences

Who knows the successes and gaps of health services better than those who are directly involved? Invest time in speaking to, and working collaboratively with, those who have first-hand experience – both from the community and your healthcare services. You might want to consult sector professionals, volunteers, caregivers and patients. After identifying these community members, consider how you will connect with them. For instance, you may consult your community members via surveys, workshops, or deliberation, and by combining virtual and in-person elements you’ll be able to reach a wider audience. 

“During the pandemic, our online engagement platform proved really helpful to connect with people and diversify the way we engage with our community.”

The Care for Quality Commission

A combined online and offline approach is also a good alternative now that some measures against COVID-19 have started to ease. Ultimately, having these conversations will give you a clearer understanding of the community you serve, their specific health needs, and the resources available to them.

2. Have group discussions between various stakeholders

The best way to gain an understanding of community needs is by getting input from a wide range of its members. Make sure you aren’t having siloed conversations with only one group, but rather involve various stakeholders in collective discussions. Each participant will come with their own base knowledge and skill set which will help generate more ideas. 

There are plenty of ways to foster these group discussions. In addition to hosting large plenary sessions, consider using breakout rooms and be intentional about who you include in each group to ensure everyone’s voice is represented. To complement this you might use surveys, ask for input on what to prioritise, or share your current programme ideas for comments. As people share their experiences and hear those of others, these inclusive conversations will create mutual respect and understanding, ultimately leading to increased collaboration and strengthened bonds between the community and your health services. 

3. Share insights and ideas

It’s not only about involving your community in the discussion stage, but also in defining and implementing a solution. Sharing insights that you’ve gained from previous initiatives can serve as a reference point for new discussions on the plans you have for improved healthcare. By transparently communicating learnings and asking for feedback on them, you’ll create a sense of shared ownership and commitment for community health moving forward.

4. Prioritise and create timelines

Since you won’t be able to address all community health needs at once, start by listing the most pressing issues and identifying priorities. To rate what’s most pressing, consider setting criteria for determining your priorities. For example, you could choose to rate the severity and urgency of an issue, the availability of resources, or whether you’re addressing a root cause. As much as possible, align your priorities with those of the community and create timelines to keep yourself accountable for progress. These efforts will lead to increased consensus and trust from your community members.

5. Collaborate for future changes in standards and policy

Your health services’ day-to-day operations can be positively impacted by engaging your community, but many benefits also come from collaborating with other health experts and professionals. By crowdsourcing input from healthcare professionals, health information standards – including methods, protocols, and terminologies – can be optimised. This ideation is also key to exchange insights on healthcare technology assessments and to inform policy decisions that impact the wider community. The social, economic, organisational, and ethical elements of the assessment are ideal for community members and healthcare professionals to collaboratively provide feedback.

Community engagement to transform healthcare

Actively engaging community members is the bedrock for building sustainable, efficient, and resilient health systems. Community engagement will create mutual understanding and respect, strengthening the bond between your community and its health services. This will lead to shared ownership and commitment to health, optimising not only your daily practices but also addressing larger global health goals.

Want to learn more about healthcare and community engagement? Check out our case studies

You May Also Like

Culture of engagement
Uncategorized 5 days ago
5 steps to build a culture of engagement in your city
Case Studies, Civic Engagement, Civic Engagement, Civic Engagement, Civic Engagement, Civic Engagement 11/05/2022
Developing the Dominican Republic’s 2030 Digital Agenda through community engagement
Environment & Sustainability 14/04/2022
Promoting sustainable development with community engagement
Digital equity and access to broadband
Uncategorized 07/04/2022
Why is digital equity important in community engagement?
Uncategorized 29/03/2022
GovTech trends with Amy Nguyen
Written By
Sara Jalal

Community Marketer - advocate for social justice and inclusivity, lover of branding, photographer

Solutions
  • All solutions
  • Strategy & Budgeting
  • Planning & Public Spaces
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Mobility & Infrastructure
  • Neighborhoods & Community Development
Platform
  • Platform features
  • Services
  • Plans
  • Schedule a demo
Academy
  • Resources
  • Blog
Company
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Partners
Get in touch
  • +44 79 2676 4670
  • +1 530 270 3403
  • Contact form
Blog
5 steps to build a culture of engagement in your city
How to engage your community in city planning projects
Developing the Dominican Republic’s 2030 Digital Agenda through community engagement
© 2022 CitizenLab: Community Engagement Platform. All rights reserved.
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
CookieLawInfoConsent1 yearRecords the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.
geot_rocket_citysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_countrysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_statesessionNo description available.
PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
STYXKEY_geot_countrysessionNo description
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
bcookie2 yearsLinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
langsessionLinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting.
lidc1 dayLinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_gat_gtag_UA_65562281_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
_gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
undefinedneverWistia sets this cookie to collect data on visitor interaction with the website's video-content, to make the website's video-content more relevant for the visitor.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
intercom-id-p4lr69wg8 months 26 days 1 hourNo description
intercom-session-p4lr69wg7 daysNo description
loglevelneverNo description available.
trx_addons_is_retina1 yearThis cookie is used for checking if the user has a retina display.
wp-wpml_current_languagesessionNo description available.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
AMP_TOKEN1 hourThis cookie is set by Google Analytics and contains a token that can be used to retrieve a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate opt-out, inflight request or an error retrieving a Client ID from AMP Client ID service.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo

Please share your location to continue.

Check our help guide for more info.

share your location