Case study
Community-led health checks in Bradford
Working in collaboration with the Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Academy , Bradford Institute for Health Research and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , we funded the extension of a project to take health checks into the community , including local faith settings and community hubs . The health checks are essential to help identify undiagnosed hypertension , diabetes and cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) amongst underserved communities , improving accessibility .
To date the project has assessed 423 patients , of these 153 have been detected with high blood pressure .
Nominated for a health inequalities HSJ award , the project is going from strength to strength , now crossing into other clinical priority areas such as cancer and hepatitis C . Organisations involved in this project have created strong connections with charities such as European Drum to encourage the participation of Roma populations at events , exploring ways to effectively engage these groups through targeted communication strategies and language-specific materials to raise awareness of CVD . This initiative is also supporting pharmacy students to fulfil their training requirements through interesting placements to bolster clinical capacity . Future plans include the development of an implementation toolkit that will be a useful resource for those who want to replicate this model in their region .
“
During a local community health check event that my friends had organised , I received a diagnosis of hypertension … This incident was a wake-up call that prompted me to make serious lifestyle changes , especially for the sake of my three young children .”
Community member
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