Our stories are of people in north east London who have been helped by personalised care services, and of the people, the personalised care workforce, who provide these services. They are stories of lives being transformed by getting the right help from the right people at the right time.
There is Uchenna in Newham whose gardening group helped her through a spell in emergency housing. Lindsay in Tower Hamlets who says health and wellbeing coaching was a lifeline when she was at an all-time low. Brian who can cope better with his grief after joining a bereavement support group in Redbridge, Amine in Barking and Dagenham who has benefited from exercise referral. And more.
You can also read or watch the stories of some of the people whose expertise is helping to change lives. Saiba Salam in Waltham Forest, Mary Abedin in Barking and Dagenham, Alex Trigg in Tower Hamlets, Angie Turner in Redbridge, and Chanel Radford in Newham are all social prescribers. They explain what they do and how it helps.
Personalised care recognises that our lives affect our health and our health affects our lives. Non-medical problems like the death, illness or disability of a loved one, the loss of our job or our ability to work, or a housing or financial crisis can make us less able to look after ourselves.
Social prescribers, health and wellbeing coaches, and care coordinators provide different aspects of personalised care.
- Social prescribers connect people who have non-medical problems that are impacting their health to services, groups and activities that can help them.
- Health and wellbeing coaches provide people who need support with issues such as Type 2 diabetes, weight management or poor mental health with the tools, motivation and confidence to take greater control of their lives,
- Care coordinators work with GP practices to actively help people with long term conditions, vulnerable people and people with complex needs get joined-up care.
They all start by finding out what matters most to the person needing help so they can support them to achieve it. They are making a huge difference to many people in north east London right now.