through social prescribing bridging the gap between … · bridging the gap between health and...
TRANSCRIPT
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN HEALTH AND HOUSING THROUGH SOCIAL PRESCRIBING
WE ARE ELEMENTALA Tech For Good company with the purpose of engaging and empowering communities towards better health outcomes.
We’re on a mission to connect people, build communities and improve lives all over the world through digital social prescribing.
INDEX
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN HEALTH AND HOUSING THROUGH SOCIAL PRESCRIBING
Page 4 - 8 What is Social PrescribingPage 9 Typical Resident JourneyPage 10- 11 The Benefits of Social PrescribingPage 12 Embedding Digital - The BenefitsPage 13 The Challenges Page 14 Overcoming the ChallengesPage 15 Three Steps to Enhanced Social PrescribingPage 16 - 20 The Future of Social PrescribingPage 22 - 23 Testimonials
Social prescribing enables healthcare professionals, community development workers, housing officers and others to refer anyone to a specialist link worker to talk
about the issues they’re facing and what matters to them, in order to find the right services to support them.
Social prescribing is not a new concept. It’s been around for
years, with many people describing it as the community
development approach to health and wellbeing.
WHAT IS SOCIAL PRESCRIBING?
A model designed to support people with a wide range of social, emotional or practical needs.
It seeks to address people’s needs across a number of areas such as physical activity, diet and nutrition, mental health and social support. It is often referred to as a ‘more than
medicine’ approach to health and wellbeing, based on the fact that the majority of long term conditions can be prevented by lifestyle change alone.
WHAT IS SOCIAL PRESCRIBING?
Social prescribing is a growing movement that connects people with a range of non clinical programmes, services and events in their local community – like walking groups, mental health counseling, debt management advice, employability skills, volunteering,
family fitness, healthy cooking programmes, mindfulness sessions, and the ‘green prescription’ of gardening and food growing.
A GROWING MOVEMENT
Health inequalities are estimated to cost the NHS around £20 billion a year.
Housing associations have an opportunity to play a major role in addressing this, with people living in areas of high concentrations of social
housing likely to live 11 years less than people in other areas.
People living in deprived areas are also likely to spend between 20-25 fewer years in ‘good
health’.
A GROWING MOVEMENT
The housing sector has for some time now recognised that its role goes beyond bricks and mortar and as cuts in funding for public services continue to face
increasing strain, the health and wellbeing and community services provided by housing associations
are becoming increasingly vital.
A GROWING MOVEMENT
Housing Associations are embracing the concept of social
prescribing – linking local residents to sources of non-clinical
support in their communities from cooking classes and exercises
programmes to employment support and debt advice – as a way of
supporting tenants to maintain successful tenancies, build healthy,
thriving communities and reduce health inequalities across their
neighbourhoods.
HOW DOES SOCIAL PRESCRIBING WORK?Meet Oliver, a 56 year old man who had a stroke 6 months ago. The stroke affected Oliver's speech and mobility slightly. He's felt isolated since and lacks social connections due to his family living in another city. Oliver needs help with motivation to keep up exercising. Oliver is also experiencing symptoms of mild depression and anxiety.
Improves physical and mental wellbeing by focussing on what matters to the individual.
Creates connections with community services and community members.
Supports people with a wide range of social, emotional or practical needs.
Focuses on those most likely to benefit from social prescribing e.g. people with mild or long-term mental health problems, vulnerable groups, people who are socially isolated, and those who frequently attend either primary or secondary health care.
Allows tenants to co-create their own enriched, personalised care pathway.
BENEFITS FOR RESIDENTS
Strengthens relationships and promotes cross sectoral cohesion.
Can demonstrate return on investment and social value.
Contributes to a range of broader government objectives, for example in relation to employment, volunteering and learning.
Build the capacity of support staff as coaches in neighbourhoods, reducing the time sent on admin and freeing up time to support more residents.
Engages residents in accessing and engaging in community programmes and services that enhance their physical and mental wellbeing.
BENEFITS FOR HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS
EMBEDDING DIGITAL - WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
The most forward-thinking housing associations see themselves as playing a pivotal role in community health, with a growing movement of associations working to step up and pilot innovative new approaches that use
digital technology to support, connect and measure the impact of community engagement in health and wellness. Here are a few benefits that come with embedding digital into your social prescribing programme:
Establish where you're at and identify the benefits of social prescribing for your
communities
Quick and easy referrals Empowered neighbourhood coaches
Track and monitor impact
More than health service referrals
Boost tenant engagement
Personalised programmes Easily establish ROI Calculate value Identify risks and trends
Strengthen partner relationships
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?
