This project develops how the commitments to public engagement in the Welsh Government’s A Healthier Wales plan can be best realised in practice. The question we’re helping to answer is: what role does public engagement play in achieving the outcomes stated in the plan?
Our approach involves a combination of evidence reviews and workshops. The evidence reviews synthesise best practice in communications and engagement to achieve the three main outcomes of engagement stated in A Healthier Wales. These are:
- the public contributing to improving the health and social care system;
- patients being actively involved in decisions about their care; and
- people taking responsibility for having healthy lifestyles.
We’ve partnered with the engagement charity Involve to facilitate a series of discussions with experts, Welsh Government officials and practitioners from the health and social care system, informed by our evidence reviews.
The theoretical basis of our work is the International Association of Public Participation’s Spectrum of Public Participation, which charts incremental levels of engagement starting with informing through consulting, involving, collaborating, and finally empowering. We combine this with looking at the scale on which engagement takes place; either nationally, regionally or at the level of individual public and healthcare professional interactions.
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