There have been numerous papers published recently regarding Social Prescribing, the one common theme from all the plethora of publications is that there is little or no evidence that Social Prescribing actually works or in fact has a measurable impact. What is missing from all of these published papers is - What Social Prescribing actually is, and more importantly, what it should be. There are many explanations and descriptions of Social Prescribing, almost as many as the papers that have been written, again the common theme is that the descriptions are very vague and describe Social Prescribing as – ‘a process to help people make positive changes in their lives and within their communities by linking people to volunteers, activities, voluntary and community groups and public services’. Whilst no one could argue that the ambitions expressed in these descriptions are wrong, they fall significantly short of what Real Social Prescribing should be and could be.
The descriptions and hence understanding of Social Prescribing is for the most part informed by what has gone before and is currently being delivered under numerous project or service titles by the Third Sector. This in turn is limited by a fragmented and often chaotic Third Sector that is slow to adopt new technology and working practises. We must acknowledge however that the Third Sector has been starved of funding for decades and has not had the opportunity to develop the skills or infrastructures to enable the adoption of new technology and improved working practises.
Here in South Cumbria, driven by our desire to deliver Complete Social Prescribing, we embarked on a complex and often difficult journey that has ultimately led us to this point. Along the journey we challenged long held and damaging perceptions, developed strong and lasting relationships and most importantly, harnessed the power of technology to develop impactful tools that improve services and save money. The tools utilise embedded AI and risk assessment processes, they facilitate positive and measurable outcomes for Clients/Patients and produce Big Data for full system analysis. This development goes under the title – Compass.
Compass has been developed and delivered in Cumbria over the past five years or so, the system is supported by an online digital platform and a fully tested and robust assessment process. By identifying the non-clinical drivers that impact on a patient’s health and wellbeing we can very clearly demonstrate the efficacy and impact of what we deliver. The system recognises that the needed interventions as indicated by the assessment process fall into three distinct categories:
A. Social Engagement –The category of interventions that many of the published papers allude to as Social Prescribing. It is the easiest of the three categories to deliver and the hardest to monitor and measure outcomes.
B. Holistic Services – This is by far and away the most complex category to deliver, it requires a lead organisation (or a consortium of likeminded organisations) who have at the core of their ethos the willingness to solve problems. There are a wide range of interventions that fall into this category and the components of the category may change depending on the area of delivery.
C. Condition or Circumstance Specific Services and Support – This category is predominantly provided by our partner organisations in Cumbria. For this to happen seamlessly and safely, robust and reliable referral processes need to be in place – The online Digital Platform.
It is normally about this point when describing how we work that the mood in the room changes. It requires a great deal of work to provide Real Social Prescribing and yes, it is often a difficult and arduous journey to change attitudes and cultures within organisations. However, I can attest it is well worth it, our staff would also confirm that making a big difference to people’s lives is both rewarding and fulfilling.
Using Compass to deliver real Social Prescribing
Compass provides a method of encouraging and supporting proper partnership working within the third sector. The use of the platform is completely free, all other third sector organisations need to do is work compliantly and sign up to the data sharing protocols and agreements should they wish to use the secure side of the platform.
The project provides a simple and compliant method of making referrals. The MARS system is unique because it allows any signatory to the protocols and agreements to safely make referrals to another registered MARS users.
CRIS is the CRM system designed for the third sector by the third sector and is free of charge to users. CRIS provides a host of features and utilities unique to the third sector. It also has the Compass assessment, risk and diagnostic tools embedded to provide Complete Social Prescribing
All the items above allow us to now deliver the Compass assessment risk and diagnostic process, automatically produce client risk reports and impact reports.
The system allows users and funders to monitor the impact of their projects. Users can adopt the use of the Compass assessment or create their own questionnaires specific to their projects within the system. They can also input their own outputs which need to be recorded.
Complete Social Prescribing – really does work, and we can easily prove it. The system and methodology is not onerous and provides a wealth of data that allows enlightened organisations to manage their casework and services in an informed and proactive way.
We are very willing to share our learning and the tools we have developed with like-minded partners; however, this offer comes with a health warning. Whilst change is inevitable, it is often difficult and some cannot or are unwilling to complete the journey. Adopting the Compass methodology is not just acquiring a suite of tool and processes, it requires real top down commitment to change.
Watch this space - I will be uploading some of the data analytics over the next few days.
If you would like to know more, contact Phil Whiteley on info@compassehub.com
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