Summary

About the study

In September 2019 Wokingham Borough Council engaged Joy as the core social prescribing and community referrals tool being used across the borough to help address the social determinants of health. The primary needs social prescribers identified were; limited knowledge of available services due to outdated directories and purely anecdotal evidence around outcomes for service users in regards to attendance and wellbeing.

Participants

The Joy platform was rolled out to main referrers including staff at five PCNs, 83 VCFS organisations, 200 staff in Adult Social Care, the Community Navigation service and Memory Clinic to a population of around 164,980.

How was it facilitated?

Joy is a dynamic technology solution consisting of various tools that all work cohesively and consist of the following:

Depending on their role, we provided access to any and all parts of the system we believed would be the most helpful in the immediate.

Key findings

Through Joy’s smart search and filtering functions the key needs of the population were quickly identified and revealed to be the following:

1. Mental Health
2. Loneliness/isolation
3. Support for carers
4. Managing Long Term Health Conditions

Joy’s smart search and filter function not only identifies key needs, but also highlights gaps in provision. Wokingham Borough Council were able to see that there were high search volumes for the following, but limited to no services in place.

1. Mental health provision for younger people
2. Group exercise for older people (Tai-Chi)
3. Support for victims of abuse (stalking, domestic violence)
4. Post-natal support
5. Substance abuse support

With this data, the council can manage their budgets more efficiently and direct funds to where they're needed most. In this particular study, Mind was commissioned to provide additional support in the borough.

Key outcomes

Using the Joy platform streamlined the process of social prescribing for front line staff so they spent more time with patients. On average they spent 15% more time with patients than they had previously. This was due to the expediency of locating an appropriate service via the marketplace and the referral process.
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Visibility and consistency of outcomes achieved by social prescribing activity was improved across multiple agencies/projects/initiatives. This was largely due to the data captured automatically on the Insights Dashboard and the fact thatJoy integrated seamlessly with current systems like EMIS Web. 

Perhaps the most encouraging statistic was that referrals made via Joy had a 75% client attendance rate compared with a 10% attendance rate for clients who were signposted using a paper flyer. This increased attendance organically led to double the amount of post-referral wellbeing assessment data being reported. On average, client wellbeing was reported to increase by 28% after attending a service referred to via Joy.

For the community and voluntary organisations themselves, inappropriate referrals were reduced and 93% of referrals were accepted. This is largely due to the service access criteria explicitly outlined on all listings on the Marketplace. By ensuring content is current and accurate, service providers can feel more confident when making referrals. They can also track the lifecycle of their referrals, so there’s a clear outcome and no one falls through the cracks.

During Covid-19 the self-referral pathway was introduced, so people were able to refer themselves to social prescribing initiatives and community support without having to first visit a GP. Opening the Marketplace to the public ensured there was an active, up-to-date record of services throughout the pandemic resulting in over 100 self-referrals being made through the Marketplace over an 8-month period.

Conclusion

Due to the success of the pilot program between Wokingham Borough Council and Joy, the Joy platform was commissioned and subsequently rolled out across the borough. Over 83 community organisations have been onboarded thus far and a healthy, collaborative ecosystem of support for service users is growing in real time.  Joy is continuing to evolve to meet the demands of the UK’s burgeoning social prescribing effort. We want to help foster greater community within the UK and beyond. We at Joy fully believe that with the right tools and support, everyone can meet their full potential.