Over 100 colleagues working in health and care from across Bradford District and Craven came together on Tuesday 27 June for a workshop focusing on how we can take ownership of actions to reduce inequalities.
The Inequalities Action Workshop was hosted by Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership’s Reducing Inequalities Alliance and featured personal stories from senior leaders on what inequalities meant to them. It was then over to the workshop attendees to shape the agenda using an ‘open space’ process.
Open space is used to get people to self-organise themselves around topics chosen on the day by people attending an event. Once the topics are agreed people attend the discussions that they want to participate in and use collective thinking to share ideas and pool knowledge. The process is designed to be highly participatory, inclusive and collaborative. This guide from Involve gives you more information about running an open space event.
The energy and enthusiasm in the room resulted in people leading conversations on 30 topics, ranging from oral health in children, the role of social class, to culturally tailored maternity services. Attendees were then asked to share the actions they would take as a group and immediate next steps.
So, what will happen next? The role of the Reducing Inequalities Alliance is to support and coordinate the collective action to reduce inequalities in the district and will support attendees to deliver their inequalities actions.
In addition to the work we must do together as a system, the event signposted colleagues to the “My role in tackling inequalities” framework from the Kings Fund, which encourages people to think about the role they can take individually to reduce inequalities.
Dr Sohail Abbas, director – Reducing Inequalities Alliance, Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership said: “Reducing inequalities is a big and complex problem, but every person can play an important role. We wanted colleagues and partners at the event to use the afternoon to take action to reduce inequalities based on what we see and hear every day across Bradford District and Craven.
“The success of the Alliance will depend on its ability to harness the power of people across our place and our local community assets. People who are committed to reducing inequalities in their work and life and who have joined us at this important event. We are looking forward to working together in a way that continues the districts position as a national leader in reducing inequalities.”
You can learn more about the Alliance on the partnership website.
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