The health and wellbeing of people is linked with the economic status of the country. This book presents The Social Determinants of Health Rainbow Model (Dahlgren and Whitehead 1993) perspective on local authorities and their changing approaches to procurement and commissioning. While this model of health and wellbeing, promoted by the World Health Organisation, has influenced the development of health systems globally, only recently has local government begun to adopt this approach in integrated planning. Centralisation, delegation, devolution and privatisation have been adopted by successive governments in addressing growing demands across the health and social care system.
And if we think about the future of partnering and overcoming the considerable culture differences that exist between public, private and voluntary sectors then we must address the need to forge stronger relationships before entering into contractual commitment. A procurement regime that does not provide sufficient opportunity to build trust and transparency between the potential partners at the outset risks a stiff inflexible relationship driven by contractual specification and tendering assumptions obtained during a beauty parade style selection process.
This book will hopefully promote debates at national and local levels and provide a number of research questions leading to evidence based policy. A number of contributors to this book have been engaged in establishing The Centre for Partnering (“CfP”) as an entity seeking to work with a number of universities across the UK. With this cross disciplinary approach and collaborating with private and third sectors, a more informed approach to working with communities will benefit from a greater understanding and application of socio economic and political determinants of health.
Further information: Local Authorities and the Social Determinants of Health
The book is a successor to Social Determinants of Health: Social Inequality and Wellbeing, edited by Professor Adrian Bonner, Policy Press/Bristol University Press, 2017.