This is the first in a series of blogs about the VCSE sector and Population Health in Greater Manchester. In it, Emma, Strategic Lead for Population Health at 10GM, looks back at three examples of projects from the last year that brought people and organisations together to find innovative ways of tackling health inequalities.

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VCSE Groups and Primary Care Networks Working Together

In 2023 five ‘test and learn’ partnerships explored ways of working better together to support the health and wellbeing of their local communities, focusing on those who were least likely to be getting the care they needed through their GP.

Some of the partnerships explored increasing access by bringing services that you would normally find in your local GP practice into a community space, like a community centre or local cafe.

Others looked at improving the experience by providing safe spaces to talk about health concerns and get advice and support. They encouraged people to open up through more creative activities, such as holding a cultural dance class followed by a group chat with a nurse on health topics chosen by the women attending the group.

I love this quote from Senait*, who took part in the sessions run by Afrocats, CAHN, and Ardwick and Longsight PCN:

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‘Before Afrocats we just sit around at home doing nothing, now we come to the group, we have fun, have different friends from different countries. I now know how I can get free vitamin D which I didn’t know about before. In the group, we can practice speaking English, and dance as well. The best thing about attending this group is receiving vitamin D because before I was very tired, with no energy now I am taking Vitamin D I don’t feel as tired as before.’
– Senait*
*name changed

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The Power of Data

When we talk about data we mean a lot more than numbers data might be case studies, pictures, videos, maps, conversations, basically all of the information that is generated and held by organisations! We know that data is an essential part of understanding our communities and what is important to people, as well as our campaigning and influencing work but right now there are gaps in data and a lack of capacity to gather insight due to historic underfunding.

Over the last seven months, over 300 people from the VCSE sector and wider health system have taken part in a project which aimed to understand how data and insight collected by VCSE organisations is being used. The aim is to understand more about

our local populations and what helps people live well in their local community, then we can make better decisions about developing projects and how money should be spent. We have published our findings in a report, and are looking at ways to implement the recommendations in it, so that we can all produce, access and use comprehensive and accessible data and insight.

Key themes identified were the ways that we share the data we collect, and show the positive impact our work has on people’s lives.

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Fairer Health for All Stories of Change

Last year, six local partnerships created video stories of their work in action. Each of these stories focuses on how people have come together to strengthen communities, help people stay well and look at the underlying causes of ill-health. You can watch each of the videos here. Improving the health and wellbeing of our communities in Greater Manchester will not happen without everyone working together as a ‘whole system’.

These examples provide just a small flavour of our Population Health Accord work. Look out for our future blogs where we will be looking forward, and sharing our thoughts on our big priorities for the next year. 

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Population Health is a delivery theme under the Greater Manchester VCSE Accord Agreement. The Accord is a three-way collaboration agreement between the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, and the GM Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector. Its purpose is to further develop how we work together to improve outcomes for Greater Manchester’s communities and citizens

If you’d like any more information about any of the projects mentioned above or the Accord, please get in touch at [email protected].

You can also find out more via the 10GM and GM VCSE Leadership Group websites.

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Find out more about our Population Health work