Supporting local authorities in how they can most effectively engage with local communities to improve health is the focus of a new NICE briefing published today (Wednesday 12 March).

Community engagement is about encouraging people to get involved in decisions about their local area thataffect their wellbeing. For example, this can include involving people in the planning, design, delivery and governance of housing developments, neighbourhood safety, and access to leisure services. The input of local people into these types of issues has an impact on service quality and improves community empowerment, which in turn has an effect on population health and health inequalities.

With local authorities' remit for public health in communities, the new briefing highlights the importance of using effective methods to communicate with local people and support their participation in opportunities to help shape their own community. The NICE briefing recognises that local authorities have a great deal of experience in engaging with their local populations, but the evidence-based principles which the briefing sets out will help ensure that investment in a people-centred approach to improve health is worthwhile for the authority and the community. The new NICE local government briefing sets out effective ways to support local authorities in this essential duty.

Professor Mike Kelly, Director of the Centre for Public Health at NICE said: “Effective community engagement is vital for a number of reasons, including helping local authorities to meet their legal responsibilities, tackling health inequalities and helping to change people's health-related behaviours. There can be a disconnect between how well local government thinks the public is informed about issues and what the public actually thinks: a report[1] found that 75% of local council leaders and 55% of local authority chief executives think that the public are well informed about the reasons for planned savings, whilst only 36% of the public were aware of those reasons. This briefing can help local authorities to increase the participation of local people decision-making about their local area, and encourage more people to take part in activities that aim to improve health and wellbeing. An aspect of this includes building community cohesion; encouraging a sense of belonging can have positive effects on how people feel and their general health.

“The briefing recommendations include taking account of lessons learned from existing community initiatives, and investing in long-term initiatives as some of the prerequisites for successful community engagement. In addition to this, working in partnership to support local practice, and running community workshops to increase levels of engagement are important elements of community-focused approaches. Following the advice set out in the briefing, and checking that existing culture and practice is based on its recommendations, can help local authorities to tackle health inequalities and make the best and most efficient use of resources to improve the health of people in their area.”

The briefing draws from related NICE guidance recommendations published up to February 2014. The briefing recommendations cover four central interlocking themes which should be implemented together, examples of which include:

• Prerequisites for success: Invest in long-term initiatives; identify the changes needed within the organisation to support community engagement
• Infrastructure to support local practice: Build on the local community's strengths and provide training and resources
• Approaches to support and increase levels of community engagement: Recruit local people as agents of change (to improve health and address the wider social determinants of health)
• Evaluation: Involve the community in the planning, design and implementation of an Evaluation framework.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About the new Local Government Public Health Briefing

1. The new briefing, ‘Community engagement to improve health', is published on 12 March 2014.

2. The original community engagement public health guidance (PH9) is currently being updated in the light of new evidence about the most effective ways of involving local communities in the health development process. More information is available at /guidance/indevelopment/GID-PHG79.

3. This new publication is part of a suite of briefing documents which NICE is producing to provide support to local government. This new area of workaims to help councillors and local authority staff find out which public health actions are most effective in improving the health of people in their area, while also providing the best value for money. Based on recommendations from existing NICE public health and clinical guidance, the briefings have been developed with input from the independentLocal Government Reference Group. The group comprises councillors, local government officers, and others with an interest in community health and wellbeing. The new briefings are in addition to NICE's ongoing programme producing public health guidance. Topics covered include tobacco, physical activity and workplace health, alcohol, health inequalities and behaviour change.

About NICE

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for driving improvement and excellence in the health and social care system. We develop guidance, standards and information on high-quality health and social care. We also advise on ways to promote healthy living and prevent ill health.

Formerly the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, our name changed on 1 April 2013 to reflect our new and additional responsibility to develop guidance and set quality standards for social care, as outlined in the Health and Social Care Act (2012).

Our aim is to help practitioners deliver the best possible care and give people the most effective treatments, which are based on the most up-to-date evidence and provide value for money, in order to reduce inequalities and variation.

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