ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the strands of community action that have fed into the development of community involvement in health. It begins by looking briefly at the history of community development within the UK in the twentieth century and the emergence of an organised community de velopment movement from the late 1960s onwards. The next sections de scribe some of the social movements which have played a crucial role in bringing about community involvement in health, such as feminism, black community action, disability rights, environmental movements and so on. The role of'radical health professionals' in defining a 'new' public health is also explored. This leads on to describing the positive effect of the 'Health For All' initiative of the World Health Organization and its interpretation internationally, in mobilising community action around health within the UK. The final section highlights the development of health-orientated selfhelp and lobbying/campaigning groups and organisations as key players in taking forward and shaping community involvement in health.
