Farnham Making Connections

What is Farnham Making Connections? It is a multi-agency project and is about putting the people of Farnham at the centre of what they want to do, enabling them to live – as close as possible – to the life they would like. People who lead happy and social lives enjoy better health and wellbeing. The project is aimed at people aged 50 years and over. There is no formal referral criteria, but it is aimed at those who are lonely or socially isolated and who could benefit from referral to voluntary and community services. The aims of the project are to: Improve the health and well-being outcomes for the people of Farnham Achieve more appropriate use of health and social services Maximise the use of community resources and build on the use of volunteers and existing voluntary and community services so that people can access the right support Enable the people of Farnham to be proactive in managing their own health and well being

Scope, Timescales & Base Scope The project will target those who are and over from each of the five GP practices and from the Farnham Integrated Care Team: Timescale The project will roll out over 5 weeks starting with the Downing Street practice from Monday 3 August, with each of the other practices rolling out each week – order of the roll-out to be agreed with each practice Where will the Farnham Making Connections Team be based? They will have a base at Farnham Centre for Health co-located with the Farnham Integrated Care Team and in Farnham Library co-located with Voluntary Action South West Surrey

Referral & what happens next? Referral forms will be available on-line via the GP system and in paper form The Farnham Making Connections Team will make contact with the person referred and arrange to visit them at home During the visit the Making Connections Co-ordinator will ask each person to complete a wellbeing scale and undertake a ‘guided conversation’ targeted towards older people – this may mean more than 1 visit (average 3 visits) The Farnham Making Connections Team will help the person identify their goals and develop a plan that pulls together the appropriate statutory, voluntary and community services and support Where needed, the Team will support the person in achieving their goals, this could mean accompanying them and supporting them in accessing activities or services The Farnham Making Connections Team will make regular visits to the practices The “guided conversation” summary will be returned to the GP

Key Project Outcomes & Measures Improved self reported sense of wellbeing, health and quality of life An increase in self-confidence and self-reliance Improved access, awareness and connections to community activities Reduction in frequency of GP visits of those who are considered “frequent fliers” The achievement of personal goals/individual aims The numbers of people who achieved their aims Numbers accessing services Numbers who are referred from the GP to the Farnham Making Connections project Number of people who access services that have been referred by the Team The numbers of people who go on to support the project through volunteering Number of contacts undertaken to arrange a meeting The experience of the interaction with the Farnham Making Connections Team