Building a Well Communities Research Consortium to address health disparities through Integrated Care Systems

Health inequalities in the UK linked to income, race and ethnicity, language and culture, place of residence, occupation, age, gender, and disability are continuing to widen. The COVID-19 pandemic has further deepened these disparities, disproportionately affecting ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, and frontline workers. With an estimated cost to the NHS of £4.8 billion annually, addressing these inequalities is an urgent priority. Community assets such as local groups, arts and culture, and green and blue spaces (e.g. parks, rivers) are associated with wide-ranging health benefits and offer significant potential for tackling health inequalities.

However, there are persistent challenges in scaling and embedding these approaches. This nine-month project aimed to build the Well Communities Research Consortium a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral partnership to explore how community and asset-based approaches can be scaled up, spread, and embedded within new Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) both in London and beyond.

The Well Communities Research Consortium successfully brought together academic experts, people with lived experience, community organisations, and health and care professionals to work across two contrasting health and care systems: North East London and Northamptonshire. Using a co-produced methodology known as CSEAD (Community and Stakeholder Engagement, Asset and Systems Mapping & Co-Design), the project worked in two highly deprived neighbourhoods: Old Ford (NEL) and Kings Heath (Northamptonshire). The project identified how community assets contribute to health and wellbeing, while also uncovering significant barriers to access and use such as ownership of space, inclusivity, and opportunities for connection. Participatory asset maps were created for each area, alongside a working blueprint and theory of change outlining a collaborative model for mobilising community assets to reduce health inequalities. This blueprint provides a framework for action at community, organisational, and system levels, positioning deprived neighbourhoods as focal points for targeted investment and collaborative change aligned with ICS plans.

The project has already had a tangible influence on the work of Integrated Care Systems, particularly in Tower Hamlets. There, the Consortium’s blueprint has directly shaped a major new ICS investment of £600,000 through the Communities Keeping Well programme, focused on preventing long-term conditions and addressing health inequalities. This programme is being delivered in pockets of deprivation, including Old Ford, where the Consortium’s work will continue to be built upon. Furthermore, the system mapping process led to a new partnership between Tower Hamlets Public Health, Clarion Housing, and the Community Safety Team to address housing-related issues raised during community engagement. These early impacts highlight how place-based, co-produced approaches can drive systems-level change and offer a scalable model for embedding community assets into health inequality strategies across ICSs.

Royal College of Music

University of Northampton

City St George's, University of London

Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire

Tower Hamlets CVS

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board

North East London Integrated Care Board

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)

Greater London Authority

North and West Northamptonshire Councils,

Walls on Walls