Joined-up working: New initiative will help you ‘Live Your Best Life’

Good health and wellbeing for people in Northamptonshire was the sole item on the agenda at a cross-county collaboration event, the first of several planned gatherings.

Key players in Northamptonshire health and care – both statutory and voluntary – gathered at University of Northampton (UON) in June for the first Community of Practice (CoP) meeting.

Facilitated by the University’s Research and Knowledge Exchange team, the event aimed to promote dialogue and community involvement across organisations.

Discussions focused on how the partners can best work with each other, communities and people across Northamptonshire to deliver the county’s Live Your Best Life strategy.

Live Your Best Life is a bold, 10-year strategy from Northamptonshire’s Integrated Care Board. It’s tasked with creating a county where all are active and empowered to look after their health and wellbeing – such as frailty, weight reduction, women’s health and more – with quality support and services available if needed. The CoP’s remit is to:

• Place communities and people at the centre of what they do and to engage with them to hear their ideas to co-design workstreams that, most importantly, are tailored to individual needs. The CoP is focused on moving from actively listening to doing. See the Insights Library for more.
• Listen to partners’ ideas about sharing and storing insight, coordinating and pooling resources, and aligning engagement work across organisations.
• Develop the best mechanisms for engaging with communities to co-produce ways to support the ‘Live Your Best Life’ priorities.
• Develop a shared language and approach to community engagement and co-production across the system.

UON Associate Professor in Physical Activity & Health, Dr Declan Ryan, says: “Good health and wellbeing starts in our neighbourhoods, so it’s vital that residents are involved in the design and delivery of wellbeing services and community assets.

“Many factors intersect to impact our health, so it’s vital that voluntary and statutory partners communicate regularly to share their understanding of community wants, needs, and opportunities. This Community of Practice provides a space to build stronger relationships and best practice among the partners who support our communities.”

James Gillespie-Allan, Head of Community Engagement at NHS Northamptonshire, adds: “The Community of Practice aims to bring together key individuals working with people and communities to develop ways of working, ensuring that the conversations with the public do not go unheard and feed into all that we do.

“There were so many exciting discussions on the day. with truly enthusiastic individuals. We aim to share best practice, give a platform for celebrating success and seeking opportunities to learn.

“You can find out more about the Community of Practice and look at broader engagement insights by accessing the Insight Library.“

To find out more about and get involved with the Community of Practice, please email pauline.bain@northampton.ac.uk.