TY - JOUR T1 - Social action for health gain: the potential of community development JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 97 LP - 98 DO - 10.3399/bjgp15X683641 VL - 65 IS - 631 AU - Brian Fisher AU - Gabriel Chanan Y1 - 2015/02/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/65/631/97.abstract N2 - Community engagement is mission critical for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and practices that need to understand and respond to the communities they serve. The NHS can find this difficult. Community development (CD) may help and has a long history with recent evidence of contributions to health gain.CD enables people to organise and to identify shared needs and aspirations, improve lives through joint activity, address imbalances in power, bring about change founded on social justice, equality, and inclusion,1 and influence the agencies whose decisions affect their lives. An ‘asset-based’ strand builds on positives; leaders, skills, and the strengths of individuals and communities, rather than need: ‘build on the strong not on the wrong’.CD is best carried out by specialist workers, but existing NHS staff can also be trained to do it. CD is usually geographically-based, but can address communities of interest, for instance, people with diabetes, or with disabilities.2In 1995, a 7-step process was developed and repeated elsewhere over a number of years. Beginning with involving residents in community meetings, it usually leads to a resident-led partnership between active residents and public services, which develops an increasing range of community activity, and influences services. This is one of many techniques: CD is a ‘broad church’.The Marmot Review sees community empowerment as key to tackling health inequalities3 through strengthening social networks — the connections we have with other people — friends, relations, acquaintances, colleagues. Areas with stronger social … ER -