Abstract
Phase IV of the WHO European Region’s Healthy Cities Program ended in December 2008. This article presents the findings from a recently completed review of Brighton and Hove’s Healthy City Program which aimed to scope whether added value had accrued from the city’s role as a WHO Healthy City during phase IV. In contrast to most other evaluations of healthy cities, this review adopted a qualitative approach representing an appraisal of the Brighton and Hove Healthy City Program from the internal viewpoint of its local stakeholders. In addition to documentary analysis and a facilitated workshop, a series of in-depth interviews (N = 27) were conducted with stakeholders from the Brighton and Hove Healthy City Partnership representing each of the sectors reflected in the Local Strategic Partnership (public, statutory, elected, community and voluntary, neighborhood and communities, business). The key findings of the review are presented in a way which reflects the three key areas of the review including (1) the healthy cities approach, (2) participation in phase IV of the WHO Healthy Cities Program, and (3) the Brighton and Hove Healthy City Partnership. These findings are discussed, and recommendations for action at local, national, and European levels are proposed. In particular, we argue that there is an urgent need to develop a suitable monitoring and evaluation system for the WHO Healthy Cities Program with appropriate indicators that are meaningful and relevant to local stakeholders. Moreover, it would be important for any such system to capitalize on the benefits that qualitative methodologies can offer alongside more traditional quantitative indicators.
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Notes
The Project Advisory Group consisted of the Healthy City manager, the vice-chair of the Healthy City Partnership, and the IHDRC research team.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Brighton and Hove Healthy City Partnership and all of the stakeholders who took part in the review and in particular Terry Blair-Stevens for his comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We are also grateful to the Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust for commissioning and funding this review.
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Hall, C., Davies, J.K. & Sherriff, N. Health in the Urban Environment: A Qualitative Review of the Brighton and Hove WHO Healthy City Program. J Urban Health 87, 8–28 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9387-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9387-y