Knowledge into action

In March, nearly 100 people from across the CHEX network came together in Stirling to learn and reflect about their work supporting their communities and tackling Scotland's health inequalities.

It was an amazing day, full of inspiration, honesty and mutual support. We heard from some incredible contributors who each generously shared their experiences, knowledge and ideas.
 
This year, our focus was turning knowledge and learning into action on the most pressing issues facing communities. We used a bit of a different format from usual - instead of focusing on speakers, we hosted keynote listeners who were there to hear our network’s experiences and insights and work with us to ensure that our collective knowledge and experience is better understood and fed into work at the national level.

From a lack of funding to the impact of burnout, community organisations and wider partnerships tackling inequalities on the ground are facing huge pressures just to keep the doors open and the lights on. We heard those concerns clearly from participants, with big questions remaining about how we sustain this important work, and the impact the current environment is already having.
 
We also heard how valuable peer support and learning are, and why it's never been more critical to talk honestly, and collectively, about how we can work better together to address the issues facing our communities.
 
It’s important to keep this conversation going and ensure that we turn our collective knowledge into action to see a healthier future for everyone in our communities.

Resources

To set the scene for the day, Rachel Baker from Glasgow Caledonian University shared emerging findings from the Common Health Assets Project. Download the presentation slides (PDF).

In the morning, our delegates and keynote listeners engaged in a world café-style session, led by four organisations and partnerships who shared their stories of what it takes to make community-led health on the ground.   Read more about this session.

Following the morning session, our listeners shared their initial reflections with delegates. Read a summary of their reflections.

Find out more about our afternoon conference workshops and download presentation slides.