Ideas Hub

Share and Care Homeshare – providing affordable companionship and help

2021-02-23T10:23:53+00:00

Share and Care Homeshare was established in 2006 to address a growing need for affordable companionship and practical help. Below is what inspired Caroline Cooke to launch this very helpful initiative. When my father was diagnosed with dementia my mother was his primary carer, which left her feeling low, tired and isolated, despite the support of family and friends. Being his carer was a tiring role, particularly as his illness progressed. My mother did not want to leave him alone at home for more than brief periods. She became very restricted and had to rely on friends and [...]

Share and Care Homeshare – providing affordable companionship and help2021-02-23T10:23:53+00:00

Fostering ‘Response-ability’

2021-02-15T11:00:32+00:00

Maintaining Resilience and Wellbeing in the face of a public health crisis: Fostering ‘Response-ability’ by remembering that we are capable of choosing our response to challenging situations. This is based on Epictetus’ understanding that ‘People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them.’ Hence, the key to emotional intelligence and wellbeing is not to avoid challenging situations; but rather to choose an effective attitude towards them. This insight is the basis of the A-B-C Model of Emotional Health: ‘A’ = the ‘Activating Event’ eg. Change in working patterns due to the corona virus [...]

Fostering ‘Response-ability’2021-02-15T11:00:32+00:00

Getting involved in my community turned my life around

2021-02-10T15:24:53+00:00

About four years ago, I was sitting at home contemplating the fact that I had nothing to look forward to other than really waiting to die. I was a full-time carer to my very disabled husband and had significant health problems such as COPD, asthma and angina and had totally written myself off. I couldn’t be bothered to go out, to see anyone, to engage with anyone, and on reflection I think I was probably very very depressed. The only activity that I had which I enjoyed was taking my little dog, Pip, who was a registered pets [...]

Getting involved in my community turned my life around2021-02-10T15:24:53+00:00

Goldies Live – fun, free sing-a-longs from the sofa

2021-01-26T11:39:38+00:00

The Goldies Charity are well known and loved for our daytime Sing&Smile sessions. These sessions, prior to the lockdown, numbered 220 groups across England and Wales, reaching 3500 people every month. These fun social sing-a-long sessions, alongside intergenerational activities, Age Awareness days, concerts and festive celebrations, aim to combat isolation with older isolated and often vulnerable people, building stronger communities and supportive friendships. The COVID-19 pandemic has meant the temporary closure of all Sing&Smile sessions across England and Wales from March 2020. But we adapted quickly with the launch of our first ever digital service - GoldiesLive - [...]

Goldies Live – fun, free sing-a-longs from the sofa2021-01-26T11:39:38+00:00

Help Gardening4Health connect people to gardening

2021-01-13T16:35:25+00:00

As a GP and both a keen gardener and a trainee in Garden Design I have long been aware of the benefits that come from gardening and horticulture for both myself and my own well-being, but more importantly for that of my patients. The COVID-19 pandemic and the UK lockdown in 2020 saw a rapid growth in the wider use of gardening to maintain mental and physical well-being for many people. Moreover, there has been a steady growth in recent years of organisations across the UK that provide social and therapeutic horticulture for service users. People living with [...]

Help Gardening4Health connect people to gardening2021-01-13T16:35:25+00:00

Norfolk Green Care Network: connecting people with nature

2021-01-25T09:42:54+00:00

Norfolk Green Care Network’s mission is to connect people with nature. Carlyn Kilpatrick and Nigel Boldero launched this initiative just over 12 months ago. As a network, we bring together 200 projects, people and organisations who believe in the power of connecting with nature and are actively involved or interested in fostering Green Care. Green Care is an umbrella term for nature-based interventions including care farming, conservation, walk and talk groups, horticulture etc. Understandably like every other area and project, our network also had to put some plans on hold when the lockdown first started. Soon it was [...]

Norfolk Green Care Network: connecting people with nature2021-01-25T09:42:54+00:00

Why community activity groups need to be Learning Together

2021-01-04T15:26:24+00:00

Esther Watts, the National Academy for Social Prescribing’s regional lead for the South East, reflects on the challenges community and voluntary organisations have faced during COVID-19, and how a new support initiative, Learning Together, aims to champion and support their work, to help them overcome these barriers. The lockdowns caused by COVID-19 have put a terrible strain on many community and voluntary organisations providing activities for their local communities. As the former lead in London for Dementia Friendly Communities at the Alzheimer’s Society, my own experience of working with community groups has given me some insights into how [...]

Why community activity groups need to be Learning Together2021-01-04T15:26:24+00:00

Integrated Plus: how the relationship between social prescribing, the voluntary sector and general practice is helping people in Dudley

2020-12-15T15:34:14+00:00

Aiesha Turner is a locality link officer for Integrated Plus in Dudley and Netherton. Here she talks about the benefits of Primary Care Networks having social prescribing link workers based in the voluntary sector, and the impact they have been making during the coronavirus pandemic. Integrated Plus has been working with GP surgeries across Dudley for around six years. We have well established relationships with each surgery in our localities and with our CCG and local authority services. We are in the fortunate position of being employed by Dudley Council for Voluntary Service (DCVS), which means that we [...]

Integrated Plus: how the relationship between social prescribing, the voluntary sector and general practice is helping people in Dudley2020-12-15T15:34:14+00:00

Isolation Blanket Provides a Lifeline During Lockdown

2020-12-14T10:10:27+00:00

When we are born, we are wrapped in a blanket. When we die, we are covered with a blanket. Traditionally a large wool covering for warmth on a bed, the blanket has a meaning that is so much more. As a child, a blanket is often used in times of comfort when they are poorly or upset. It is used for soothing, calming and as a kindness gesture, and can often become a favourite possession that a child is both physically and emotionally attached to. ASCEND is an award-winning community charity based in South Oxhey, Hertfordshire. We support [...]

Isolation Blanket Provides a Lifeline During Lockdown2020-12-14T10:10:27+00:00

The value of co-production: how Social Prescribing Link Workers helped us develop the Mental Health and Money Toolkit

2020-12-10T12:39:33+00:00

The Mental Health and Money Advice service – run by Mental Health UK – was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care to produce and disseminate a resource for people experiencing financial and mental health difficulties. We identified that the key to this project’s success would be in gathering insights from people with lived experience of financial and mental health difficulties as well as the healthcare professionals who support them, and so it was very quickly decided that a co-production approach would be the most appropriate. The Care Act defines co-production as: “Co-production is when you as an individual influence [...]

The value of co-production: how Social Prescribing Link Workers helped us develop the Mental Health and Money Toolkit2020-12-10T12:39:33+00:00

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