World Café: "Bridging the Divide: Strengthening collaboration between the community and law enforcement for safer and healthier communities"
1
Mental health, Alcohol, Substance use, and Tobacco Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa
2
School of Public Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
3
Deparment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
4
Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
5
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
6
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
7
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Johannesburg, South Africa
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A3628
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Effective public health responses to substance use depend on coordinated partnership and action between community groups and law enforcement institutions. However, limited synergy between these sectors invariably undermines effective interventions1-4. Without these, the status quo of punitive approaches may deter help-seeking, reinforce stigma, and fail to address underlying social determinants of health1. Barriers to collaboration include misaligned institutional priorities, limited information sharing, persistent community mistrust, and insufficient training hinder multisectoral action. Enhancing collaboration across these systems is therefore critical to improving population level outcomes and promoting evidence-based responses5.
METHODS:
This workshop employs a participatory World Café methodology to facilitate structured dialogue among public health practitioners, law enforcement officials, policy-makers, and community representatives. The 60-minute session integrates panel presentations, interactive group discussions, and plenary feedback used to examine the intersections of public health, law enforcement and community safety, diagnose structural and relational barriers to cooperation, and codesign practical strategies that can be integrated into institutional practice. The approach emphasizes inclusivity, shared learning, and collective problem-solving6-7.
RESULTS:
The workshop is expected to produce actionable insights relevant to systems level improvement by identifying structural and relational barriers that impede public health-oriented policing, community collaboration and harm reduction; and the co-creation of a set of principles for feasible partnership models. This method aims to strengthen intersectoral networks, increase mutual trust, and develop feasible partnership models to support multi-sectoral responses to substance use.
CONCLUSIONS:
Participatory, dialogue-based approaches such as the World Café offer an effective mechanism for fostering multisectoral action by promoting mutual understanding, collective ownership, and sustained partnerships. This workshop aims to support more integrated and equitable responses to substance use. Strengthening multisectoral cooperation is essential for addressing social determinants of health and achieving improved public health outcomes.
Effective public health responses to substance use depend on coordinated partnership and action between community groups and law enforcement institutions. However, limited synergy between these sectors invariably undermines effective interventions1-4. Without these, the status quo of punitive approaches may deter help-seeking, reinforce stigma, and fail to address underlying social determinants of health1. Barriers to collaboration include misaligned institutional priorities, limited information sharing, persistent community mistrust, and insufficient training hinder multisectoral action. Enhancing collaboration across these systems is therefore critical to improving population level outcomes and promoting evidence-based responses5.
METHODS:
This workshop employs a participatory World Café methodology to facilitate structured dialogue among public health practitioners, law enforcement officials, policy-makers, and community representatives. The 60-minute session integrates panel presentations, interactive group discussions, and plenary feedback used to examine the intersections of public health, law enforcement and community safety, diagnose structural and relational barriers to cooperation, and codesign practical strategies that can be integrated into institutional practice. The approach emphasizes inclusivity, shared learning, and collective problem-solving6-7.
RESULTS:
The workshop is expected to produce actionable insights relevant to systems level improvement by identifying structural and relational barriers that impede public health-oriented policing, community collaboration and harm reduction; and the co-creation of a set of principles for feasible partnership models. This method aims to strengthen intersectoral networks, increase mutual trust, and develop feasible partnership models to support multi-sectoral responses to substance use.
CONCLUSIONS:
Participatory, dialogue-based approaches such as the World Café offer an effective mechanism for fostering multisectoral action by promoting mutual understanding, collective ownership, and sustained partnerships. This workshop aims to support more integrated and equitable responses to substance use. Strengthening multisectoral cooperation is essential for addressing social determinants of health and achieving improved public health outcomes.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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