KESS2 Scholarship: Developing a conversation about identifying community needs to embrace well-being through social prescribing interventions. (Masters by research)

The NHS faces increasing pressure on resources as a result of an ageing population with chronic illnesses and complex issues as well as health inequalities. In primary care GPs spend almost a fifth of their time on social issues which don’t directly relate to the health of the patient eg financial difficulties, social isolation. GPs may not be in a position to are often assist patients with their social issues and evidence is emerging that holistic approaches linking social care to primary care may be cost effective in supporting patient’s needs. Social Prescribing (SP) can help patients through referring them to non-clinical services which promote health and well-being, boosts social inclusion and builds resilience through the development of social capital and build of community capacity. SP interventions may help reduce healthcare use to promote system sustainability and prevent unnecessary medicalisation of physical or mental health conditions. The beneficiaries of targeted schemes include the elderly, carers, or those with housing difficulties. Grŵp Cynefin would like to expand and offer SP interventions through the new community health and wellbeing hub within the Nantlle Valley community but need to identify the community appetite to embrace wellbeing improvements through co-design.

Masters by Research
This Masters by research project will enable the organisations to identify key SP projects and interventions that will meet the needs of the community, improving wellbeing and increase opportunities for employment and skills development all leading to improved health and wellbeing among the community. Central to delivering this vision of this new community health and wellbeing hub is understanding the barriers and opportunities through co-design of delivery of SP interventions in meeting community needs and delivering changes in health and wellbeing outcomes among the community.

This Masters by Research project will take a mixed method approach and a scoping review of the literature will be done to examine the evidence on community wellbeing through co-design development of SP interventions addressing community needs leading to improved health and wellbeing outcomes. This project will provide tangible evidence on the specific SP intervention programmes required within the Nantlle valley community and provide valuable insight on specific projects and interventions that will increase health and wellbeing among this community. This project will establish the need for a new community health and wellbeing hub within the community to embrace wellbeing in provision of improved outcomes for the community who often have complex issues and needs. In addition, this research project should establish current SP projects as well as provide guidance on new SP projects that will meet community needs and promote wellbeing in the community for SP interventions.

Successful candidates will need to be able to demonstrate excellent communication and organisational skills with experience in successfully managing projects and preparing written reports to a high standard. The expertise within both the academic and company supervisors will ensure that the successful applicant will receive excellent support and guidance within a dynamic and experienced team.

Applications
Applications should include a CV with two named referees and a covering letter via email to Dr Lynch cc to Penny Dowdney ([Email Address Removed]) by 17:00 on 22/11/2019. We welcome applications in either English or Welsh.
The successful applicant will be required to start on the 01/02/2020.