Between 1999 and 2007, the then New Opportunities Fund supported 352 healthy living centres across the UK. The programme set out to:
- promote health in its broadest sense,
- target disadvantaged areas and groups of the population, and
- reduce differences in the quality of health between individuals, and improve the health of the worst-off in society.
The programme and the centres it supported were very popular and indeed have helped to inspire more recent community-based health initiatives, including our own Well-being programme in England.
The evaluation, undertaken by a consortium led by the Tavistock Institute, demonstrated that healthy living centres:
- successfully attracted their target communities by combining health and social benefits in the activities they provided;
- used a variety of successful strategies to involve local people in project planning and delivery, enabling them to tackle the issues that affected their lives;
- helped people and organisations to learn and to build relationships within communities; and
- developed and improved local partnerships and networks, building strong trusting relationships with the voluntary, community and statutory sectors.
Documents
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