Flourishing People, Families and Communities

This chapter focuses on the principles and methods practice developers can use in a range of different contexts to facilitate people, families and communities to become more involved in the planning, design, governance and delivery of health and social care services. It explores the value of community engagement and development approaches, linking these with practice development (PD) principles. Community development as an approach to change has a set of core values and principles. It promotes social inclusion through an active process of people participation or active citizenship. The chapter discusses that two case studies demonstrate how participatory research methods can help to shape services that meet family and community needs at local and international levels to promote community flourishing. These case studies include: Family involvement in practice improvement through action research in a hospital setting, and enabling flourishing of people in healthcare settings through measurable indicators.