Active Essex
The Prevention and Enablement Model (PEM) was a two-year test and learn initiative which used a whole systems approach to embedding physical activity into health and social care. The strategic partnership was formed between Active Essex, Essex County Council Adult Social Care and Sport for Confidence CIC and recently had a two-year evaluation completed by the University of Essex, to understand the impact and learnings. As part of the model there was a focus on four work streams. These were: Physical Activity within Occupational Therapy, Strength and Balance, Community Partnerships and Care Homes. The reason for the model was to gain understanding on the impact of system-led opportunities, embedding physical activity and enabling workforce development.
The biggest impact was seen in the Community Partnerships workstream within the model, which takes place at local leisure centres in Essex. Community Partnerships focused on supporting those living with disabilities and long-term health conditions by encouraging access to Occupational Therapy (OT) support through Sport for Confidence CIC. As part of the programme individuals could take part in a variety of group physical activity sessions and make use of the leisure facilities.
More information about PEM and the full evaluation report can be found here: https://www.activeessex.org/local-delivery-pilot/our-bigger-projects/pem/
The Community Partnerships Workstream, led by Sport for Confidence CIC, ensured that the programme was co-designed with potential users to be fully inclusive. Firstly, the activity sessions in leisure centres had a ‘no labels’ approach, meaning the group activities weren’t just for those living with a specific long term health condition or disability, everyone who was accessing the OT support could take part in the sessions together. Bringing users to the centre to access the OT support and activity sessions meant that the individuals could build up their confidence and independence in a community setting. For example, the OT would help users to understand the building and amenities, how to pay for sessions or food at the café and who to communicate with at the centre if they needed anything. In addition to the OT support, sports coaches leading the activity sessions were also trained to ensure activities would be fully inclusive and adapted to all abilities. The choice of group activities was designed by users of the programme, therefore if a couple of individuals wanted to try basketball, this would be trialled on the timetable and if it remained popular would become a permanent addition. The leisure centre staff were also able to build on their inclusivity training and ensure the centre was fully accessible with the support from the OT. This led to understanding the requirements for different individuals accessing the centre. The impact of the community partnerships model showed that for every £1 invested this has created a £58.71 return on social investment. In addition, the community partnerships workstream was able to significantly improve individuals’ confidence, independence, activity levels and happiness. The evaluation showed that individuals had a self-reported decrease in service use (e.g. GP appointments and day care use). Further, a novel aspect of the evaluation was to follow the 2021 Wellbeing Supplementary Guidance in the Treasury’s Green Book and apply the treasury recommended WELLBY to monetise the wellbeing value of PEM. Taking the difference reported by individuals about to start PEM to those with over one month of involvement in PEM, this difference in life satisfaction is estimated to equate to a monetary value of £22,230 per person per year.
Quote from PEM service user “Doing something that I used to do a long time ago but haven’t done since being disabled it’s really kind of made me realise that there’s this whole world of sport and things I can do, that I just thought it would be beyond my reach. And that my life was kind of much smaller and much more limited to kind of safe activities.”
Overall, the Community Partnerships workstream has supported individuals to reconnect with their community through the use and support given by Sport for Confidence CIC in the leisure centres. Although there can be challenges with having a ‘no labels’ approach to activities. The workforce development for all the staff in the leisure centre played a key role in supporting individuals to feel welcome and access all the facilities.
