Health 2020 priority area four: creating supportive environments and resilient communities: a compendium of inspirational examples

Publisher(s):

World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe

Publication year:

2018

Brings together innovative examples of actions taken in 13 countries to strengthen resilience and build supportive environments for population health and well-being. The examples show how building resilience can be achieved by developing and sustaining partnerships between institutions and communities; by community action and bottom-up efforts; at system level, both nationally and locally. The examples, primarily gathered from community initiatives, are linked to the four types of resilience capacities: adaptive, absorptive, anticipatory and transformative. Topics covered include the role of resilience building in addressing human rights, health inequities, environmental hazards, and health-related topics such as communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Examples from the UK include: Promoting social connections and community networks for older people through Better in Sheffield; Supporting local systems to tackle the social determinants of health inequalities; Strengthening resilience through the early intervention and prevention: breaking the generational cycle of crime project; and A social movement for health and resilience in Blackburn with Darwen. Each example attempts to describe: the action undertaken; the resilience-related issue that the action aimed to address; and the impact and lessons learnt in the process of strengthening resilience. (Edited publisher abstract)