LWIB:UFE Version 1.3
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Live Well in Braunton - A utilisation-focused evaluation
IRAS ID
272068
Contact name
Emma Ladds
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford/Clinical Trials and research Governance
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
000000, 000000
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Live Well in Braunton (LWIB) is a pilot intervention designed to improve social networks, thus creating a more 'compassionate community'. The organisation is an independently registered Community Interest Group.
Individuals who are recognised as vulnerable or isolated by a General Practitioner or other healthcare professional will be offered referral to a community connector. The connector then explores the individual's values and what they enjoy doing, alongside any barriers limiting their social integration. With reference to an online directory of support services, community groups or voluntary organisations, the connector can suggest and facilitate ways for an individual to become more integrated within the community and feel more supported. It is hoped this will reduce loneliness, improve personal wellbeing, lessen demand on healthcare services, and strengthen social capital across the community.
This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot intervention. By working closely with the LWIB stakeholders and primary users of any evaluation results, we have established outcomes they regard as important that focus on the above aims. These include a mixture of objective wellbeing and loneliness scores and hard measures of health service use, as well as a qualitative, subjective assessment of an individual's experience and any impact the project has had on their life.
In order to do this most effectively, we will need to develop a specific database to collect the relevant information and work closely with the LWIB team and local community. Regular feedback reports will allow them to rapidly adjust their processes and encouraging local engagement will promote community ownership and responsibility for the scheme and its future sustainability.
Summary of Results
This evaluation focuses on the first 12 months of a social prescribing project called 'Live Well in Braunton' (LWIB), which involves participants being referred to a community connector for further signposting interventions or other support.
There were 26 individuals referred to LWIB over the first 9 months, 7 men and 19 women, ranging in age from 21-98. The majority were referred due to their social isolation and loneliness. Although most referees lived alone and expressed a sense of isolation, very few were completely unsupported by family or friends, although for many their sense of isolation was compounded by practical housing challenges and the need to adapt to recent life transitions. Most were able to give a clear sense of what they valued, which could be classified as: relationships with others and social interactions; personal qualities, capacities and roles, and independence; and aspects relating to their immediate environment eg: nature or housing security.
Current challenges individuals were facing included those posed by declining senses, memory and other mental or physical health issues or difficulties in coming to terms with previous psychologically traumatizing events. Barriers to further social engagement included practical limitations, psychological factors, perceptions about groups or social activities, material limitations, COVID-19 restrictions, and the habit of disengagement. Very few individuals had an idea of what they hoped referral to LWIB would achieve and indeed the community connector noted a great range in engagement levels between individuals.
The community connector provided a diversity of inputs for individuals that included researching solutions for a range of issues; providing simple advice or suggestions for support or engagement; making referrals to formal services, community or third-sector organisations, or individual volunteers; discussing acute concerns with the individual’s GP; advocating on an individual’s behalf; plugging the gaps between services and chasing up loose ends; accompanying individuals to clubs or meetings; providing transport for individuals; providing welfare calls during the COVID-19 lockdown; and promoting and supporting opportunites for involvement in community development projects.
Whilst a few individuals clearly benefitted from this input and experienced sustained benefits in subjective wellbeing, the majority of individuals did not. In depth qualitative interviews suggest this may be because LWIB’s social prescribing intervention was mediating its effects by enabling adaptation in individuals’ social identities, which may be unsustainable if such changes became dependent on contact with the connector. Our data highlight the need for careful consideration of patient selection and the aim of the connector’s actions in order to achieve sustainable benefits, as well as appropriate and effective training for those individuals conducting social prescribing interventions.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SC/0638
Date of REC Opinion
20 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion