The ReCITE project is delighted to announce the outcome from their recent funding call out, resulting in collaborations with seven Community Innovation Teams (CITs) across Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley.
ReCITE, funded by AHRC and led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, seeks to use the power of storytelling to address misinformation and build trust in relation to health prevention measures within local communities.
This initiative builds on from LSTM’s previous work with the Health Equity Liverpool Project (HELP), which recently resulted in a HSJ award nomination. By leveraging learnings from Kenya, the project established Community Innovation Teams in Liverpool and empowered them to use local data to identify problems, develop local solutions and produce creative outputs.
Under ReCITE each CIT will be awarded £10,000 to put towards working on their chosen health equity focus, aligning with ReCITE’s three themes: cancer screening, immunisations, and social and mental wellbeing. Each CIT will also have access to an Artist’s Response Fund, managed by one of ReCITE’s lead partners, Writing on the Wall. This fund allows CITs to partner with local artists and creatives in the region to develop innovative and imaginative ways to amplify messaging around their health inequity issues.
Introducing our seven CITs:
Cancer Screening
CIT 1 – Led by One Knowsley and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council will work with adult ever smokers aged 55-74 in Knowsley, England’s 2nd most deprived borough with a lung cancer incidence nearly double the national average. The CIT aims to increase NHS Targeted Lung Health Checks and ultimately improve respiratory health outcomes.
CIT 2 – Led by Anfield and Everton PCN (AEPCN) will work with ever smokers aged 55-74 within the geographical area of the PCN which contains some of the most deprived areas of the UK. The CIT aims to increase uptake of low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer which includes smoking cessation advice.
Immunisation
CIT 3 – Led by Explore Partnership CIC will lead on addressing issues around low MMR vaccination rates in Knowsley Central and South PCN. The CIT aims to improve MMR 1 and 2 immunisation uptake rates in Knowsley Central and South Primary Care Network which are below the national average, low uptake practices correlate with deprivation.
CIT 4 – Led by Liverpool Lighthouse will work with pregnant refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants in the Liverpool City Region to look at ways to improve take up of the Pertussis (Whooping cough) and RSV vaccines, knowing that pregnant refugees and asylum seekers in Liverpool have more than 20% lower percentage of Pertussis vaccine uptake compared to wider Liverpool populations.
Mental Health and Social Wellbeing
CIT 5 – Led by The Rotunda Ltd will focus on using their experience, networks and insight to amplify awareness of suicide. The CIT will implement creative, community-based suicide reduction strategies for those at risk, informed by the latest data. Everton and Vauxhall are two of the three Liverpool wards with the highest suicide rates; both experience high levels of deprivation.
CIT 6 – Led by Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust (LUHFT), the team will work with a writer in residence at Aintree Hospital to listen to and capture the stories of High Intensity Users to better understand their unmet needs and find ways to ensure they receive the right support.
CIT 7 – Led by Sefton Council for Voluntary Service (SCVS), the team will develop creative messaging around diagnosis and support for people with Early Onset dementia, to generate a community narrative that supports increased early diagnosis of dementia and strengthens available support post diagnosis.
If you are interested in linking up with any of the CITs, or want to learn more about the different ways you can get involved in ReCITE including our What’s Your Story project, Advocacy Networks or Creative Health Market Places, please contact ReCITEProject@lstmed.ac.uk