As part of our population health management and health inequalities training offer, NHS Dorset has co-designed an innovative health inequalities engagement tool in the form of an interactive board game. This tool encourages healthcare and other professionals to explore the impact of all the determinants of health on health outcomes. The approach considers the needs of a wide variety of population groups, including people who share protected characteristics, inclusion health groups and those who experience the impact of factors such as deprivation. By immersing players in real-world scenarios, the game promotes a deeper understanding of how systemic factors can affect individual health outcomes.

A photograph of members of the public playing ‘Turning The Tide’ – NHS Dorset’s Health Inequalities Engagement Tool

Through the co-design of the game we have managed to cover a broad spectrum of factors which can contribute to a person experiencing health inequalities, including:

  • Older people/young people

  • Physical disability

  • Mental health

  • Gender reassigned

  • Global majority groups

  • Religion

  • Rural/urban

  • Carer

  • Asylum seeker/refugee

  • Sensory/cognitive impairment

  • Long-term conditions

  • Drug/alcohol addiction

  • Domestic abuse

  • Homelessness

Played by over 700 professionals to date, this tool has received highly positive feedback for its engaging and thought-provoking approach. Demand continues to grow as we aim to support more of our workforce in building an inclusive healthcare system that addresses the root causes of health inequalities in our communities.

Work is underway to develop a new, co-designed children and young people-focused version of the game, by which we hope to highlight the impact of health inequalities on Dorset’s younger population.