Leeds Beckett report finds 'community champions' could help with lasting impact of Covid

A study by Leeds Beckett University and Public Health England (PHE) looked at how active community members are shaping good public health with their local knowledge and skills.

The report was put together by a team from the Centre for Health Promotion Research.

It found that championing active community members, who draw on their life experience to promote health and wellbeing where they live or work, can help to reduce health inequalities.

In her national advisory role with Public Health England, Professor Jane South has been leading research into the essential role of community champions.

The work is timely as the nation begins to recover from the lasting impact of Covid, Professor South explained.

She said: “This is an important review and we have worked closely with Public Health England to pull together the most relevant evidence on community champion approaches.

"We hope that our findings will be applied to meet the current challenges of the pandemic and longer term, to help communities recover from the wider impacts."

Earlier this year, Leeds City Council successfully launched an initiative to boost the numbers of community champions, particularly in areas and communities most affected by the pandemic.

The report summarises the best available evidence from previous UK champion programmes like this, which focus on health improvement, and from international studies of champion-type roles in communicable disease control.

It discusses implications for practice, including for the pandemic response and recovery.

Professor South added: "Good public health needs to be rooted in communities and this review provides some of that evidence.”

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