Taking Action
Marmot Places
A Marmot Place recognises that health and health inequalities are mostly shaped by the social determinants of health (SDH): the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and takes action to improve health and reduce health inequalities.
The UCL Institute of Health Equity works with places to reduce inequalities in health by:
- Assessing the extent of inequalities in health and the social determinants of health locally, reviewing actions already happening and scoping the local context.
- Identifying where places can go further to reduce inequalities and spot where there are gaps in existing actions.
- Evaluating how partners within a place can work together more effectively to achieve greater impact and make the needed changes; even in the challenging financial and resource context.
- Strengthening the health equity system in a place.
- Implementing new approaches and interventions to tackle health inequalities and inequalities in the social determinants of health.
The recommended actions, covering the main social determinants of health in places are developed in the following areas (known as the ‘Marmot Eight’ principles):
- Give every child the best start in life.
- Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives.
- Create fair employment and good work for all.
- Ensure a healthy standard of living for all.
- Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities.
- Strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention.
- Tackle racism, discrimination and their outcomes.
- Pursue environmental sustainability and health equity together.
Based on these eight principles, Marmot Places develop and deliver interventions and policies to improve health equity; embed health equity approaches in local systems and take a long-term, whole-system approach to improving health equity.
Places commit to improve health equity over the short, medium and long term by:
- Developing and delivering approaches, interventions and policies to improve health equity.
- Strengthening their health equity systems.
- Involving communities in the identification of the drivers of poor health and in the design and implementation of actions to reduce them.
- Broadening advocacy on health equity and engaging with other Marmot Places to share knowledge, roll out best practice alongside partners in local regions and nationally.
News Coverage
28/03/24