Nehemiah UCHA is a progressive housing association serving the African Caribbean, Asian, Irish and European communities. The Association provides homes for single people, families, couples and elderly people in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Henry Court based in Dudley provides 38 permanent one and two bed apartments. All have level access showers which are great for people who have recently been discharged from hospital or have mobility problems. Henry Court specialises in meeting the multi-cultural needs of its residents and provides a good choice of African Caribbean food. Lots of fun social activities are offered to residents and the wider community to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing. Some of these activities include:
We have produced our first Integrated Plus newsletter featuring stories about how people have benefitted from the service, integration news and stories on how voluntary organisations are helping people to live independently and stay out of hospital.
In December 2014, Dudley CVS carried out a state of the sector online survey. The time felt right for Dudley CVS to explore:
Once the findings were collected, NAVCA, our National body, helped Dudley CVS to analyse the results. Caroline Beavon then helped us to produce a colourful infographic poster as a creative way to share the findings with the voluntary sector and partners across Dudley borough. You can view the infographic report here: http://issuu.com/dcvs/docs/sots_-_v9/1
On 24th March, a CoLab enquiry session was held to explore further the results with voluntary sector groups and to dig deeper into the findings.
The survey was divided into the following three categories:
This report presents more detail on findings from our survey and outcomes from discussions held on 24th March with voluntary and community sector organisations and partners. To view the report click on the link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8-GKntyzIXkZldtWGZhOHpwN2M/view?usp=sharing
Extraordinary Lives CIC provides one to one and group NLP (neuro linguistic programming) life coaching workshops for people with learning disabilities amongst other disabilities and their carers. The coaching promotes a better outlook on life for these individuals and equips them with the necessary tools to live as independently as possible and increase their sense of well being. As a result, the coaching has a positive effect on many other areas of the individual’s life.
The workshops are delivered in fun, creative and innovative ways. Extraordinary Lives Coaching Services is unique because it enables, empowers and motivates people with learning disabilities/ disabilities and their carers in ways that have not been used before. The main aim of Extraordinary Lives is to move away from traditional approaches of support and works to equip people with learning disabilities with the skills and confidence they need to make the most of their lives and achieve their dreams.
Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group has allocated funding over the next two years to each PPG in Dudley borough. The aim of the PPG Purse fund is to:
• Support the growth and development of a PPG
• Help set up a new PPG
• Encourage involvement of new patients in a PPG
• Support innovation and the development of new creative ideas
• Support inclusivity and diversity in a PPG
• Improve health and well-being of patients
A budget of up to £1000 for each PPG over the next two years will enable PPGs explore ideas about the best way to spend the money in their purse to get maximum benefit for their PPG. To give some examples, the money could be used to pay for printing, promotional materials, equipment such as laptops to help PPGs develop social media tools, running events or activities and much more. PPGs may want to work collaboratively with other PPGs to jointly host events and activities in which case their individual budgets can be pooled together.
Supporting people to become more involved, connected and active in their communities
From left to right the Locality Link Officers are: Wendy Bains (Kingswinford, Amblecote and Brierley Hill), Terry Gee (Dudley and Netherton), Nick Tromans (Stourbridge, Wollescote and Lye), Jason Griffiths (Sedgley, Coseley and Gornal), Sue Bloomer (Halesowen and Quarry Bank).
What is integrated care?
Integrated Care means care and support built around the needs of the individual, their carers and family. It aims to achieve high quality and compassionate care, resulting in better health and wellbeing of citizens in Dudley borough. Integrated care will mean getting better at preventing deterioration of health and fewer people ending up in hospital, by providing a seamless service focussed on the individual within their own homes.
There is a need to create a culture of better cooperation and coordination between health, social care, public health, other local services and the voluntary and community sector. There needs to be an end to institutional divide between physical and mental health, primary and secondary care, and health and social care as budgets and resources reduce.
Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group (Dudley CCG) and other statutory partners are moving towards a model of locality based integrated care services. This will involve a process of advanced personalised care planning for older people, people with mental health issues, people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and children. In each of the five localities within the Dudley borough, there will be a need for better cooperation and coordination between health, social care, public health and the voluntary sector.
Dudley CVS is hosting a workshop in partnership with Dudley CCG on 30th April to explore the potential role and contribution of the voluntary and community sector in integrated care in Dudley borough. We will post information and ideas from the event and encourage online debate following the event through this blog.
Sharing inspiring stories of people doing good stuff in Dudley borough and how we support it
Sharing information and activities for our members
Putting people in the lead to improve lives and communities across the UK.
Supporting people to become more involved, connected and active in their communities
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