About us
Who are we?
The Community Health Team is made of up Community Health Workers who support people living in the North East, East End, Maryfield, Coldside, Lochee and Strathmartine wards to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to improve health and wellbeing at an individual, community and city-wide level. The team is funded by Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership & Dundee City Council's Community Learning and Development service.
Our approach
We use a community-led approach to improving health, which is a way for local people to work together to improve their area and increase the chances of positive health and wellbeing. Community-led health acknowledges that some people, and usually those who experience challenges in life with things like money, employment, health conditions and access to services, cannot achieve the same levels of good health as others. These differences are known as health inequalities and are unfair and avoidable. Community-led health helps to tackle these inequalities by bringing people together to take action on what matters to them.
Community-led health can also influence the way that public policies and services respond to health needs and inequalities at a local level, by helping people to organise effectively and get their voices heard. This approach is described in detail here.
The main components of this approach include:
- Local people identifying their own health needs and solutions
- Identifying areas of common concern and working together to tackle these
- Recognising and building on community assets, such as local buildings, parks and other amenities
- Working together as equals and making sure everyone is included
- Influencing and helping to improve public policies and services
How can we support you?
We provide support on various topics, such as:
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Keeping active
- Cooking and healthy eating
- Positive parenting
- Use of substances
We can support you to:
- Develop knowledge and skills for positive health
- Be more aware of support/activities in your community
- Understand what affects health and how to take action with others
- Set up and run new groups to improve health and wellbeing
If we can't help, we will always try our best to signpost you to someone who can.
Want to have a chat?
Get in touch if you want to find out more about community-led health and how to get involved. Find contact details for our team here or you can reach us via Facebook.
Are you a service provider?
You can contact us for advice and support on using community-led approaches in your area of work, or to find more about our training on poverty and and inequalities sensitive practice. We have an extensive network of local contacts if you are looking to signpost someone from your service into community based activities, and can also help if you wish to engage with local people on issues related to your service.