Tackling Health Inequalities: A Collective Approach

The HCT Co-Lab is a personal development programme all about creating the conditions in Gloucestershire for fairer health. Amy Aitkens, one of the HCT Co-lab participants, reflects on her time on the programme.

How Diverse Voices Unite to Address Health Disparities

“The topic within this Co-lab Cohort has been challenging ‘Health Inequalities’. There is increasing pressure on NHS services, and as part of the new NHS Long Term Plan, helping people to use services in their community to improve their health and wellbeing is becoming more of a priority. The premise was that if we bring partners from throughout the health system together, we could find ways to work together, to best maximise our resources.”

“The Co-lab brought together a diverse range of people working within different sectors and we have been able to enter the room as individuals, leaving job titles and organisations at the door. The conditions created within this programme, have enabled us to build genuine trust with one another, and have conversations, beyond the usual surface level. We all know there are different power dynamics between the NHS, Council, VCSE organisations, etc as well as differences in language including an array of acronyms! It can be challenging and tiring trying to navigate these and the inevitable politics that come with it. We have been able to acknowledge the differences within system partners, and work together collectively, as a group of individuals who are all passionate about reducing health inequalities, which has been so beneficial.”

Reflecting on a Programme for Fairer Health in Gloucestershire

“The HCT Co-lab is a rare opportunity for people to ‘step out of the rat race’. You will be given permission to have time to reflect, re-connect with your core values and beliefs and most importantly, think creatively about what we can do differently as a collective. It is an enabling programme, where you are privileged to meet a diverse range of people with different perspectives and build genuine relationships beyond job titles/organisations.

For me, the words that come to mind that best illustrate this are: Trust - Authenticity - Togetherness - Transparency - Challenging the status quo - Creating awareness - Openness - Curiosity - Hope”

Creating the Conditions for Change: Trust, Transparency, and Challenging the Status Quo

“The Co-lab helped empower us as individuals and regain confidence in the work we are doing. From my own personal perspective, working within the Public Sector can be highly stressful and frustrating. (See Concern as youngest NHS workers ‘increasingly unhappy’ | The Independent) A poor workplace culture can negatively impact a person’s wellbeing, and it can also significantly impact the organisations’ bottom line, leading to low productivity and high turnover. So often, when people are unhappy at work, they simply leave.”

Reconnecting with Purpose and Each Other

“Having the opportunity to enter the Co-lab space, enables participants to re-connect with themselves as well as other peers, which has created a sense of belonging and togetherness. This cannot be underestimated, especially in the world we live in today, where people are becoming increasingly isolated through working at home etc. There has been a breadth of learning in this space, that goes above and beyond the usual SMART objective goals.”

For Amy and the other participants, the HCT Co-lab has not only been a period of reflection but also a catalyst for renewed hope and a stronger sense of collective purpose in the vital work of creating fairer health.