The Shaw Trust delivers social prescribing support known as Connect for Health in Suffolk. Connect for Health supports people to make the most of support available within their communities.
Connect for Health received five referrals for a 78 year-old woman (we’ll call Linda) who had numerous mobility and physical difficulties. The referrals came from both the community and hospital programmes for various reasons, including: reablement, to get involved with physical activity, transport issues and social isolation.
Despite agreed action plans with Linda, and lots of contact and links with services, she always cancelled and failed to engage. As a result, she depended on her daughter for support, who was unable to help out as required due to job commitments.
The latest referral from the GP indicated that Linda would like support to go out to places, as well as get support with housework and booking a meal. In the past Linda attended social groups, but became disillusioned as she found the set up a bit old fashioned and the group dynamics didn’t suit her.
David Grimmer, Team Leader from the Shaw Trust, attended a locality meeting for the Ipswich and East area. Jan from Jan’s Home and Community Support was speaking about her micro-enterprise and what she offers and the areas she covers. Jan lived locally to Linda, so David took her details to pass on to the social prescriber, Carl, who arranged for numbers to be exchanged, with an in-person meeting scheduled for that same day!
The friendly, personalised approach of Jan (and all the local entrepreneurs) ensures that people, like Linda, receive tailored support to meet their wants and needs and helps them to remain living in their homes for longer, while staying connected to their neighbourhoods.
The support provided by Jan has also saved practitioners’ time, freeing them up to support others. There are no more false starts and resources in setting up a plan, which are often disregarded as they don’t provide what people need.
Jan’s support was a great solution for Linda!
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