Community Connectors

Community Connectors are part of Derby’s approach to addressing health inequalities, partly funded by the NHS Core20+5 and the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Vaccine Champions programmes.

A Community Connector is somebody who cares about their community and those who live there. They are people who are, or want to be, active in their community to improve health and wellbeing. They have lived experience that will help them to do this and are interested in learning new skills. Connectors are volunteers who are happy to support local events and activities which aim to promote health and wellbeing.

Community Connectors understand that health and wellbeing is affected by many things (such as housing, employment, education, ethnicity) and so people’s experience of health and wellbeing is not equal.

What do Community Connectors do?

Take part in training to gain knowledge and learn new skills
Promote health and wellbeing messages to local people, groups and organisations
Signpost people to local groups and support services around health and wellbeing
Organise, support or lead activities that provide people with the skills and knowledge to live healthier lives
Talk to local healthcare service providers about their experiences and how things can be improved
Help design new health programmes and initiatives
Link with and support other Community Connectors in their area

I want to be a Connector!

Meet our Community Connectors!

Janet Tristram, St James Centre

As a Community Connector, what health and wellbeing issues will you be addressing within your community?

St James is addressing 2 health issues:

Lack of take up of the Annual Health Check by young people aged over 14 years and adults who have learning disabilities.
The barriers for people from Roma and Eastern European Communities to obtain health care by, for example having their blood pressure taken, learning more about health conditions etc.

What barriers have members of your community traditionally faced when engaging with providers of health and wellbeing services?

People with a learning disability have a reduced life expectancy of almost 18 years less than non-disabled people, because they are less able to engage with health professionals and understand their symptoms or the health care system.
Eastern European/Roma communities struggle with a lack of English, not understanding the health care system, less able to use computer systems or have the equipment or internet, low levels of health education and preventative care. Many of them live in more disadvantaged areas such as Normanton, which has 12 years less life expectancy than more affluent areas.

As a Community Connector, what impact do you hope to have on health and wellbeing outcomes in your community?

We aim to raise awareness and the take up of the Annual Health Check and Action Plan by people with a learning disability to improve their health and life expectancy.
We will try and enable people form Eastern European/Roma communities access the health care they need. We will highlight barriers in the system and suggest ways to overcome them.

Why do you think that the DHIP model (co-production/lived experiences/community-partnership approach) can respond to the challenges as opposed to traditional approaches?

You have to work with communities where they really are, not where you imagine them to be, and then build from the bottom up not the top down!
We need to ensure that people who have greater challenges in accessing and benefitting from health care are the ones who are best supported. Transforming the quote “Everyone is equal, but some (need to be) more equal than others!” George Orwell, Animal Farm

Lauren Nicole Whitter, Anansi Theatre Company

As a Community Connector, what health and wellbeing issues will you be addressing within your community?

We will be addressing the health issue of mental health and severe mental health.

What barriers have members of your community traditionally faced when engaging with providers of health and wellbeing services?

There is a large proportion of women of colour who feel unheard and not taken seriously with matters of mental health. As a community in general mental health is usually stigmatized, especially seeking help such as getting medication or using talking therapies.

As a Community Connector, what impact do you hope to have on health and wellbeing outcomes in your community?

I hope that we can create more open conversations around mental health, destigmatizing mental health and understanding that it is okay to seek help for these issues. I hope that our community will do more to look after their mental health also.

Why do you think that the DHIP model (co-production/lived experiences/community-partnership approach) can respond to the challenges as opposed to traditional approaches?
I believe that representation is extremely important. It means that our community can see people who are similar to them, face similar issues and also similar barriers. We can also support each other better, sharing what has worked and what doesn’t, how to tackle challenges and also celebrate the wins!

Misba Khan, Evergreen Collective

As a Community Connector, what health and wellbeing issues will you be addressing within your community?

Evergreen is a charity that supports and encourages more Muslim females to be active and health conscious with a special interest in the impact this may have on their mental and spiritual health.

What barriers have members of your community traditionally faced when engaging with providers of health and wellbeing services?

Activities and programmes have previously been dismissed and not attending by the Muslim female community in Derby and nationally, because the community has felt that the cultural and religious needs of the community have not been considered and accommodated for.

As a Community Connector, what impact do you hope to have on health and wellbeing outcomes in your community?

My role involves working with other individuals from the community and organisations to organise and offer services that may be of interest and benefit to the Muslim female community.

Why do you think that the DHIP model (co-production/lived experiences/community-partnership approach) can respond to the challenges as opposed to traditional approaches?

Evergreen provides an alternative to traditional approaches as we encourage females from the community to take the lead in their areas of passions and interests, with a hope and desire to increase female (and more specifically Muslim female) representation.