BIG winners making great progress

Many of our winning BIG Ideas have now come to an end and final updates from some of those are below.

You can read earlier reports and more details about these projects on the now archived Bright Ideas Grant website by clicking on the Bright Ideas Grant pod from the home page of this website.

Red Jug and Beaker Scheme

Matron Sharon Brierley, at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, won £500 from the Bright Ideas Grant for the 'red jug' scheme. She said "Whilst on the ward I noticed some of our older patients struggling to lift heavy water jugs and beakers,"

To combat the problem, Sharon devised the idea of a red, lightweight jug and beaker. The lightweight jugs and beakers are specially designed for patients to lift and grip more easily. Their colour corresponds with the red tray scheme which was introduced in 2007, to help patients who have difficulty eating. Having been trialled on ward D3, the scheme will now be rolled out across the Trust, and that's not all - Stepping Hill hospital has received approaches from other hospitals interested in the concept and it will be extended across other hospitals in the North West.

Foundation for the Study of Infant Death (FSID)

Many of the administrators trained through the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death winning project have reported at the three month evaluation period that their training has resulted in their local Child Death Overview Panels (CDOP) having adapted their practice, or even just the wording and timing of the letter concerning the CDR process. Some are spreading the word further and have adapted the training themselves to deliver locally to a wider group of their colleagues and others had made a specific commitment to engage with families personally, in order to elicit comment from parents and improve practice across all aspects of the multi-agency investigation and review process. Although these changes may seem small they can make a huge difference to the dignity of bereaved parents involved in this process and the training itself has empowered administrators to feel more confident in their roles and to recognise and value the crucial role they play.

Lights Camera Action

This project involves supporting residents in four care homes - Rebecca Court, St Edmunds, Philadelphia House and Rose Meadow, to produce and star in a DVD which explains what dignity really means to someone living in a care home.

They hope it provides a useful training resource to care staff when delivering person centered care. You can read more about this project at the news article below.

Time to Read Project

Since May 2010, the project has been working with groups in different care settings testing out different approaches to setting up and running successful reading groups in social care settings.

As part of the project they have produced a facilitators support pack to help staff and volunteers set up and run their own reading groups.

Please feel free to download the pack (link below) and use locally if you find it helpful.

Nothing About Us Without Us

The "Nothing about us without us" project is led by by Kensington & Chelsea (K&C) Local Involvement Network (LINk) was one of the Bright Ideas Grant winners and received £2,750 of the total £50K BIG prize fund.

Local people identified dignity as a priority for improving care services in the borough. K&C LINk, which represents approximately 600 people who use and share a passion for helping shape person-centred services in the borough, felt peer research would be an effective way of assessing the experiences of service users locally. They recruited people to act as 'Dignity Champions.'

The LINk trains local people as 'Dignity Champions' on a rolling basis through three key stages:

· Introduction to Dignity - interested members join together over morning tea for an interactive session on 'dignity', the 'Dignity in Care' campaign and their experiences in practice.

· Specialist Training - the interested Champions then move on to acquiring specialist knowledge in their area of interest. Nutrition and safeguarding have been the specialist areas run to date.

· Assessor Training - all members are then offered the opportunity to attend 'Enter and View' training to raise their awareness of the legislative powers of the LINk under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act. Members meet to draft the assessment tool for use in their sector setting e.g. residential care home or hospital. They also agree on the research methodology - usually a mixture of observation, interviews with service users, staff, visitors and documentary analysis.

Ongoing, interactive and social meetings ("Support Circles") help ensure all members feel supported on the project and can share their experiences in a friendly environment. Nine Dignity Champions conducted the assessments over five days at different mealtimes at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust. Feedback on their experience includes:

"It was eye-opening .... So many little things that could be done and make such a difference"

"It is not so much what they are doing but more the little things that can be so easily overlooked. That is where we can help."

"Great use of the LINk powers and local people"

Memory Sensory Garden

The Old Rectory was awarded £5000 for their Memory and Sensory Garden project through the Bright Ideas Grant. We felt that it would be fantastic for their service users to have a quiet outdoor area where they could reminisce and relax. The garden is nearly complete with thanks to the professional landscapers and many volunteers who have worked extremely hard for very little reward. They held an open day on 25 September where they showcased what had been done to date and get some more ideas on what can be put in to stimulate reminiscence.

The garden has been specifically designed for dementia residents and therefore has been paved with no dead ends, although it is open to all of their service users, families and friends. They have selected plants especially to bring back memories but would particularly like to get some more feature items,

The Garden has already been used and thoroughly enjoyed by their residents. It has given some a new lease of life and allows them some independence and dignity as it allows them to go outside on their own. The residents have taken great pleasure from the whole project from the beginning asking friends and family to vote for the idea, celebrating winning the grant, selecting what they would like in the garden, chatting with the workers (especially the soldiers who did the ground work) and finally enjoying the garden

Have a Go Heroes

Have a Go Heroes wants to help strengthen the social networks of older people to help the informal support services that may be under threat - as well as make the most of existing support by using a web based platform to promote and reach out to those isolated within communities.

However, they recognise that a fully inclusive online future is still some way off and so any service that they develop will look to blend the best of the on and offline, ensuring the services are designed for all. One of the benefits of working with a local authority in piloting Have a Go Heroes will be the ability to explore different communications and engagement channels, linking up services on and offline.

They are now beginning to have conversations with councils who want are interested in innovating how they provide adult care and social support.

You can keep in touch with all latest developments around Have a Go Heroes and view a presentation giving a summary of their work during phase one of Have a Go Heroes at the link below. If you're interested in the detail behind the presentation, get in touch with them and they will send you their full phase one report.

http://haveagoheroes.wordpress.com/

Links: