We’ve carefully curated a collection of useful information for everyone working in and across community health.

There are explainers on the basics of health inequalities and what community-led health can do to tackle them, articles and blogs outlining some of the key principles and context, case studies of community-led health in practice on the ground, and information on research and resources to support your practice and professional learning.

Get in touch with us if you’d like to share your work in a case study or have suggestions for other resources we could add in.

What is community-led health and how can it tackle health inequalities?

Health and wellbeing is about much more than the treatment of illness and wider economic, social, cultural and environmental factors play a fundamental role in shaping the health of people and their communities. Community-led health drives preventative approaches that focus on building and sustaining good health and wellbeing and preventing ill health from occurring.

By targeting the provision of support to people and communities experiencing health inequalities, disadvantage and marginalisation, this community development approach to health can lead to improved health and wellbeing not only for those involved but also for the wider community.

Community-led health in action

We gather together useful knowledge from our network and across the sector to help show what it looks like when we take action. This section has articles and blogs outlining some of the key principles and context, as well as case studies of community-led health in practice on the ground.

Preventative approaches: achieving the urgent action required to tackle Scotland's health inequalities crisis

Preventative approaches mean identifying and tackling root causes before negative outcomes occur. For health inequalities, that means dealing with the underlying causes that result in some communities experiencing an unfair shortening of their lives and less time in good health.

A key part of our role at CHEX is influencing national policy and practice, and last year we worked in partnership to publish a joint statement on prevention, which sets out our vision for prevention and makes recommendations for turning ambitious policy intent into urgent and critical actions. 

Feeling the Strain: How community-led health groups are facing Scotland's mental health crisis

This resource explores the contribution of community-led health organisations and approaches to growing positive mental health and wellbeing at a time when mental health services are struggling to meet demand.

It highlights the unique qualities of community-led approaches which make the community sector a vital part of a preventative approach to addressing mental health and wellbeing.