As Gateway Healthy Futures is in month 10 of its pilot period, we want to show you the range of support the service offers, by letting you hear two patients’ stories, in their own words.
Gateway Healthy Futures is a GP-referred service, supporting patients with a broad range of social needs. GPs can refer anyone that needs non-medical help, and they’ll get one-to-one support from an experienced para-professional.
What sort of social needs?
From the discussions that took place before we started, we had made a few assumptions about the support that people would need. We had expected to see mostly older people, and for their issues to centre on long term conditions or isolation. We also expected that the level of support provided would vary, from a fairly light touch to working with people more intensively. But we quickly found that the cases being referred to us are a lot more complex than this.
Rather than the frail, elderly demographic that we were expecting, around 70% of the people GPs refer to us are under 65 – and all have needed intensive support from a para-professional Practice Navigator, rather than lower-level support from a Volunteer Befriender.
The most common issues GPs refer patients to us with are related to mental health (for example low reported wellbeing). Social isolation is a big issue, but this isn’t usually related to age – the reasons are many and varied. As well as people who want support to manage long term conditions, we are seeing a lot of alcohol dependency, anxiety and depression, accommodation issues and financial hardship.
How do we help?
The model we use is flexible and so it works for everyone, young and old. The Practice Navigators work one-to-one with patients to come up with a credible action plan, based not just on the needs highlighted by their GP, but on the patient’s own lifestyle and the pace that suits them. We help people to start living more independently almost immediately, and the network Gateway has built up over the years means that we can signpost people to a huge range of other services for help going forward.
Gateway Healthy Futures was designed, and is being piloted, in partnership with MyHealthcare. To find out more, or to refer patients into the service, GPs and Practice Managers should call 0121 456 7820 and ask for Gateway Healthy Futures.
Meet Arlene, Aisha and Brandon
Arlene Lawrence (pictured) is a Practice Navigator with Gateway Healthy Futures. She joined the team from a background in childcare and family work and has been supporting a number of patients with very different needs.
Each patient gets around ten sessions of support, depending on their needs, and these sessions are patient-driven. Practice Navigators work closely with their clients to come up with an action plan based on their own priorities, which is often hugely helpful in itself as it forces people to focus.
Two of Arlene’s clients, Aisha and Brandon, have recorded some audio so you can hear their stories in their own words.
Aisha’s story
Aisha is in her 30s. She suffers from anxiety and depression and is dependent on alcohol, which has led to her leaving work and missing rent payments. Aisha’s immediate concern was that her landlord was taking her to court over unpaid rent, but she and Arlene have also talked through what she wants and needs in the longer term.
They’ve only been working together for a few weeks but Arlene has already accompanied Aisha to housing meetings, and to the court hearing. She’s referred Aisha to a recovery agency, a counselling organisation and a Health Trainer and – thanks to Arlene’s ongoing support – Aisha has been making the appointments. In the clip Aisha explains the difference the support has made and positive impact Gateway Healthy Futures has had on her life.
Arlene says, “it’s hard because I’m here in a professional capacity, but I do give out a lot of hugs! A lot of people just haven’t had any level of support before, so you have to work together to create the boundaries. Working with Aisha to create an action plan has been beneficial because she knows there’s a cut-off date and she’s had to decide exactly what she wants out of this support and her future. She’s already made a lot of positive changes.”
Brandon’s story
Brandon is 20 and has a learning disability, with related anxiety and depression. He has been living at home but because his family life is quite chaotic, he wants to start living independently. However, until he was referred to Gateway Healthy Futures, he didn’t know where to begin.
Arlene has worked with Brandon to come up with an action plan based on his immediate needs – in this case, applying for the PIP payments he was entitled to – and what he would like to do in the future. He indicated that he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to go to college or straight into work, so Arlene accompanied him to a college for people with learning difficulties to find out more about completing his GCSEs, and helped him to prepare for job interviews by helping him to find clothes and bus fare. In the audio clip, they’re on their way to Rathbone’s – an organisation that Brandon hadn’t been aware of before he met Arlene – who have helped him to find a flat with supported living.
Arlene says, “working with Brandon makes me feel quite positive about young people! The flat where he’ll be living, down the road from his mum’s, is perfect. He’ll have company from his housemates, and six hours of support a week, with cookery lessons and sports activities available to him. He’s finding out what he wants out of life and he’s on track to get a warehouse job or something similar. It’s looking good for him now.”
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