Building pathways to local communities to improve wellbeing
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Building local pathways to community capital, social capital connectedness to improve wellbeing outcomes: A pilot project to build professional networks in local communities
IRAS ID
206994
Contact name
Ruta Rele
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Wellbeing is intrinsically linked to social capital and a sense of connectedness to supportive pro-social networks and more broadly to the community. This is particularly true for vulnerable and excluded populations, who may have limited access to positive supports and social capital (meaning access to resources and supports and the resulting feelings of wellbeing that come from such a sense of belonging).
The model adopted for this project is based on a growing literature about community engagement and the importance of creating coalitions between professionals and communities as a means of identifying, working with and helping to grow community participation to support vulnerable populations but also to increase the overall capacity of communities. The project brings together two emerging theoretical and clinical concepts - asset based community development (ABCD) and social identity theory.
The model that is at the heart of this initiative, Reciprocal Community Development, was developed by one of the project team members (David Best) and has been piloted only once before in partnership with the Salvation Army Eastern Division in Australia. The success of this pilot project has been published in a peer-review journal (Best et al, 2015), where the indicators of success included increased staff participation in community activities and greater partnership working between staff and clients to generate effective community partnerships.
The importance of the model and what makes it innovative is both the combination of the elements of staff training in 'assertive linkage' (techniques for supporting vulnerable populations engaging with community groups and resources), supporting and growing a group of 'community connectors' (McKnight and Block, 2010) and assessing their impact on wellbeing of the target population - but also the focus on 'giving back'.
What is unique about this model and what separates it from prior ABCD initiatives is that it has as a goal the aim of building community engagement in all participants (a coalition of professionals, family members and members of the community) and, as an outcome, assessing community engagement in Sheffield, and its impact on client functioning and wellbeing. The aim is not only to improve outcomes for clients in specialist services but to improve feelings of efficacy and wellbeing in staff, and through this model to increase community cohesion and wellbeing in the wider communities.
This proposed project uses alcohol and drug problems as a pilot to this model and begins by improving local front-line professionals’ capacity to support community engagement through active engagement with and participation in local communities. By doing so, the aim is to establish a group of ‘community connectors’ (professionals and community members) who can act as the bridges to existing resources in the community, and build partnerships with existing community groups and activities for those service users accessing drug and alcohol facilities in Sheffield. This model can then be rolled out in a range of vulnerable populations in Sheffield.
The engagement of the alcohol and drug treatment population in early recovery is a key objective in itself but the underlying principle of using community connections to build capacity around a vulnerable population and then use this to strengthen and buttress overall community capital and capacity is unique and has significant implications for application in other cities and with a range of vulnerable and excluded groups.
Furthermore, the existing proposal will create both an initial cohort of community connectors and a series of community linkages that can form the basis of application to other areas.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0035
Date of REC Opinion
16 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion