This document discusses community health champions, which are volunteers trained to promote health and well-being in their communities. It describes two programs - Altogether Better in Yorkshire, which established 13,000-70,000 champions, and Aneurin Bevan Health Board in Gwent, which trained 150 champions. Both programs saw positive outcomes such as empowerment and improved quality of life, though they faced challenges around funding and retention. The document advocates for community health champions as a way to address health inequalities through peer-to-peer support and motivation.

1. IVISOC: Improving volunteering in
social care
GOOD PRACTICE IN PRACTICE? ▪▪▪
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2. COMMUNITY HEALTH CHAMPIONS ▪▪▪
• ‘Community Health Champions are people who – with
training and support – voluntarily bring their ability to
relate to people to improve health and well-being in their
communities’ Altogether Better Programme [Yorkshire] 2011
• ‘In summary – the role of a Community Health Champion
is to opportunistically and appropriately raise awareness
on the health issues and/or services that they have
received information on’ Aneurin Bevan Health Board [Gwent] 2012
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3. HOW DOES IT WORK? ▪▪▪
• A shared vision aiming to break away from
‘conventional’ approaches to service delivery
• A growing imperative around healthy, vital and
sustainable communities
• A ‘light touch’ sensitive to and responsive to individual
need and circumstances
• A recognition of the appropriateness and power of
word-of-mouth involving peers
• A behaviour change through information, motivation
and belief
• A ‘know-how’ that encourages engagement through the
creation of accessible opportunities to the ‘hard-to-reach’
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4. ALTOGETHER BETTER ▪▪▪
• budget »»» £6.8 million
• reaches »»» Yorkshire-wide (and White Paper)
• outcomes »»» 13,000 to 70,000 CHCs
• evidence »»» empowerment>control>quality of life
• investment »»» SROI £0.79-£112.42 per £ spent
• challenges »»» funding and cuts
• what next? »»» re-think…
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5. CHC PUBLIC HEALTH WALES ABHB ▪▪▪
• budget »»» £30,000
• reaches »»» all areas bar Blaenau Gwent
• outcomes »»» 150 champions and anecdotal
• evidence »»» anecdotal
• investment »»» un-measured (pilot phase)
• challenges »»» retention of partners and people
• what next? »»» re-think…
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6. GOOD PRACTICE? ▪▪▪
• Both programmes have looked towards each other’s
models for ideas and innovation…
• Public Health Wales (initially) replicated Altogether Better
to kick-start the CHChampions programme…
• Altogether Better is interested (currently) in how PHW
are managing on a finite budget…
• Each has much praise, respect and admiration for what
the other has achieved…
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7. THE COMMUNITY WORKS ▪▪▪
‘Sometimes the best person to know how you are
feeling, or how to do something positive in your local
area, or how to make changes to your life, is a family
member, neighbour or friend, and that’s where
Altogether Better Community Health Champions are
making an amazing difference. These dedicated
volunteers help to motivate individuals in their local
communities and workplaces to make positive changes
and enjoy improved health and well-being through peer
to peer support, building on their own unique life
experience, skills and knowledge of their local area’
National Lottery Awards 2011
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8. IN THE END ▪▪▪
• organisation »»» organisation
• organisation »»» community
• community »»» community
• community »»» organisation
• accessibility • empowerment • motivation •
aspiration • lifestyle • quality of life •
opportunity • health • happiness •
“regeneration”
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9. FOR WALES ▪▪▪
• ‘It is unfair, unjust, and immoral to tolerate variations in
health outcomes among our communities. They are just
not acceptable’
• ‘This not a health service problem. It is our problem,
across the whole of government and civil society. We
need to act together, to work together, and to take the
responsibility for achieving better shared outcomes for
our country’ Carwyn Jones [First Minister for Wales]
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10. REACHING THE POTENTIAL ▪▪▪
• hard-to-reach?
• sea-farers?
• champions?
Thankyou - Diolch
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