Latest news
Simon recently did a book talk with Rossiter Books at St Mary's Church, Ross-on-Wye: there's a recording of the talk here.
You can watch a discussion about community development in the town with Ross CDT here.
Simon was a guest for episode 100 of the Survival of the Kindest podcast with Julian Abel, talking about community health.
'Creating Community Health: Interventions for Sustainable Healthcare' by Simon Lennane is published by Routledge.
This important book explores how community-based interventions can bridge the gap between health services and the voluntary sector to create more sustainable, healthy communities.
Moving beyond a technologically driven, medicalised approach to healthcare, the book shows how social prescribing can provide a direct pathway to improving community health, embracing connection and challenging inequality. Written by a practicing GP, and illustrated through practical guidance, it demonstrates how this can offer a cost-effective, preventative means to improving health outcomes, enabling communities to be more resilient when confronting major issues such as climate change or pandemics.
Building to a case study of how these methods were used in one town, Ross-on-Wye, the book will be invaluable reading for those working in healthcare, public health, local authorities, and the voluntary sector, as well as students and researchers interested in these areas.
If you are interested in writing a review, click here to apply for a free review copy or get in touch.
Creating Community Health examines the threads that knit to form communities. The book covers the sociology of communities, what health is and what affects it, NHS structures, the introduction of social prescribing and the evidence for community interventions. The responses to the Covid pandemic have illustrated the primacy of community, while the impacts of exceeding planetary boundaries will increasingly dominate health outcomes. Local responses are more agile, able to provide sustainable structures and respond quickly to the challenges that are to come. More resilient communities are also more health-creating.
The book covers and connects a wide range of fields and approaches across statutory and third sectors. It is relevant to councillors and counsellors, those working across healthcare, clinicians, social prescribing link workers and those in the voluntary and community sector looking to build bridges with health services. The research collects the evidence for community development, acting as a resource for commissioners and providers alike. Examples are given from the town of Ross-on-Wye, which is improving health locally by developing community.
Reviews
"Social prescribing is critical to addressing the health of all patients. Traditional medicine covers at best 20% of their needs, and has significant side effects and risks. This book explores how developing communities facilitates lifestyle changes to improve population health."
-Sir Sam Everington, GP, Bromley By Bow Centre.
"Simon Lennane’s book is a treasury of resources of the profound effect of community building on healthcare and beyond, to the future of our planet. The magic of communities has the potential to transform our world and Creating Community Health shows how this can be done."
-Dr Julian Abel, Director of Compassionate Communities UK and co-author of 'The Compassion Project'.
"A fantastic aggregation of evidence and ideas, woven into a compelling narrative"
-Dr Ollie Hart, PCN Clinical Director, Peak Health Coaching
Dr Simon Lennane has been a GP in Ross-on-Wye for twenty years. Simon was Clinical Director of the local Primary Care Network during the pandemic, responsible for urgent care and vaccination clinics, and was also clinical lead for mental health commissioning. Simon published research into ethnicity and deaths of healthcare workers from COVID-19. He has long been involved with community development in the town, and was a founder trustee of Ross Community Development Trust, which supports the local voluntary sector.
This site contains further resources to accompany the book. Links to the references, notes and updates are given by chapter.
