Funding Opportunity Developing an Effective Response to Health Inequalities in South East Edinburgh
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Funding Opportunity Developing an Effective Response to Health Inequalities in South East Edinburgh Developing a Community Health Response in South East Edinburgh This funding opportunity is for the development of a Community Health Initiative (CHI) in the South East locality area of Edinburgh. The South East locality area is situated on the southern edge of Edinburgh, combining both urban and relatively rural areas. It comprises a number of smaller and quite distinct communities, each with a strong local identity. These include - Liberton, Gilmerton, Inch, Gracemount, Moredun and Southhouse/Burdiehouse. Around 33,000 people live in this area. The area boundary for the South East locality viewed at http://www.edinburghcompact.org.uk/localities/. The South East Edinburgh locality experiences worse health than the average for Scotland – that is there is a higher level of risk associated with poor health (i.e. admission rates for alcohol or drug taking or prescriptions for anxiety, depression or psychosis). Just over 20% of people in the Liberton/Gilmerton Ward have a longstanding limiting illness; this is higher than the city-wide level of 16.6% (Census, 2001). Further information about the Liberton and Gilmerton Area Profile can be found at http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood- partnerships/liberton-and-gilmerton/downloads/liberton-gilmerton-ward-profile/. Background: Development of Community Health Initiatives in Edinburgh We know that people living in poverty and those who are part of specific social groups experience poorer life chances, reduced health and wellbeing and shorter life expectancy. Tackling the root causes of current levels of inequality as well as reducing the health and social impacts will help us to address the increasing demand for health and social care services. Tackling Health Inequalities in Edinburgh is a key priority for the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership. The H&SC Partnership aims to do this by working with its partners to address the root causes, as well as supporting those groups whose health is at greatest risk from current levels of inequality through • supporting individuals to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives • creating healthy and sustainable communities that can resist the effects of inequality on health and wellbeing • ensuring that core health and social care services are delivered in such a way as to reduce and not exacerbate health inequality 1 • recognising that some sections of the population need targeted support in order to address the cause and effect of inequalities. Within Edinburgh a strategic approach has been developed across the city to ensure that Community Health Initiatives which are based on community development principles and therefore respond to identified local needs are present in a number of areas of need within the city. The aspiration is that each area of deprivation within Edinburgh should have a generic community health initiative based on approaches to support and develop community capacity and social capital which are adapted to the needs identified by local people and organisations. Decisions regarding core funding of these initiatives are channelled through the Health Inequalities Standing Group and jointly agreed between the NHS, EIJB and City of Edinburgh Council. Funding as defined in this brief would aim initially to provide the infrastructure for basic community development work and to achieve Health Improvement outcomes. The performance of a community health Initiative will be assessed against the extent to which it can demonstrate a positive impact on health inequalities in the area and show success in helping people to: gain confidence develop social networks come together to address specific issues met their needs by using services and moving on from and between services as appropriate Core activities may include: Development/outreach work to build links and networks within the community Group work focusing on confidence building, support, developing skills and capacity of individuals who experience health inequalities Effective linking with mainstream services Facilitation of local groups wishing to organise around a particular health issue South Edinburgh Consultation A consultation exercise with local residents and key stakeholders was carried in 2014. The main findings to emerge from the consultation process were: Having the basics (family, home and money) was essential for continued wellbeing Social isolation, mental health and issues associated with living with long term conditions were major concerns in the area There was also concern with alcohol and drug misuse in the area The greatest gaps were around support for those with long term conditions, mental health problems and insufficient access to welfare advice services. 2 The consultant identified that there were no clear spikes in health priorities in the area and no particular patterns emerged across the various neighbourhoods. Consequently, it was recommended that a new project should take a generalist approach and allow community development approaches to determine the focus of the work required in each neighbourhood. The consultation concluded that the new South East project should focus within 7 distinct communities of the South East Locality area: Southhouse/Burdiehouse, Moredun, Ferniehill/Craigour, the Inch, Liberton, Gracemount and Gilmerton. It is recognised that the core budget available (£60K) would not be sufficient to cover the entire area and that the development across the various neighbourhoods would be dependent on the success of an effective fund raising strategy. You should state clearly in you proposal how you intend to address the geographical issues which present themselves in the SE Locality. The suitability of premises was also addressed in the consultation. It was suggested that a new CHI should attempt to have a geographical presence in a variety of neighbourhoods through the use of existing community focal points such as community centres, libraries or other familiar local bases. It was also suggested that the new CHI should have a separate administrative base within the boundaries of South Edinburgh. How you would adopt a “hub and spoke” model which would help to maximise the impact of the limited resources should also be addressed in your proposal. Preferred Provision The HISG is looking to provide community health provision in a minimum of 3 areas of the deprived areas of South East Locality area. It is envisage that dedicated staff in each area would be part-time and would adopt a community development approach to improving health and wellbeing. The programme of activities developed in each area should reflect priorities identified by those communities and may include work on income maximisation, employment, literacy, greening, healthy eating, physical activity and other health-related activities as appropriate. The project would be expected to adopt a broad range of engagement approaches including recruiting volunteers/local activists, networking with key stakeholders and wider geographical communities and offering support to other local organisations to develop additional health promoting activities. The successful provider would need to demonstrate the additionality that will be gained from having a network of community health workers in the area, how it would integrate its service provision with existing provision in the area and how it would use existing community assets to deliver its programme of activities. 3 Submission Requirements Structure for a New South Edinburgh Initiative The aim of this funding is to provide services which aim to reduce health inequalities present in the South East locality. The focus of this provision will be based in Liberton and Gilmerton Ward area. We are looking for an open flexible approach to wellbeing which will address lifestyle factors as well as wider issues around welfare advice, literacy and other issues impacting on the life circumstances of local people. Your proposal will need to: Demonstrate good local knowledge of the area and show a coherent strategic cross sector networking approach which is felt to offer greater impact and a wider geographical spread than a single project approach. Identify how community leadership, which will allow smaller scale but wider spread sustained activity, is to be developed Identify how you intend to provide a geographical presence through the use of existing focal points and achieve best value and a leaner delivery by using existing local assets such as community centres, libraries and local medical facilities. Detail how you intend to further develop community networks and strengthen community wellbeing and resilience by providing support to other local organisations to develop health promoting activities and therefore gain a further reach into the wellbeing of the community Project Action Plan: Development of objectives, targets and outcomes Your proposal should incorporate a Project Action Plan which demonstrates what impact the project will have through appropriate and measureable project objectives, targets and outcomes. When developing measureable project objectives, targets and outcomes a series of issues should be considered: How your proposal will relate to the HISG Funding Criteria as detailed in Appendix 1. How your proposal will incorporate the Standard Impact Assessment Questions (SIAQs) which are part of the Joint Monitoring approach for projects in Edinburgh (See Appendix 2). How your proposal