Joint Demonstration Funding Initiative
Combat Poverty Agency and the Health
Service Executive
Community Participation in Primary Health Care
The purpose of this funding initiative is to support and
enable disadvantaged communities and groups to participate in local primary
care teams and networks. This funding is open to community development/anti
poverty groups who have a focus on health. Closing
date for applications is 15 September 2008. More information on this initiative
and an application form are available for download below.
Information Brochure:  Application
Form:
Poverty & Health Inequality
| Quality Health Services | Building
Healthy Communities
Publications | Contacts
Tackling Poverty, Tackling Health Inequality
Complex factors contribute to health inequalities, including links between
poverty, inequality and health. Poor people get sick more often and die
younger than those who are better off. Health and well-being are determined
by a range of factors including adequate income and access to education,
housing and transport.
The National Development Plan (NDP) acknowledges the strong social class
gradient in health status. The National Action Plan for Social
Inclusion (NAPinclusion) recognises that access to quality health services
is a prerequisite for participation in the social and economic life of
society.
Experiencing poorer health means having a greater need for health
services, particularly primary care, as these services are the first
point of contact. The current social partnership agreement Towards
2016 commits
to
"ongoing investment to ensure integrated, accessible services for
people within their own community" with the roll-out of 500 primary
care teams by 2011. This
commitment is reinforced in NAPinclusion, the NDP and the
current Programme for Government.
The National Health Strategy and the Primary Care Strategy emphasise
cross-sectoral approaches to dealing with health inequalities. The importance
of community participation in the design and delivery of personal and
social services is also recognised.
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Access to Quality Health Services
Under its Strategic
Plan for 2005-2007 Combat Poverty developed a programme of work
in the area of health. Under this objective Combat Poverty developed
policy proposals for people in poverty to have access to quality health
services, particularly primary care services. To achieve this objective
Combat Poverty worked with a range of stakeholders including the health
services and communities (both interest and geographical) who experience
health inequalities and poverty. This programme will continue in 2008.
The goals of the programme were:
Health Services
- To inform health services planning and policy to meet NAPS objectives.
Healthier Communities
- To support disadvantaged communities to improve health outcomes using
community development principles and practice.
Combat Poverty works with health services and a range of other stakeholders
including the Department of Health and Children, the Health Service Executive,
the Office for Social Inclusion, the Institute of Public Health, the
Family Support Agency, academics, and anti-poverty groups working to
tackle health inequalities.
The health programme is guided by an Advisory Group
which is a sub-committee of the Board of Combat Poverty. Combat
Poverty works with Institute of Public Health and draws on
lessons from the Building Healthy Communities programme to raise
awareness of the social determinants of health.
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The Building Healthy Communities Programme
Combat Poverty developed a programme to support disadvantaged communities,
both geographical and sectoral, to tackle poverty and health inequalities.
The Building Healthy Communities Programme had the following key aims:
- To promote the principles and practice of community development in
improving health and wellbeing outcomes for disadvantaged communities
- To build the capacity of community health interests to draw out practice
and policy lessons from their work
- To inform and support policy initiatives relating to the links between
poverty and health
- To explore mechanisms for effective, meaningful and sustainable community
participation in decision making regarding health.
There were ten projects in this programme supported by the Department
of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive. The Programme
is undergoing a formative evaluation by the Centre for Local Economic
Strategies (CLES). In 2008, the evaluation
will be finalised and Combat Poverty will draw policy lessons from
the programme.
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Publications
Combat Poverty has published a number of titles on health
inequality and access to health services. Visit our publications
page to browse the full range of Combat Poverty publications, order
publications online and download free and out of print titles.
Contacts
For further information on Combat Poverty's health programme work contact:
Elaine
Houlihan: 01 602 6642 or elaine.houlihan@combatpoverty.ie
Liz Sullivan: 01 602 6615 or liz.sullivan@combatpoverty.ie
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