Lifestyles management and community engagement in scoping a “health café”

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to underpin a scoping study commissioned by community leaders to assess the potential for creating a “health café” in the centre of Boston, in eastern England, UK, to facilitate healthier lifestyles. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods and framework analytic approach was adopted, using documentary, focus group, interview and survey data. The paper drew on social marketing principles to enhance the community relevance of findings. Findings – Community stakeholders and public were generally supportive of a “health café” facility in the town centre. Accessibility and a welcoming environment were seen as key factors. A wide range of health-related services in addition to providing healthy foods were proposed. Key issues identified were: a wider role of the facility as a community “health hub”; appropriate marketing approaches; food provision issues and sustainability. All groups contacted saw the word “health” as off-putting. Research limitations/implications – As with many commissioned scoping studies, the timetable for delivery was very short, just three months, significantly influencing the choices of methodological approaches taken up. This made it important to provide a multi-disciplinary multi-methods design to enhance triangulation and a research team with extensive community research experience including previous research in this region. It was also important to specify and locate any knowledge claims from the findings. Practical implications – The research helped engage community stakeholders to tap a diversity of views which could be adopted by community leaders into their ongoing health strategies and development plans for a “health hub” for Boston. Originality/value – The paper provides important information for those embarking on community health education projects and particularly in how to tailor health research methods to real-world timescales and stakeholder perspectives. Insights are also provided into community attitudes, understandings and behaviours towards healthy living in a part of the UK with a well-documented history of poor health.