INTRODUCTION TO THE HSPN WORKSHOPS – TUESDAY 12 MARCH 2024 

 

As part of the Hants & IoW Social Prescribing Network (HSPN) Networking and Showcase  Celebration Event, attendees have the choice of attending two of the following three c30 minute workshops.  

Below is a summary of who is leading the workshops and what they cover

 

WORKSHOP 1 – 5 WAYS TO WELLBEING: A PRACTICAL TOOLKIT   

Amelia Millar, Wellbeing Advisor, Andover Mind and Matt Thornton, Wellbeing Adviser, Andover Mind  

Hey, my name is Amelia Millar. I studied Psychology at Winchester University. After graduating I worked in a residential care setting supporting young children with learning disabilities and mental health needs. After this I worked in domiciliary care. I’ve worked for Andover Mind since September 2022 supporting the patient population within the CGH primary care network. My job role is to support my patients with their wellbeing by providing 4-6 sessions of recovery focused work. This can include goal setting, managing symptoms, looking at coping strategies and signposting to additional support. 

 

Hello, my name is Matthew (Matt) Thornton. I studied Psychology and Psychology and Bioscience at undergraduate level, Bioscience at postgraduate level, and am currently studying another Master’s in Neuroscience. Since my undergraduate degrees, I have worked in several care settings supporting a variety of people with learning disabilities and mental health needs. I’ve worked for Andover Mind since March 2023 supporting the patient population within the Whitewater-Loddon primary care network. My job role is to support my patients with their psychological health and wellbeing by focusing on conscious control of their thoughts and emotions. This can include goal setting, managing symptoms, looking at coping strategies and signposting to additional support. I also work with children who have mental health concerns due to abuse on the weekends and have just started volunteering for St John’s ambulance. 

 

The 5 Ways to Wellbeing: A Practical Toolkit will cover: 

 

  • What is wellbeing? 
  • Mental Health and Wellbeing  
  • The impact of the 5 ways to wellbeing 
  • Monitoring and managing wellbeing 
  • How to apply the 5 ways to wellbeing individually to patients and service users 
  • There will also be some interactive activities with some sweet treats involved! Please come and join us for this whistle stop tour of wellbeing!!  

WORKSHOP 2 – LIVE LONGER BETTER – PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CONNECTIONS WITH OLDER PEOPLE   

Vikki Altham, Service Development Officer, (Demand Management and Prevention) Adults’ Health & Care, Hampshire County Council and Emily Khural, Health Manager, Energise Me  

After qualifying as a social worker Vikki has been supporting people for over 23 years in a range of settings, including prisons, hospital discharge, voluntary sector and adults’ health and care. In 2021 Vikki joined the Demand Management and Prevention team in Adults’ Health and Care at Hampshire County Council.  Working with our external partners and internally with our adult social care teams to reduce demand on services and looking at prevention by focusing on key risk factors such as falls, social isolation and supporting carers. Vikki is also currently working with Public Health and Energise Me on the Live Longer Better campaign.  

 

After completing a degree in Sports Therapy, Emily Khural moved into the world of Occupational Health, supporting companies to make adaptations to help employees return to work, before joining the health team at Energise Me in 2019. Emily works closely with people and organisations across the health system, using physical activity to tackle the health inequalities that communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight experience. Through working on the Live Longer Better programme, Emily has developed a specialism in supporting older adults to be more physically active and now leads this work within Energise Me. This has also led to an exciting pilot on the Isle of Wight, considering how a domiciliary care provider can change the way they work to support their clients to be more active and therefore maintain independence for longer. Emily is not afraid to speak out about things that need to change to support our communities to be more active, living the ambitions of We Can Be Active and#boldleaders. 

Live Longer Better – Physical Activity Connections with Older People will cover: 

  • What is Live Longer Better? 
  • Why is Live Longer Better important?  
  • Understand impact  
  • How to have active conversations 
  • How can you and your organisation can support others to live longer in better health  

 

WORKSHOP 3 – GETTING STARTED WITH SOCIAL PRESCRIBING EVALUATION   

Dr Debra Gray, Reader in Social Psychology University of Winchester and Jessica Johnson, Community Researcher, Action Hampshire  

Dr Debra Gray is a Reader in Social Psychology at the University of Winchester and Director of the Volunteering Research Hub (www.volunteeringresearchhub.co.uk). Her work looks at how and why people take part in their communities, and what benefits this brings. She has been involved in many evaluations, including for social prescribing, and has developed toolkits and resources for those wanting to understand how and why social prescribing works (see The Social Psychology of Social Prescribing – a Toolkit). 

Jess Johnson is a Community Researcher at Action Hampshire, an infrastructure organisation that supports voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations across the county. She currently co-ordinates the Raising Voices in Research project and has recently put together an Impact Measurement Guidance Booklet to signpost VCSE organisations to the most relevant support. Jess’s previous work includes supporting and conducting evaluations of sports programmes for a national children’s charity. 

Getting Started with Social Prescribing Evaluation 

This workshop is intended to inspire anyone who is thinking about evaluating their social prescribing initiative, or who wants to understand more about how and why their service or programme works. We will introduce some basic evaluation concepts and resources. Our aim is to help you think about how you could get started with evaluation in a way that is effective, but also manageable within the reality of your context and resources.   

Need some help or advice?

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