The Collaboration for Wellbeing and Health Taking collective action to address the wider determinants of health
- As part of our aim to promote healthy lives for all, we have been working to develop a Collaboration for Wellbeing and Health to take collective action on the wider determinants of health.
- This 5-year initiative, funded by the Health Foundation, will work with a diverse membership from across different sectors and determinants of health – from employment to education and housing.
- Through powerful and joined-up campaigning we want to shape a new public conversation about how health and wellbeing are created and influence national policy to prioritise health.
Why are we doing this?
In the UK, life expectancy is stalling and health inequalities are widening. Compared to the OECD average, people get ill earlier and spend more of their time in poor health. The UK’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic brought this picture into sharp focus and highlighted concerning inequalities. In the working age population, deaths were almost four times higher for people living in the poorest 10% of local areas compared to those in the richest.
These inequalities in health are driven by the circumstances in which people are born, live and work. Social, economic, commercial and environmental conditions (the wider determinants of health) are the strongest determinants of people’s health.
And while much is known about the impact of these wider determinants on health, this evidence has not been translated into coherent policy action in the UK. The Collaboration for Wellbeing and Health is setting out to create the political and public buy in, and cross sector action, to influence national policy and create lasting change on health inequalities in the UK.
Our approach
Over the next five years we plan to work with a growing and diverse membership from across different sectors and determinants of health. Through powerful and joined-up campaigning we want to shape a new public conversation about how health and wellbeing are created and influence national policy to prioritise health.
You can read more about our approach in our blog.
Our partners
We have worked with the following founding members to develop this initiative.
- Institute of Health Equity
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Local Government Association
- New Philanthropy Capital
- People’s Health Trust
- Race Equality Foundation
- Royal Society for Public Health
- What Works Centre for Wellbeing
- Business in the Community
Find out more
This collaboration will be a collective endeavour. As we prepare to launch our full work programme in 2022, we would love to hear from you if you are interested in our work or would like to get involved.
Please sign up to receive updates or contact sarah.lawson@health.org.uk.
Further reading
Discover
Social determinants of health
The social (or wider) determinants of health refer to the social, cultural, political, economic,...
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