The Community Foundation for Staffordshire, working in partnership with North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, has launched the third grant round as part of the Community Mental Health Transformation Programme.
This is one of a series of community grants that are available to support adults in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent who live with a severe mental illness. This third grant round is focused on improving digital inclusion and engagement.
Two local organisations have been successful in their applications as part of this grant round and are now able to deliver free sessions for service users of Combined Healthcare, Raparu CIC and Asha.
Raparu aims to promote the use of digital technology to improve health and wellbeing. Asha provides support and promotes social inclusion for asylum seekers, refugees and those who don’t speak English as their first language.
A key element of this funding, which allows partnership working between Combined Healthcare, Raparu and Asha, is to improve the digital skills of service users. The organisations will help to help increase service users’ confidence when using PatientAide, an online tool that allows patients to access their health documents all in one place and manage their appointments.
Working with people who have been signposted from Combined Healthcare services, Raparu will facilitate face-to-face sessions at a variety of community locations where service users are welcome to take a friend/carer with them. Asha will deliver face-to-face sessions from its location in Hanley
Liz Mellor, Chief Strategy Officer at Combined Healthcare, commented on the third grant round:
“These grant awards have allowed us to forge new partnerships that support the trust’s commitment to improving access and reducing health inequalities. It is fantastic that the sessions planned will support people to feel digitally confident when navigating mental health services. I look forward to enabling our adult community teams to use the bespoke sessions to support our service users and their families and seeing the impact from this grant round.”
Further information, location and contact details can be found on the leaflets linked here: Asha – session information leaflet and Raparu – session information leaflet. Asha leaflets in alternative languages are available on request.
Sessions are currently scheduled to take place during July 2024 with further dates anticipated for September. Please register your interest with your clinician if you wish to take part in the session, as spaces are limited.
If you have any queries or would like further information please contact John Roberts, Service Manager, john.roberts@combined.nhs.uk, Bex Stubbs, TMO Project Manager, rebecca.stubbs@combined.nhs.uk or Louise Wright, Digital Transformation Specialist, louise.wright@combined.nhs.uk.