Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of the lifeworld perspective in reducing inequalities in health and we explain how the public health practitioner can use this perspective to address public health issues with individuals and groups. We offer ideas for public health actions that are based on and deal with the lifeworld context of individual people or families. Each of the dimensions of the lifeworld temporality, spatiality, intersubjectivity, embodiment and mood are outlined and their significance explained in relation to health inequalities. Suggestions for action to reduce health inequalities are made and overall principles of lifeworld led public health practice are proposed by way of conclusion. The principles comprise understanding the community members' lifeworld view, understanding their view of their potential, offering resources and facilitating empowerment, and sharing lifeworld case studies and lobbying to influence local and national policy in relation to both the individual and communities.
Highlights
This paper will consider the question of how the public health practitioner works to reduce health inequalities for individuals and groups in their practice context
A suggestion is that public health practitioners should be aware of the vulnerabilities or needs of the people in their areas of practice and be familiar with their “clients” perspectives of their own worlds; that is, practitioners should consider a lifeworld led approach to their practice
In the UK, Public Health England (PHE) has advocated that the “lived experience” of people in communities needs to be gleaned in order for health inequalities to be addressed effectively [1]
Summary
This paper will consider the question of how the public health practitioner works to reduce health inequalities for individuals and groups in their practice context. In the UK, Public Health England (PHE) has advocated that the “lived experience” of people in communities needs to be gleaned in order for health inequalities to be addressed effectively [1]. This is because we are stakeholders in our communities and more than this we have the essential real-life experience of living in our community, our world. Lifeworld led research uses a phenomenological approach to understand the lived experience of people helping practitioners to understand what it means to live within a particular context and community What this means as well as how it can be used as an approach to inform practice to reduce health inequalities is discussed next. A geographical area may fare better than the national average overall the health profiles can indicate pockets of deprivation and health inequality
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