“We love a test at Bromford and we are chuffed to be working with Elemental and the West Midlands Combined Authority to add a housing and community perspective to Social Prescribing.”
- Vicky Green, Head of Locality - Black Country
On Tuesday we were pleased to welcome back Denise and Clare from Elemental to make the final preparations for our 12-week social prescribing test in the Black Country, which is set to start next week.
The Bromford test team that spent the day with Denise and Clare in order to learn more about the cloud-based Elemental platform and get it set-up ready for the test to begin is comprised of x3 colleagues from innovation and insight who will be running and evaluating the test as well as 3x colleagues from localities who will be overseeing and using the software during the test period.
Whilst Social Prescribing might have originally been conceived as a way for GP’s to prescribe social interventions rather than medical interventions during consultations, at its core the objectives of Social Prescribing fit perfectly with our Localities approach and the Neighbourhood Coaching role, part of which seeks to connect customers to local services and assets that might help them thrive and grow: for example, making better use of parks, allotments, cycle paths, community centres, gardening clubs or toddler groups, etc.
“I’m really interested in how we can use the Elemental platform to understand the impact a really local connection can make to our customers’ wellbeing. Whether that is another person, a neighbour, a group, an activity or more formal services in the locality.” - Vicky Green, Head of Locality - Black Country
Through the test, we hope to be able to demonstrate and measure the impact of the coaching relationship by tracking a customer’s journey in real time whilst also measuring the impact that local people, groups and providers are having on their wellbeing.
“I think the Neighbourhood Coaches will find the Elemental platform really useful in general and the learning we get from this test will feed into the wider Localities approach.” - Michael Van-Yeboah, Insight Manager in the Insight Team.
Using the Elemental digital platform, Neighbourhood Coaches, Mark and Michelle, will record and monitor the coaching plans they make with customers, including making ‘referrals’ to both internal and external providers such as our own Money Advice Service or Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as connecting people to others within the community who share similar interests or can offer help or support.
“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
The test is due to run throughout the summer, starting on 9th July and running up until 30th September. Following completion of the test, the plan is to evaluate our findings and alongside Elemental present back to the West Midlands Combined Authority who have commissioned the work as part of their Urban Challenge Well-being Award.
Watch this space for more blogs as the test progresses and keep an eye out for regular updates on the Social Prescribing card on Trello.
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@simon_penny