Neighbourhood Health at the Heart of National Policy

Written By Nat Jones

What Does This Mean for Occupational Therapy?

Neighbourhood health is having a moment, not just in policy language, but in national direction. Recent commitments place prevention, community leadership and integrated neighbourhood teams at the centre of NHS reform. The message is clear: care should start in people’s homes, streets and communities, not only in hospitals.

For Occupational Therapists, this shift feels less like a revolution and more like recognition. OTs have been working in people’s everyday environments for decades. From social care and community rehabilitation to newer roles in primary care through the ARRS scheme, our profession is already embedded where neighbourhood health happens.

Policy ambitions around stronger partnerships, integrated teams and the wider determinants of health simply reflect work that OTs have been doing quietly, consistently and effectively.

Why the Neighbourhood Health Guidelines Matter

The Neighbourhood Health Guidelines 2025/26 outline a model rooted in multidisciplinary collaboration, proactive care and expanded community services. Key elements include:

  • integrated neighbourhood teams

  • rapid community response and virtual wards

  • improved access to general practice

  • continuity of care for people with complex needs

  • strengthened core community services

  • smarter use of data and digital tools

Critically, the guidelines also highlight factors that shape health beyond clinical care: housing, employment, isolation, education and community connection.

This is exactly where Occupational Therapy lives.

The OT Opportunity

Occupational Therapy already aligns naturally with neighbourhood health because our focus is holistic, preventive and grounded in people’s everyday occupations.

Neighbourhood working creates opportunities for OTs to:

  • step into leadership roles

  • co-design personalised pathways

  • influence local systems through housing, education and public health

  • address social determinants of health

  • shape the evidence based on prevention, rehabilitation and participation

With national attention finally turning towards prevention and community-based care, the fit has never been clearer.

What Might This Look Like in Practice?

  • enabling people to remain at home through assessment, intervention and adaptation

  • advising on housing and environmental solutions

  • building bridges across public services, voluntary sector, education and employment

  • developing creative, community-led approaches that support wellbeing

  • using digital tools to enhance access, continuity and personalisation

Neighbourhood models also come with a growing expectation to demonstrate impact, showing how OT interventions reduce hospital admissions, support independence and improve quality of life.

Challenges We Need to Work Through

Neighbourhood health isn’t a quick win. To succeed, we’ll need:

  • investment and capacity to meet rising demand

  • continued development in leadership, integration and digital confidence

  • strong outcome measures

  • shared standards to ensure consistency across neighbourhoods

As OTs take on broader system-wide roles, evidencing impact becomes essential — both for commissioning and wider system learning.

Now Is the Time

Neighbourhood health reflects core Occupational Therapy beliefs: that people thrive when their environments, roles and connections support independence, purpose and wellbeing.

This policy direction gives our profession a powerful platform:

  • to lead

  • to innovate

  • to strengthen prevention

  • to shape community-led models of care

If neighbourhood health is the future, Occupational Therapy isn’t just included —
it’s central to making it real.

References

  • Charles, A., et al. (2021) Neighbourhood Health

  • Fuller (2022) The Fuller Stocktake

  • NHS Confederation (2025) Neighbourhood Health and Integration Reports

  • NHS England (2025) Neighbourhood Health Guidelines 2025/26

  • PPL (2025) Neighbourhood Models, Partnerships and Workforce Design

  • RCOT (2025) Policy Position Papers on Primary Care, Prevention and Neighbourhood Health

  • UK Government (2025) Ten-Year Health Plan for England

Weblinks

Nat Jones
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