Agenda item

31.1     The Consultant in Public Health introduced a report and presentation on Connecting People and Places, an Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) commissioned project to combat loneliness in East Sussex. The presentation included the Department’s work with Collaborate consultancy on forming recommendations to develop a system led approach to combatting loneliness. The Committee heard that these recommendations were detailed in the 2022/23 East Sussex Director of Public Health Report.

31.2     The Committee heard details of one of the recommendations which was to develop a stewardship approach. This involved moving away from traditional performance management towards shared learning between organisations, including voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners. A newly formed Stewardship Group would be led by the Sussex Community Development Association and East Sussex Community Voice would be the lead on evaluation. The Stewardship Group was first due to meet in spring 2024.

31.3     The Committee heard about other planned work in response to the recommendations, including developing a communication strategy; evaluation and research; creating a Connection Test to increase connections between people through policy; ongoing community engagement; training; and developing Connect the Connectors (volunteers who would connect people with the community). This work would support other existing council strategies, including social prescribing, community networks and Family Hubs.

31.4     The Chair thanked the Consultant in Public Health for the presentation. The Committee asked questions and made comments on the following areas:

•     Loneliness Champions - The Committee sought clarification on the role of Loneliness Champions. The Consultant in Public Health responded that although details of this scheme were still being planned, Champions would have a role in educating people about loneliness, as well as community activities and the support available. The Consultant highlighted the importance of using considered language when discussing loneliness to reduce potential stigma.

•     Work with the private sector - The Committee recognised the importance of the VCSE sector in this work and enquired about the role of the private sector in developing this system approach to loneliness, including if delivery drivers could help identify people in the community who may need support. The Consultant informed the Committee that ongoing training was designed to equip more people, including those in the private sector, to recognise the signs of loneliness so that they could signpost to support. He noted positive examples that were already helping people in the community which they were seeking to learn from and build on, including recent work with a men’s mental health project which was training local business to identify men who may need support with their mental health. The Lead Member for ASCH commented that this was an innovative approach to working and emphasised the importance of engaging with and working collaboratively with a range of partners.

•     Training – The Committee asked for more information about the planned training. The Consultant responded that training was still being developed but that it would focus on the concepts of stewardship and human learning, as well as understanding loneliness and how to support people in the community.  

•     Evaluation - The Committee asked about how the system led approach would be evaluated and what the expected outcomes were, for example if the Department was expecting to see fewer referrals to its services. The Consultant responded that some aspects of the work, for example changes in mindset, were difficult to measure, but they could measure engagement through activities and events, including training. East Sussex Community Voice would be leading on evaluation, and it would be the responsibility of the Stewardship Group to hold each other to account. The Director of ASCH added that the Department was hoping to see a reduction in referrals as a result of this work, although it was difficult to attribute these outcomes to specific initiatives. The Director noted as well as engaging with partners on measuring outcomes from this project, the new stewardship approach could potentially address current wider challenges, including a changing demographic, increase in need and a reduction in funding, and was a key part of prevention. The stewardship approach allowed for co-production with organisations that know and work with communities which would bring in wider expertise and a sharing of resources; the success of this approach would be evaluated to see if it could be used elsewhere.

•     Sustainability of the programme – The Committee sought clarification on how the programme was funded and the anticipated timelines for the Stewardship Group. The Consultant informed the Committee that ASCH had provided funding to establish the stewardship approach and take forward the recommendations. He clarified that this funding would not support specific projects on loneliness but would focus on establishing a collaborative system. There were projects already in place in the county seeking to address loneliness and part of this work would be to understand and evaluate what was working well and communicate these to communities. The Consultant informed the Committee that evaluations were planned at 12 and 18 months which would include developing a case for further investment.

31.5     The Committee discussed the importance of tackling loneliness, noting that it affected a wide range of people. The Committee recognised the challenges with engaging with people who do not want support as well as those that are not online. The Committee noted good practice in local areas, including GP surgeries and VCSE organisations, and offered to share local examples of this work with officers.

31.6     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report and request a further update in 6-12 months time to understand how work was progressing.