Improving well-being using community resourcefulness

Community resourcefulness is when we use the strengths within communities, including their knowledge, skills and relationships, to support each other in positive and practical ways.

Community resourcefulness pulls together different parts of the community to find solutions or give support.

It’s a person-centred way of working, where the person is involved in the way services or solutions are designed.

That means they get the right the support at the right level.

It’s also place-based, because by understanding what each person needs, we get to understand what the community needs.

We work this way because of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act (2014) and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act (2015), which say:

• people are at the heart of the system and they have an equal say in the support they receive
• services will work with people to design services and run with them
• services will try to make sure people get the right help at the right time
• public services and organisations in Wales should be supporting the seven well-being goals, which include:
  • a prosperous Wales
  • a resilient Wales
  • a Wales of cohesive communities
  • a healthier Wales.

When organisations work together, they can use community resourcefulness to support well-being. This is because community resourcefulness:

• helps communities get the right level of support, because organisations ask them what matters to them and what they need
• leads to sustainable and more successful solutions, because it includes people when designing services or solutions, and uses their strengths
• gives people and their communities ownership of the service or solution, so they feel more positive towards it and are more likely to promote it
• can give people the opportunity to learn new skills or gain experience in things that interest them and benefit the community
• leads to efficient ways of working, so communities are getting a joined-up solution or service.

Community resourcefulness is all about working with other organisations to improve well-being.

This includes organisations from different sectors, who work with different communities.

The Resourceful Communities Partnership is a national forum that focuses on community well-being.

The partnership meets monthly to bring together research and practice, and find ways to influence what’s happening locally, regionally and nationally.

It has a mix of statutory and third sector members. Any organisations in Wales that support and develop community resourcefulness and well-being can become a partner.

This framework is a guide to show organisations how to support community well-being.

It was designed by communities, and it’s based on what has worked for them.

It explains the principles for working with communities, and what to focus on.

Anyone can use it.

It’s a useful tool for Public Service Boards (PSBs) to support well-being assessments, and Regional Partnership Boards (RPBs) to complete population needs assessments.