How can social enterprises impact health and wellbeing?
Abstract Purpose -The objective of this paper is to examine the impacts of social enterprise on individual and community health and well-being. It focuses on community food initiatives, their impact on the social determinants of health and the influence of structure on their outcomes. Design – Using an interpretive qualitative approach through case studies focused on two community food social enterprises, the research team conducted observations, interviews and ad-hoc conversations. Findings - Researchers found that social enterprises impacted all layers of the social determinants of health model but that there was greater impact on individual lifestyle factors and social and community networks. Impact at the higher socio-economic, cultural and environmental layer was more constrained. There was also evidence of the structural factors both enabling and constraining impact at all levels
