This campaign has now closed
Socially isolated adults (eg with learning disabilities/mental health issues) find it difficult to access information they can understand on health matters. The written literature is often full of jargon and the health professionals don't have enough time to explain and explore underlying problems.
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Beneficiaries
Situation
We are part way through a pilot project, so far very successful, providing a free ten week course for socially isolated adults on Health and Wellbeing. It covers interaction with health practitioners, healthy eating, visual awareness (checking eyesight), diabetes, alternative therapies, exercise, health action planning, relaxation, stress management, sexual health and more. All elements were identified by the participants as areas they cannot get accessible information on. The emphasis is on prevention so that the impact on the Local Authority, National Health Service and especially carers, is reduced. There is a waiting list for a future course, but so far no funding to run it. We estimate each course costs about £8,000 to run, including the cost of visiting facilitators/speakers and transport for those unable to travel by themselves.