Our Approach

The Community Health Exchange (CHEX) seeks to ensure that the service we offer to our network and partners is underpinned with values reflecting personal empowerment, equity, social justice, sustainable development, and a right to good health for all.  We operate within a social model of health, which adheres to the World Health Organisation's statement that health is 'a state of physical, social and mental wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity'.

CHEX advocates a community development approach to helping communities have a substantial impact on *health inequalities.  This approach works alongside community groups on health needs and priorities identified by groups themselves.  Community development strengthens communities, recognising that many groups are effectively disenfranchised through the lack of opportunity to participate in decision making, or the failure of decision makers to recognise or respond to excluded voices.  People learn from their own experience of tackling their own problems.  Strong communities are built by encouraging people to think about the causes of the problems, act on those causes, and learn from the outcome.

*Health inequalities operate and impact at many levels including ill health, material deprivation, inadequate income, discrimination, lack of social status, unequal access to health care, poor housing, unaffordable food - the list is long.  Although particular aspects of health are improving it is increasingly clear that these improvements are restricted to particular social groups in certain parts of the country.  There is a widening gap in Scotland where low income groups and certain communities experience greater risk of ill health. 

(last updated 16 September 2009)