Efforts to improve health and wellbeing in Tayside could benefit from a project pioneered in Cornwall.
NHS Tayside has held a masterclass on Connecting Communities, which started as an attempt to help people living in a disadvantaged part of Falmouth.
Health visitor Heather Stutely, who spoke about her work at the Ninewells Hospital event, was part of a team that tried to get NHS and other agencies to work more closely together and take more account of the needs and wishes of residents.
The long-term result has been health improvements such as drops in teenage pregnancies, post-natal depression and teenage asthma, but also rises in employment and educational attainment and a fall in crime.
Mrs Stutely and her colleague Dr Jonathan Stead, both from Exeter’s Peninsula Medical School, have developed Connecting Communities to aid others in repeating their success.
The Tayside masterclass was attended by staff from local community health and planning partnerships along with Scottish Government officials.
NHS Tayside chairman Sandy Watson said, “In the public sector we provide services for people, but by doing that we effectively create a culture of dependency.
“We need to build a real partnership with the users of our services, starting by going out to where people are.
“That is the way forward for us working with communities.
“Here in Tayside we are committed to reaching out and making the difference to people in our communities and today’s stories are sure to inspire us further on that journey.”