Hilda Campbell believes its time we stood up and took responsibility for creating a society where everyone has an equal right to good health
Health inequalities provide us with one of our most significant challenges as a society. Since October 2013 our organisation, COPE Scotland, alongside the Glasgow Homelessness Network, has supported three flash poverty surveys analysing responses from local people.
People shared their experiences of inequality and what that meant for them, their families and their lives.
The results of the surveys are stark. We heard from people across the west of Glasgow who have been forced to cut back on leisure, entertainment and getting together with friends and family and as a result they felt angry, embarrassed and that they lacked control over their own lives. Many people reported that this had a significant impact on their mental health. A third of people in one survey shared they had no one to talk to or rely on, and 27% shared they didn’t feel they had good health or health care, or anything in their life that made them feel happy.
We are not responsible for the world we are born into; we are responsible for the world we leave, what will be our legacy for the future?
Hilda Campbell
At COPE we provide support to people living in west Glasgow who have experienced suicidal feelings, depression, substance abuse and domestic violence among other issues. We never turn anyone away, acting as a community anchor and safety net – if we can’t help someone then we will find someone who can.
We are a community-led initiative committed to the principles of co-production and co design. We believe we need to tap into the experience of communities who have lived experience of inequalities to find ways to work together in a spirit of mutual respect and support to find the answer to addressing health inequalities which can inform and support national and local responses.
We know the inequalities existing in Scottish society need to be addressed, and working together with communities things can change for the better, but it needs support from all levels. We must work together in a connected way in order to enable people and families to overcome or manage the additional challenges of inequality on people’s lives which unaddressed can result in unnecessary distress, poor health and a lack of wellbeing. Our partnerships with organisations including the Health and Social Care Alliance, the Royal College of Nursing and the Queens Nursing Institute Scotland prove cross-sector commitments to work together with communities across Scotland can make a difference.
The inequalities which exist in Scotland are unacceptable, and now is the time for real change. As we formulate responses, we must continue to take our inspirations from heroes of the past. People like Florence Nightingale, who sought to take on the prevailing system, challenge it and transform it. We can’t back down from supporting people to live well, whilst exploring new ways to work with communities to help prevent ill health and improve health and wellbeing for people and their families.
We are not responsible for the world we are born into; we are responsible for the world we leave, what will be our legacy for the future?
Hilda Campbell is chief executive of COPE Scotland.
This article was written as the forward to The Right To Health: Health Inequalities in Scotland, a new think piece published by the Health and Social Care Academy
