Supporting individuals’ healthy eating requires genuine engagement with communities

Abstract

AbstractC3 Collaborating for Health (C3) aims to counter the non‐communicable disease (NCD) epidemic by focusing on the three big risk factors: tobacco use, poor diet and lack of physical activity. Community Health Engagement Survey Solutions (CHESS™) is an innovative strategy to shift decision‐making around prevention and health interventions to local communities, while also reducing inequalities in the broader determinants of health. Emerging from research in India, China, Mexico and the US, C3 has implemented CHESS™ in the UK in eight London boroughs, Halifax and Girvan. A recently completed project in England and Scotland engaged 5000 people (approximately one‐third of the local populations). CHESS™ facilitates communities to act as ‘citizen scientists’ in data‐driven investigations about health and the built environment. Through a mobile tool, communities collect and interpret quantitative and qualitative data on local assets and barriers conducive to good health (or not). These results inform evidence‐based action plans, guided by public health expertise, for interventions that make it easier for all to be healthy. The community enacts the changes they can make themselves and presents recommendations to decision‐makers in a compelling argument for change. Thanks to CHESS™ evidence, communities have received over £2 million to implement health interventions in their neighbourhoods. The Healthy Communities project, completed in September 2017, led to physical activity and healthy eating initiatives, including cooking lessons, gardening, breakfast and tea clubs, and healthy lunches for schoolchildren. Learnings from the project have informed recommendations for those wanting to improve community health, particularly in relation to diet.