Community Intelligence Bursary

What is the Community Intelligence Bursary

The Community Intelligence Bursary (CIB) is a jointly funded programme between Healthwatch Tower Hamlets and NHS Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group.

The aim of the Bursary programme is to ensure that the needs and views of the local community directly impact on how services are designed and commissioned in Tower Hamlets. Bursary recipients will gather community feedback and compile individual reports around key priority areas. The individual reports will then be combined into an overarching community intelligence report outlining key issues and recommendations to commissioners and providers.

The CIB programme also provides the opportunity for stakeholders to align their priorities based on community intelligence and to share the information and learning more strategically to avoid duplication.

Summary

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Summary of Bursary Projects

Area / Community Intelligence Needed / Organisation and brief project proposal
Carers / What are the views of carers as to what support they need in order to continue their caring role? Particular interest in informal carers views on whether they feel services recognise they are providing this role, young carers, carers of people accessing community health services and carers of people with learning disabilities. / Account 3 ‘Who Cares’ Project
Focusing on the challenges, issues faced by informal carers and recommendations or solutions from their perspectives. It will provide informal carers the opportunity to actually design the study and guide the priorities. Using participatory appraisal /focus groups and in depth one to one discovery interviews. 40 informal carers
Black Women’s Health and Family Services
One to one, group and telephone interviews with Somali female carers on the nature of their own and cared-for persons’ health needs, how Somali- carers identify and engage with services and perceptions of how they might best be made aware of services, initiatives appropriate to their own and families’ health and wellbeing needs. 30 50 informal carers.
Asian People’s Disability Alliance
One to one interviews and small focus groups with older Asian women carers. 30‐40
Older people / What are the views of younger older people on the type of health and social care services that they would like to be available to them, if they should need care and support in the future? i.e. care homes, supported housing, support in their own home, use of technology. Particularly exploring ethnic minority groups views on caring. / The Collective of Bangladeshi School Governors.
Gathering views of Bangladeshi older people (50-60) on the types of health and social care services they would like to receive in the future whether it is do with care home provision or support with technology, etc. questionnaires, interviews and workshops. 40-50 Older People
St Hilda’s
Looking at how GP services could be better designed to meet the needs older people from across Bangladeshi, Caribbean and White communities. 200 older people t
Year Here
Working with older vulnerable and/or isolated people in Poplar and Limehouse to gather intelligence and inspiration on: how they currently interact with voluntary and statutory health and social care services, as well as informal support – and how they plan to engage with these services as they age further; the sources of health-related information they receive; any barriers they face in receiving information, practical support and care that is timely, holistic and high-quality; the intersection between health and social care and other key aspects of their life – such as housing, culture and religion, financial hardship;
2 focus groups with at least six people, 25 one-to-one interviews using canvas cards or lifelines, 2 popup engagement events.92 in total
Children / Understanding the underlying causes of childhood obesity. / Bangladeshi Football Association
Exploring: existing knowledge of 5-11 year olds of healthy eating and living; children’s after school eating habits; the reasons for eating chicken and chips after school or after training/matches; parents attitudes to healthy eating and their reasons for offering chicken and chips after school or after training/matches.
Young people / How can we support young people to articulate what good wellbeing is and to develop promotional messages? / Leaders in Community
Developing peer researchers to undertake surveys and focus groups to gather feedback on young people’s understanding of mental health and wellbeing issues. The aim is to create and promote a social action campaign regarding a strand of mental health that is known to be affecting young people across the Borough.
Cancer Services / What is the experience of cancer patients of community services and how they can be improved? / Toynbee Hall
Under taking primary research on the experience of needs and support and mapping the availability of health and support services for vulnerable cancer patients. Plan to:
-  Map 2000 cancer patients who use Toynbee Hall advice services;
-  Conduct a focus group of 6 cancer patients;
-  Carry out in-depth interviews with 12 individuals who vary in terms of experiences and backgrounds
GP Practices / How could GP Practices play a greater role as places to receive wider health and wellbeing support, i.e. linking patients into health programmes, community services, welfare support, social activities etc?
Where else could people seek advice and help for wider health and wellbeing support? / Asian Women Lone Parent Association
Asian lone mothers, all who have been through domestic violence. Looking at how we can improve Asian lone mothers’ health and wellbeing through better services. What would they like from their GP? What are the barriers to them accessing health services? Ten to 15 women at a focus group.
Al Isharah
How GP practices could play an important role in improving access and services for deaf and hard of hearing (HOH) people. i.e. health programmes, community services, welfare support, social activities etc. and investigate where else deaf people could seek advice and help for wider health and wellbeing support. It will include identification of communication barriers and needs for deaf and HOH people and better understand the impacts of poor communication. 300 deaf and HOH people and their families through one to one interviews and focus groups.
Integrated Care / Stalwart
What immediate and longer-term benefits might accrue to the community and its health services from the introduction of family-centred health education, and what resources might be needed to deliver it? Family interviews in the home. 40 families, each including five or more individuals – the patient and at least four others.
Eden Care
A patient led research documentary on people, or families of people, who are long term sick or reaching end of life. Targeting BME communities and needy working class communities. 10 to 15 service users or families. 3 or 4 community leaders, policy makers and frontline practitioners. 5 members of the general public.
Eastern European / What are the needs, experience and expectations of the growing Eastern European community in Tower Hamlets? / DASL
Exploring the main support needs of people from EEC and why those needs might not be currently being met, what might some of the blocks or barriers be to people accessing services?
Includes 1:1 interviews and focus groups, targeting criteria gleaned from Public Health England statistics for Tower Hamlets and the particulars of health affecting migrant communities from EE. 75 EE Migrants, 25 Professionals Stakeholders
Dual diagnosis / What are the experiences of people who have mental illness and a substance misuse and/or alcohol issues?
What are the issues of accessing services?
What would help people to move forward in their lives? / Providence Row
Dual Diagnosis clients with a focus on those with homelessness histories. Focus on identifying barriers impacting access to and engagement with services. Research conducted by peer consultants will identify ways to provide more accessible integrated services, resulting in better physical and mental health outcomes. 50-70 clients
East London Radio
Adult African Somalian men with drug issues re khat and Mephedrone (Meow-Meow). Tools to be used: questionnaires, audio-visual, podcasts, Google Hangout and Conference Call using one of two radio studios in east London webinars, public events etc.

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