CONTACT, HELP, ADVICE and INFORMATION NETWORK mutual support network for health & social care professionals

What CHAIN offers? CHAIN’s PURPOSE IS TO HELP YOU REACH OTHER PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE NOT IN YOUR NORMAL CIRCLE OF CONTACTS

CHAIN membership – by Profession

CHAIN membership - by main interest

So what is CHAIN & where did it come from? u Origins in the UK NHS Research & Devt. Programme u A 14 year old ‘social network’ for mutual support u Established to link people across health & social care ‘family’ u multi-professional, and cross-organisational u Free & simple to use u Resourced by 8 stakeholders, including DoH & Macmillan Cancer Support

Main benefits of membership u Searchable online directory: Contact other members directly u Targeted information from CHAIN: Events, conferences, resources, funding opportunities u Publicise information Resources, events u Requests for information from other members: Asking for advice, seeking collaborators

u Members join voluntarily u Motivated & responsive to messages u A rich source of contacts to tap into u Members like to broadcast; appreciate targeted info u Efficient onward dissemination u Members can use the network in many different ways. Why CHAIN works

u ‘I would say the advantages of being part of CHAIN are: –you receive information that may not reach you by any other source, and you only receive information or requests targeted to your areas of interest –to get help from fellow professionals, e.g. I used it to ask if anyone knew of a cost benefit analysis of anticipatory prescribing for palliative care drugs at end of life...’ Jane Andrew Practice Educator/Specialist Palliative Care Royal Victoria Hospital, Dundee What do members say

u ‘What a diverse group we are: professionals (from) trusts and educational institutions all accessing information provided by CHAIN; this is probably unique… an excellent example of remote/IT- friendly, multi-professional team working and sharing of best practice.’ Wendy White Assistant Director HR East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust What do members say

u ‘I used CHAIN recently to request feedback on practice guideline documents that I had developed as part of my PhD project on bereavement care for older people. I received twelve responses from people in a range of roles and with an interest in bereavement and bereavement care. The responses I received to my request via CHAIN were very helpful.’ Audrey Stephen CSO Research Training Fellow The Robert Gordon University

CHAIN today... u Unique, evaluated, trusted, used & appreciated u Positive external evaluations: University of London, 2004, BMJ Tribal, 2006 Manchester Business School, 2008 u 12,000+ members in total u An average of 100 new joiners each month u UK-wide, plus Canada, Australia, Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy … and 40 other countries Worldwide

CHAIN stakeholders

Join us today … Web: Follow CHAIN updates on: “CHAIN provides an opportunity to find out what is happening within health & social care regionally and nationally, a source of e-networking, exchange of ideas, and not having to re-invent the wheel”