May 2026 - Compendium of COIN ideas

Community-Oriented Integrated Practice (COIP) develops communities for health and care. It develops individuals who weave specific issues into co-evolving stories. It answers the question: “how to escape from linear, compartmentalised thinking without becoming stuck in new isolating compartments?” It develops infrastructure that facilitates ongoing whole system learning and change. COIN recognises that: • COIP results in cheaper, better-quality healthcare, by avoiding duplication of effort, empowering people and reducing hospital overload • Everyone knows that linear, compartmentalised thinking, as a sole approach, is ineffective, but too few people know how to integrate linear and organic thinking • We know how to develop COIP, but too few people who make day-to-day decisions are ready to use this knowledge • There is a broad movement towards COIP - like a mycelium, we share insights and energy To facilitate change towards COIP, we must: • Combine improvement of planetary health and locality development • Use patient stories to show the complex reality of everyday life, avoiding discussions that merely involve one part of the NHS talking to others • Balance supporting and challenging policy • Help leaders to use COIP language throughout whole systems • Help multidisciplinary teams to develop flourishing spaces • Use different languages for different people in different contexts • Engage families & communities as well as service users • Use Social Prescribing & the Arts to develop COIP We must now: • Facilitate dialogue about COIP, inviting pilot projects that ask: 1) What are the key messages? 2) What are we going to do? 3) What will success look like, and be evaluated? • Write about neglected areas, like Social Care, Arts, Spirituality, combining videos, diagrams, blogs, case studies and short articles with ‘top tips’ • Develop Action Learning Sets, Courses for various Constituencies, Mentorship • Avoid adding a COIN banner to things that are just about cost-cutting and offloading