People living in some of Cornwall’s most deprived communities can face significant barriers to accessing health and care services, despite often experiencing the greatest burden of ill health.
The Community Health and Wellbeing Worker (CHWW) model takes a proactive approach. Originally developed in Brazil and first trialled in London, it trains and employs local people to work directly with communities, reaching residents who are often excluded from the health system and connecting them with the support they need.
The CHWW model was introduced in Cornwall as a pilot, with PenARC evaluating how the new approach worked in practice and what was needed to make it successful. The evaluation provided important learning about implementation, including the value of strong relationships between primary care, voluntary sector organisations and local communities. The promising early results contributed to the decision to expand the service across Cornwall.
What began as a small pilot has now grown to 55 Community Health and Wellbeing Workers across 12 organisations, with PenARC leading the evaluation of the expanded service. CHWWs provide proactive, preventative support within their communities, helping residents to access health and care services as well as wider support for issues such as mental health, loneliness, housing and financial difficulties.
PenARC is now evaluating the expanded service to understand what makes the CHWW model work across different communities, how it can be effectively supported and the value it provides to residents, staff and the wider health and care system.
The research comes at an important time, as rapid changes to organisational structures and staffing, including within Integrated Care Boards, alongside funding pressures on provider organisations, create challenges for community-based services. Strong relationships built through years of partnership working will be central to maintaining the service and ensuring the evaluation continues to provide useful evidence. The research will help build the evidence needed to understand how community health and wellbeing workers can reduce inequalities by bringing preventative support closer to the people and communities who need it most.