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Community Empowerment and Health Improvement: The English Experience

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Book cover Health Assets in a Global Context

Abstract

This chapter provides a review of actions that are focused on enabling communities (defined in terms of place of residence or shared interest) to have greater control over decisions that affect their lives. These activities form elements of policies aiming to improve population health and/or reduce health inequalities in many countries. The chapter reviews a number of different terms used to describe these activities notably: community development, community empowerment, community participation and community engagement. The relationship between health improvement and community action is explored, and the associated challenges are discussed. A summary of evaluations regarding the impact of community action on health is provided and the problems associated with developing a strong evidence base in this area are also outlined.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The notion of a “theory of change” was developed by Weiss, and refers to “the chain of causal assumption that link programme resources, activities, intermediate outcomes and ultimate goals”. It is concerned with how an intervention is expected to work, why, and for whom. A clear understanding of the theory that is intended to underpin a particular approach to or method for community engagement/development can help in the design of the approach/methods and help implementers to ensure that the initiative remains on course as it is implemented.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Health Research, School of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA 1 4YT, UK

    Jennie Popay

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  1. Jennie Popay
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Correspondence to Jennie Popay .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Health & Clinical, 71 High Holborn St, London, WC1V 6NA, United Kingdom

    Antony Morgan

  2. Health Action Partnership International, Tavistock House (Entrance D), London, WC1H 9LG, United Kingdom

    Maggie Davies

  3. WHO Regional Office for Europe, WHO European Office for Investment for H, Campo S. Stefano, Venice, 2847I-3012, Italy

    Erio Ziglio

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Popay, J. (2010). Community Empowerment and Health Improvement: The English Experience. In: Morgan, A., Davies, M., Ziglio, E. (eds) Health Assets in a Global Context. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5921-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5921-8_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-5920-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-5921-8

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