Dramatic social change has been driven time and again by people coming together in social movements to fight for their rights, solve problems, shift how people think, support each other and demand what they need.

This can be seen in health, where there are incredible stories of the power of passionate people working together to drive change, not just in the healthcare system, but in the wider culture and environment in which health and healthcare happen.

What are we doing?

We believe there is untapped potential to combine the energy and dynamism of social movements with the need for radical institutional change. This creative tension between people and institutions lies at the heart of our work on People Powered Health.

Nesta is exploring social movements as mechanisms of change, especially in issues which are under-resourced, under-developed or marginalised. We are also exploring how funding organisations can support the growth and impact of social movements.

What have we done so far?

In November 2018, we launched a new programme, Social Movements for Health, in partnership with Dunhill Medical Trust. We are looking to support emerging social movements to grow their influence and impact on health and care. The programme will offer tailored funding, movement-building opportunities and connection to a community of social movement peers.

Nesta contributed to the Health as a Social Movement programme, an NHS England programme to support social movements in health and care. Through this programme we worked with the New Economics Foundation, the RSA and six new care model Vanguards.

In September 2016, we published, Health as a Social Movement: The Power of People in Movements which explored the potential of social movements to improve people’s experience of health and the systems which shape it. The report identifies seven ways movements impact health and care and illustrates the transformative potential of movements through over 20 national, international and historical examples.

In November 2017, we published We change the world: What can we learn from global social movements for health?, which presented actionable ways to grow social movements based on the practical experience of people representing four global social movements, HIV/AIDS, global mental health, rare disease and disability rights.

We have also worked alongside people in social movements across the country, and provided advisory support in areas such as loneliness, end of life care, social care futures, childhood trauma, global mental health and rare disease.

To find out more about our work in this area, get it touch with us at [email protected].