Areas of Work
Tackle health inequalities through community development
CDHN tackles health inequalities through community development by driving long term change, and using community-led, place-based approaches to advance health equity.
Our ProgrammesBringing People Together
We bring people together through collective action and participation by creating opportunities for collaboration and shared learning across sectors and communities.
We champion lived experience, ensure inclusion of marginalised and minority voices in all health equity work and we challenge discrimination.
Communities of PracticeGrow Healthy Communities
CDHN grows healthy communities by recognising local strengths, and delivering evidence-informed training, mentoring and support programmes to empower people and organisations, promote inclusion, and improve health and wellbeing.
View our TrainingPolicy, Influencing and Research
CDHN works to influence policy and public understanding by developing and using evidence to shape thinking and advocate for a health in all policies approach to reducing health inequalities. People and communities are central to our research and policy work—we ensure lived experience is heard and valued, and we co‑produce research with communities to drive meaningful change.
View our resource hubCDHN works to build understanding among decision‑makers, practitioners and communities about how social policies and programmes affect health outcomes. We also champion the political empowerment and inclusion of all communities in decision‑making. We support our members to understand social policy—how it is made, and the systems and structures that shape it—so they can take part with confidence. By creating opportunities for engagement between policymakers, communities and practitioners, we help ensure community voices are heard and influence decisions that affect their lives.
You can read our recent policy responses here.
CDHN influences policy and public understanding in a number of ways. We support and participate in cross‑sector forums and networks to advance community needs and advocate for community development approaches to reducing health inequalities. This includes speaking at events, contributing to working groups, and taking on chairing or facilitation roles.
A key area of our influence is health literacy. We promote and support health literacy policy and practice across all sectors and embed health literacy into policy responses, strategies and action plans.
Our Research and Policy Manager Helen McNamee is co‑chair of the Regional Health Literacy Forum, and we have co-designed and delivered training on health literacy.
We recognise, value, and gather evidence through research to better understand the social determinants of health and people’s lived experiences. This is central to the development of initiatives and influencing policy to address health inequalities.
We advocate for community-based participatory research and co-production approaches, ensuring people and communities are integral partners in the research process. This approach not only shapes stronger more relevant research, but also builds knowledge, confidence and understanding within communities.
You can access our recent publications here.
Learn more about
our Areas of Work
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