Well Communities Research Consortium (WCRC)
UKRI launched a three phase programme on ‘mobilising community assets to tackle health inequalities’ in 2021. In the second phase AHRC funded 16 groups to build research consortia to facilitate cross partner collaboration. The third phase will fund larger scale, three year research programmes to develop the evidence base and test collaborative models.
City, University of London led a multi-institutional bid and were awarded phase two AHRC funding to develop the Well Communities Research Consortium, building on a track record of research and innovation in community centred, asset based approaches to tackle health inequalities amongst its collaborators and partners. We have established a new strong research consortium which brings together experienced academics from a range of disciplines, people with lived experience, health and care professionals, and community asset organisations.
The Consortium has been built across two contrasting heath and care systems, representing very different geographies, as ‘test-beds’: North East London and Northamptonshire.
Through a comprehensive programme of community and stakeholder engagement, asset and systems mapping and co-design, across both geographies, using the Well Communities CSEAD process we have:
- Identified and worked within two of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, in North East London and Northamptonshire, to understand the role of community assets in promoting health and the barriers from the perspectives of residents
- Together with those with lived experience and other stakeholders action was prioritised to tackle barriers and build on opportunities for mobilizing community assets within local systems
- Developed detailed asset maps and systems maps for each neighbourhood’s priorities for action, informed by participatory asset mapping
- Developed a working blueprint and associated theory of change for a collaborative model for systems change to mobilise assets to tackle health inequalities, complementing and adding value to our collaborating integrated care systems place-based plans.
WCRC have applied to AHRC for phase three funding to further develop, implement and test the blueprint for change.