Engaging People Team Self Care Project Report May 2018

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1 Engaging People Team Self Care Project Report May 2018

2 Acknowledgements. The Engaging People team would like to thank everyone who gave their time to speak to us about their awareness and understanding of self care, and those who told us of their experiences of putting self care into practice, and the barriers they face in maintaining these. We would also like to say thank you to community workers/group leaders who helped us. Executive Summary This report sets out our findings from delivering a range of sessions with specific groups of people which included interactive activities and facilitated conversations. Our aim was to find out what people understand by self care, what it means to them in their daily lives, and what they believe are the barriers to self care for themselves and others. Baildon Community Link Beckfoot Upper Heaton Baildon Youth Council Barnardos BD5 Children s Stay & Play Groups Sharing Voices Men s & Women s Groups Manningham Men s and Women s Groups Centre for Deaf People MAYFIELD CENTRE We also used these activities as an opportunity to continue promoting positive self care messages and practices. Overall we visited 18 different groups, and spoke to 268 people. Throughout our engagement, most people demonstrated a genuine interest and commitment to making positive self care choices. Equally, most were open about where they can make improvements and took part in the make one change challenge where they pledged to take action. khl Keighley Moving Forward Group Bradford Talking Media Volunteers Roshni Ghar Women s Centre Using a ten point scale, we asked people to rate their understanding of self care and how much they know about what they can do to look after their own health, before and after the session. For the 41 people (all from mental health groups) who completed this, self-scoring was on average 1.4 points higher after the session. The Good Shepherd Centre Ukrainian Wellbeing Centre Eastern European Wellbeing Cafe Polish Community Centre 100% of the people who answered the question have you found the sessions useful? said YES. The Engaging People team will provide this information to the Bradford City and District CCGs, highlighting what specific groups understand about the term self care, what they do to maintain their own health and wellbeing and what barriers they experience. Page 3

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5 We spoke to 143 Young People From Baildon Community Link Their most common barriers to self care Being too busy at times makes it hard for me to self care I don t have good role models for self care within my family and friends I don t have the motivation to care for myself. I can t be bothered! I am unlikely to use pharmacy instead of GP as I m concerned about language barriers Junk food is much easier to get hold of near my school They had these ideas about improving self care messages I d like to see more messages on social media Don t spare me gory details show me why things are bad for me I want to see people like me telling me about self care Team challenges about self care at schools I m confident to look after my child and only use GP when required Beckfoot Upper Heaton Baildon Youth Council Parents of young children made these comments Barnardos Childrens Stay & Play Group MAYFIELD CENTRE Most popular pledges from Young Persons groups Eat less junk food Less time on their phones Drink more water Page 9

6 We spoke to 93 Mental Health Service Users Their most common barriers to self care I struggle to go places on public transport I m too poorly to change how I live my life Medication makes me feel down, it s hard to get the motivation to get up and go Costs make it hard to eat healthily From Bradford Talking Media Volunteers Keighley Moving Forward Group They had these ideas about improving self care messages I would like more interactive sessions like the ones we just had I find it useful to see messages on social media I would be more likely to respond to messages told by my peers in videos or posters It would be good to have events at local mosques Centre for Deaf People Bradford Moving Forward Groups Sharing Voices Groups khl Roshni Ghar Womens Group Most popular pledges from Mental Health Groups Better eating and drinking habits More exercise Focus on mental wellbeing Page 11

7 We spoke to 32 Older Eastern Europeans From Ukrainian Centre Polish Community Centre Eastern European Wellbeing Cafe As far as barriers to self care were concerned they commented that But we need help with transport so that we don t become isolated They had these ideas about improving self care messages When you help others you help yourself When you socialise you don t think about being ill We have lived a long time so we think we are doing ok Cooking from scratch keeps me healthy I keep active working around the house & garden The Good Shepherd Centre Most popular pledges from Older Eastern European Group Use less sugar Make more time just for me Do more physical activities Page 13

8 MAYFIELD CENTRE Key Observations Whilst bringing the findings of our engagement together, a number of observations were made. PLEDGES MADE The majority of pledges made were focussed on improvements linked to diet and exercise. BARRIERS TO SELF CARE The main barriers that people highlighted included cost, accessibility, being unwell, lack of motivation and being too busy. Some of the young people also told us that bad choices were usually the easiest choices. People also told us: WE KNOW ABOUT SELF CARE - This was clear from all the groups we spoke to. Whilst most felt balanced in their everyday health and wellbeing choices, they also recognised where small changes could be made. WE ARE INTERESTED IN THE INFORMATION YOU GIVE US ABOUT LOOKING AFTER OURSELVES - On the whole people were keen to talk, be involved in and enjoyed the activities we facilitated. BEING TOGETHER/ATTENDING ACTIVITIES IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF SELF CARE - Young people felt that undergoing challenges with, amongst, and against their peers would encourage them to enhance their self care practices. Other members saw their attendance and participation within community based groups/activities as an important part of maintaining their own self care. LOOKING AFTER OUR MENTAL HEALTH IS SELF CARE - Young people and members from the mental health groups were very aware of the importance of looking after their own mental health and emotional wellbeing. YOUNG PEOPLE - Although we spoke to young people of a very similar age their attitudes towards certain aspects of self care differed. Young people at Beckfoot Upper Heaton were into energy drinks where those from the Baildon Youth Council were clearly opposed to using energy drinks. There was also resistance from the young people at Baildon Youth Council to make pledges as they felt their choices were balanced already, however the young people at Beckfoot Upper Heaton were keen and felt they needed to make pledges. It s clear that young people are influenced by the social culture which they are a part of, therefore what their peers think is really important. Adult role models also play a big part in the decisions that young people make. OLDER EASTERN EUROPEAN GROUPS - Most members of this group presented in an almost stoic fashion, where their overall attitude was to get on with things and keep active. That way they don t have time to think about any ailments they may experience. They did however highlight their concerns about the younger generation not taking responsibility for themselves and relying on others to do everything for them. MENTAL HEALTH GROUPS Members within these groups highlighted the importance of looking after their own mental health and wellbeing. They feel that this is made more difficult by pressures related to benefits, money, and access to support services. Members within these groups are ultimately concerned about how the additional challenges will impact their overall wellbeing. Polish Community Centre Centre for Deaf People Baildon Community Link khl Page 15

9 Considerations for the future Throughout our engagement we spoke directly to people who were already actively engaged in community/social activity groups. The vast majority of attendees acknowledged that attending these groups are part of their self care routine which helps to maintain good mental health and wellbeing. People see the groups as somewhere that they can get advice and support from, on matters such as their overall health and wellbeing, and where they can share and discuss what s on their minds with people they trust. Future self care activities would be well received within these groups and would possibly have the most impact. Equipping these groups with the necessary tools and resources to facilitate their own self care sessions could offer an alternative way of promoting self care messages in the future. Individuals who are not actively engaged with regular group activities, but who may benefit from receiving positive self care messages, were much more difficult to identify and engage with. Allowing more time for our engagement would allow us to explore links with other potential places where we know people have to be. These could include employers, job centres, colleges and schools as examples. Developing partnerships where self care can be included within existing activities at such places may enable us to reach a broader number of people to positively promote self care too.