Lucia D’Ambruoso gave an oral presentation at the first conference organised by the Community of Practice of the UK Prevention Research Partnership, Prevention Research 2023 14-15th November at the Royal Society of Edinburgh https://preventionresearch2023.stir.ac.uk/

 

The presentation was entitled: Cost-of-living/cost of smoking: cooperative learning on NCD health inequalities in deprived communities within the cost-of-living crisis.  We shared results from the demonstration study to embed community empowerment within a learning health systems process.

 

Methodologically, we discussed that

1. While participation of communities in public services is long recognised as enhancing legitimacy and acceptability of decisions, and furthering trust in public institutions, in practice, participation takes many forms, and in some cases reproduces the very power asymmetries it seeks to confront. Operational guidance on participation is limited, and the central category of power is drastically under-theorised.

2. Learning is crucial for systems performance, however, operational understanding is lacking. Emerging evidence supports: the development of capabilities to engage iteratively with problems; draw on different forms of knowledge; create common understandings and define appropriate solutions; and creating spaces and providing resources for communities, staff, and managers to find solutions for challenges.

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We shared how the study progressed cooperative learning on smoking within the cost-ofliving crisis, cognisant the social, political, and commercial determinants of health inequalities as an essential perspective and one that informs and benefits people in communities and people working with them. We shared learning on embedding community empowerment within a learning health systems process.