Based on our experience as community development workers and the research we have carried out over the years, we've encountered many of the challenges stakeholders face in regards to implementing, adopting and
scaling social prescribing including:
Not everyone has access to digital
Data protection - GDPR -online protection
Budget - unaware of funding that’s available
Already have systems in place
Community uptake resistance
Getting buy-in - changing mindsets and
culture change
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
We’ve found that some communities need additional support at the beginning of their social prescribing journey when it comes to finding out how and where to get started. Here are 6 top tips that our Housing
customers have used to start and scale their social prescribing projects
Get everyone together in the community
Review what’s working well and what isn’t
Find out what shared resources are available and establish who
you need to connect with Establish where you want to be using SMART goals
Establish where you're at and identify the benefits of social prescribing for your
communities
Connect with people who are already leading the way
STEP 1
Nominated Referral Agents can make and manage referrals from numerous sources to your Neighbourhood Coaches who can then take baseline measurements.
Your Digital Social Prescribing system should be designed to measure the following using validated measurement tools: Depression, anxiety, self esteem, BMI, general health, diabetic risk and social isolation.
STEP 2
On establishing the baseline assessment, residents will be engaged in co-creating their personalised pathways/plans.
Neighbourhood Coaches will connect the resident to programmes and services that are delivered in the local area covering the domains of exercise, diet and nutrition, mental health, support in their community, volunteering, employability, training and peer mentoring.
Residents will be contacted by the relevant facilitators covering a range of programmes and services that are applicable. They will be able to keep track of their schedule with their own social prescription calendar which they will be trained in using or they can be supported by the staff member to navigate. They can easily ‘check in’ to confirm each time they attend their sessions. Facilitators will also have their own interface in order to update their session details and confirm client attendance.
STEP 3
THREE STEPS TO ENHANCED SOCIAL PRESCRIBING
THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS
Partnerships with other sectors must exist in order for your programme to succeed, we see this as a necessity for the success of many social prescribing programmes e.g. housing must connect with health and VCSE, otherwise you’re reducing resources and most importantly, you’re reducing patient choice.
A SUSTAINABLE MODEL
VCSEs have been leading the way in social prescribing for a long time and have always been about addressing the social determinants and the high-quality range of local community services. This shows the pivotal role that the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors plays in providing this kind of support for your residents.
PUTTING THE EMPHASIS ON PREVENTION
Social prescribing can ensure a proactive approach to prevention by by supporting those individuals most at risk to make lifestyle changes which empower them to exercise more and lead healthier and happier lives.
TACKLING SOCIAL ISOLATION
The Government’s first loneliness strategy will see all GPs in England being able to refer patients experiencing loneliness to community activities and voluntary services by 2023.
TAKING ON MENTAL HEALTH
While both medication and psychological therapies have a role, social prescribing provides a suitable alternative and further opportunity to respond effectively, and at an early stage, to symptoms of mental distress, as well as to initiate a more proactive approach to mental health promotion.
Social Prescribing has allowed us to provide wraparound holistic support for any tenant who has a need and brought those in need to the attention of the service providers who can help them.
Toria Buzza, Wellbeing Lead, Cheshire East, ForHousing
“We want to support collaborative working with partners in the area to improve the access to services and support residents to stay healthy. By joining up housing and health, we help our residents to be as healthy as they can be and in turn reduce the burden on the NHS.” Cita Jagot, Communities and Involvement Manager, Radian
“This is a great fit with our coaching approach. Not only will we capture the difference, but our customers will be able to login and see their own progress alongside their
Neighbourhood Coach.”
– Vicky Green, Head of Locality – Black Country
TESTIMONIALS
“It’s great to see a positive move towards the growth of social prescribing. Embedding
in community has numerous benefits to build and strengthen resilience,
#dontmedicalisesocialise.”
Dr Mohan Sekeram, GP and GP Trainer at Wide Way Medical
“From working with our local Social Prescribing team, I have seen the efficiency and ease of
using digital social prescribing for referrals. It has drawn us together as health and social care professionals to provide safer care, closer to
home, without duplication and delay.”
Kieran Potts, Community Specialist Paramedic, North West Ambulance Service
“Social prescribing was a life saver for me. If I had not have found the art class I have no doubts that I would not be alive today. I was put on a 19 month waiting list for services, the art class was instant. My life is so different now, I finally feel I have a life, an existence and a
future.
Debs Taylor, Former patient, Creative Minds Calderdale Project Development Worker
TESTIMONIALS
CONNECTING PEOPLE, BUILDING COMMUNITIES AND IMPROVING LIVES
We offer a meaningful partnership that is inclusive of all the community stakeholders involved in health and wellness, supporting you to further embed the foundations of a shared vision and a sustainable approach to stronger and more resilient communities.
We’ll support you every step of the way, from engaging all stakeholders, to rolling out and implementing enhanced social prescribing in your communities, embracing digital to report on impacts and identify gaps and trends.
