Community engagement approaches to improve health: a cross-case study analysis of barriers and facilitators in UK practice
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Abstract
Background: Interventions that engage communities have been shown to improve health and wellbeing in disadvantaged groups internationally, but there is little evidence on current community-led practice, particularly in relation to the process of community engagement. This paper presents a qualitative cross-case analysis of barriers & facilitators in six UK community engagement projects, using different models of community engagement. Methods: The primary sampling criteria was the type of approach to community engagement, using a conceptual framework with four main groups: Strengthening communities; Volunteer and peer roles; Collaborations and partnerships; Connecting to community resources. Qualitative interview-based methods (semi-structured interviews and focus groups) explored community and professional perspectives in depth. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, building within-case studies before comparing findings and using an iterative process to build explanations in a cross-case analysis. Results: Fifty-five people (28 community stakeholders and 27 professional stakeholders) from six selected case study projects took part in the research. Key themes related to successful community engagement were: trust within the community and between community members and service providers; respect for community members’ expertise; allowing sufficient time for relationships to establish and for outcomes to be seen; commitment of key people; and flexibility. Conclusions: This qualitative case study research found that in successful community engagement projects, community expertise is respected and valued, allowing community members to be fully involved and take ownership of the projects. Sufficient time should be allowed for this process. Flexibility and adaptation of project materials, protocols and role descriptions is important in overcoming barriers to community engagement.
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Lowers, V., Stanley, M., Hennessy, J., Morgan, E., Horsley, R., Vithlani, J., & Harris, R. V. (2026) · Research involvement and engagement · doi:10.1186/s40900-026-00857-w
- Authors
- Bagnall, A.-M., South, J., Kinsella, K., Trigwell, J., Sheridan, K., & Harden, A.
- Affiliations
- Leeds Beckett University (GB)
- University of East London (GB)
- City, University of London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Bagnall, Anne-Marie
- Venue
- BMC Public Health
- Published
- 2025-02-24
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 747-747
- ISSN
- 1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11849216
- OpenAlex
- W4407882493
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 13.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Leeds Beckett Repository (Leeds Beckett University) (acceptedVersion)
- City Research Online (City University London) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE871)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Community Health and Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Public Health Policies and Education
- Social Sciences › Education › Service-Learning and Community Engagement
- Keywords
- community participation, barriers and facilitators, community trust, community expertise, community partnerships, community resources, community well-being, disadvantaged groups, project flexibility, community ownership
- MeSH terms
- Community Participation, United Kingdom, Health Promotion, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Focus Groups, Organizational Case Studies, Qualitative Research
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