Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum (BBHF) is a community led health improvement organisation bringing together people, groups and agencies to enhance health and wellbeing. Bogside and Brandywell is an area of deep deprivation and high health inequalities.

The Challenge

The forum offers a range of social prescribing activities in the area, such as fitness classes and community events which are aimed at tackling loneliness and isolation in various community venues throughout the area.

BBHF previously received social prescribing referrals from GPs in the local area through a lengthy process which involved visiting clients to thoroughly assess their needs, researching available support and informing the individual of suitable initiatives in their local areas.

BBHF had no way of reporting the changes resulting from social prescription programmes and the impact that it was making to individuals.

BBHF needed:

• Referrals to be received, safely and securely
• A quick and efficient way to decrease the time between a referral being made and received
• Less time spent on administration and more time to see more people in need
• Access to real time information on what was available in an individual’s community
• A way to measure the baseline and show health risk reduction
• A workflow that suited the needs of GPs, BBHF and individuals
• The ability to share information across numerous health/social care establishments

The Solution

Elemental simplified and streamlined the process of referring by enrolling and supporting individuals in the Bogside and Brandywell in engaging local lifestyle interventions. The integrated solution allowed GPs to make referrals, BBHF to receive and monitor referrals and individuals to keep track of their social prescription choices and health risk reduction, under one platform.

Outcome

A simple process is now in place which keeps all stakeholders informed on the progress of the individual. As a result BBHF are now able to:

• Support more people through social prescribing
• Receive instant referrals from multiple GP practices
• Monitor and track the progress of an individual and a health and wellbeing journey of a community cohort
• Monitor how individuals/ cohorts are engaging and the difference that social prescribing is making to their overall health and wellbeing
• Demonstrate a 50% reduction in administration by sourcing local lifestyle intervention options
• Keep individuals engaged and motivated for longer
• Empower communities by informing them about their health improvement journey

Testimonials

“The Elemental Platform has been great. It has saved me so much time and I am able to deliver a quicker and more effective service for the people in the Bogside and Brandywell neighbourhood. I am currently working with 30 different client and the software has halved the time it takes from assessing needs to finding services that will help them, which is so important because in my role we have to act fast to help clients stay motivated to make changes that will improve their health and wellbeing.”

Bronagh Cooper, Support Worker, Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum

“Based on our years of experience working at community and strategic level to create healthy, thriving communities, Elemental Software has been developed very much from the perspective of people in the frontline of healthcare. The Health Forum is working to make a real difference on the ground and is a great example of how our social prescribing software can assist the health sector in supporting patients and clients to make positive changes in their lives, and it’s fantastic to see how our software is making a real difference.”

Leeann Monk, Elemental Co-Founder