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 ward 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 difficult life circumstances, cannot attain 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’s important 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 core 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 transform public policies and services
How can we support you?
We provide a wide range of support and our team is experienced in community-led approaches in various topic areas, including:
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Substance use
- Keeping active
- Food, nutrition and healthy eating
Some of the things we can support you with include:
- Developing knowledge and skills to look after your health and wellbeing
- Increasing your awareness of support/activities available in your community
- Understanding wider factors that affect your health and taking action to address these
- Developing a new project/group 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 you can get involved in your local area. You will find contact details for our team here or you can reach us via Facebook.
Are you a service provider?
You can contact us also for advice and support on using community-led approaches in your work to improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. We have an extensive network of local contacts if you are looking to engage with local communities on particular issues.