Organisations and groups invited to event to find out more about supporting people’s health and well-being in Whitchurch via Social Prescribing
Organisations and groups who provide services or activities in Whitchurch that benefit people’s health and well-being, are invited to come to a Social Prescribing event in the town on Thursday 29 November 2018.
The Social Prescribing event will be hosted at Whitchurch Civic Centre, High Street, Whitchurch from 1pm-3pm.
Healthy Lives Social Prescribing
Attendees will have the opportunity to find out more about Shropshire’s Social Prescribing programme, how it’s going to be rolled out in Whitchurch, and how they can get involved.
Shropshire’s Social Prescribing programme
Shropshire’s Social Prescribing programme is being led by Shropshire Council, including its Help2Change service, in partnership with the voluntary and community sector and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The programme involves working with a range of organisations such as GPs and community and voluntary organisations to provide non-medical support for people to help them take greater control over their own health.
The overall aim is to prevent worsening health for people with long-term health conditions, reduce the number and intensity of costly interventions in urgent or specialist care, and offer an alternative to those people with non-medical conditions presenting at GP practices.
Who should attend?
- Anyone who is looking for non-medical/clinical support for the people they are working with.
- Voluntary and community groups.
- Charities and social enterprises.
- Commissioned services that provide activity for people in Whitchurch that supports people to stay healthy and independent.
- People delivering community-based services, eg libraries, creative groups and community centres.
- Practitioners and staff working in primary and secondary care – GP teams, community health teams and pharmacies.
- People working in social care, mental health care, public health and health commissioning.
Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult services, health and social housing, said:-
“Many people are in situations that have a detrimental effect on their health and often people want to improve their situation, but need support and motivation to make a positive change. Through our Social Prescribing programme, by working closely with GP surgeries and as many community groups and services as we can, we can offer people a wide range of support and things to do, that will help them with the issues they are experiencing.
“Our Social Prescribing workshops offer a great opportunity to raise awareness of the positive benefits social prescribing can bring to local communities. I hope the event also encourages those who attend to see how they could get involved and contribute to our programme.
“We look forward to seeing everyone at our event on Thursday 29 November to explore how we can work together to develop and deliver Whitchurch’s Social Prescribing programme.”
It is estimated that around 20% of patients consult their GP for what is primarily a social problem. Our communities are full of groups, activities and services that can support people with these social problems.
Social Prescribing in Albrighton
Steve Latham-White, Shropshire Council’s community enablement officer, and organiser of the event, added:
“Social prescribing provides practitioners with a structured referral pathway into local, non-clinical community activities, services and support. It offers much more than signposting, as it includes support from an adviser to motivate and start to change behaviours, along with data recording and quality assurance of the services that are referred to.
“Shropshire’s Social Prescribing programme will enable doctors to refer those patients to a Social Prescribing adviser who will work with the individual to access services and support in their own communities. This could be anything from taking part in group learning sessions, sports, arts activities, volunteering, gardening, befriending services to healthy eating advice.
“We are now going to deliver social prescribing from some of Bridgewater Medical Practice and we need your help to make this a success. Please come along to one of the workshops to find out more.”
To register on to one of the workshops go to Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-prescribing-in-whitchurch-a-partnership-approach-tickets-52227385516. Places are limited so please do book as early as you can.
For more information about the workshop or Shropshire’s Social Prescribing programme contact Steve Latham-White at steve.latham-white@shropshire.gov.uk.
Further information
Shropshire’s Healthy Lives programme
Social Prescribing forms part of Shropshire’s Healthy Lives programme, which supports individuals, families and communities to take more control over their health and reduce their risk of chronic disease. The scheme also links to the Resilient Communities work being undertaken by Shropshire Council with the support of NHS colleagues and voluntary sector organisations who are working together to design targeted interventions and activity in localities.
The aim of this work is to connect up people and activities in our neighbourhoods so that they all know more about what is going on, and have the choice and opportunity to get involved in the things they are interested in, and which can make people happier and healthier.
