GCU leads UK study into health impact of community organisations

Glasgow Caledonian University is to lead the UK’s largest study into the public health impact of community organisations.

Funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), the £1.5million project will work with communities to investigate the links between community, health, and wellbeing.

The three-year study, entitled Common Health Assets, will evaluate the public health benefits provided by a wide range of community-led organisations and activities, such as walking groups, cookery lessons, language classes, community gardens and cafes.

Researchers from GCU, Glasgow Centre for Population Health, Queen’s University Belfast, Bournemouth University and the University of East London will discover how they improve people’s lives and help drive positive change.

Community-led organisations in and around Glasgow, Bournemouth, Belfast, and East London, will take part in the project.

Professor Rachel Baker, the project lead and Director of the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health at GCU, said: “The importance of community spirit, mutual aid and support was brought home to us all during the pandemic.

“This research will help focus attention on the importance of community to public health generally; especially important as we rebuild, and imagine, what may be required to cope with future crises.

“It is really significant that the National Institute for Health Research - the major funder of medical and public health research in the UK - has recognised how important communities are in health improvement.”

John Cassidy, Chair of Scottish Communities for Health and Wellbeing, which represents community-led health and wellbeing improvement organisations across Scotland, said: “For too long scientists, officials and planners have decided what is good for communities.

“They try to put right what they see as deficits in those communities. It is much better to start with the communities themselves.

“When people work to their strengths, whatever they may be, this has the effect of bringing about all sorts of benefits.  The evidence suggests that this not only leads to improvements to community spaces, it can also help people feel better and improve their health.”

Professor Sam Porter, of Bournemouth University, added: “By studying the ways that different community-led groups operate, we will be able to understand the ways that these things work, better than we do now, and apply the learning to other places.”