Participation in the New Public Health Landscape

Abstract

The UK government’s proposals for devolving power to local authorities and encouraging individuals to take more responsibility in these deliberations are changing the landscape of social and political decision-making and their responsiveness to the public. As a result there are major implications for public health in this process and how the public are consulted and involved and the challenges that they represent. The impact of this process will be explored in two ways. First, an exploration of what it means to be involved in decision-making through a discussion of participation, empowerment and agency. This raises questions about how the individual can be realistically involved and how the health professional’s role can be faithful to the principles of facilitating change and enabling individuals to engage. Second, the section on theory into practice will examine how we can translate these ideas into practical guidance and action. It will explore what is the evidence base for community engagement and outline some examples of what action can be taken. Finally, series of questions are posed after each section to enable the reader to explore these issues and a number of key documents are identified which will enable the reader to address these issues in greater depth.