Campbeltown Courier

Conversati­on cafe proves a talking point

- by Hannah O’Hanlon editor@campbeltow­ncourier.co.uk

Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnershi­p (HSCP) is holding a community conversati­on cafe in Kintyre in a bid to open up discussion­s about health and social care.

The HSCP says it is committed to a person-centred approach where services are built around the people who use them, taking account of individual­s’ needs, priorities and strengths.

To support this approach, the HSCP has to talk to people, engage with communitie­s and learn what people need. It needs some structures around which to build engagement and is using community conversati­on cafes to open dialogues.

A conversati­on cafe is built on equality and inclusion, bringing together service providers and people who use those services to talk about how health and social care can be made as effective as possible. By making discussion­s less formal, the HSCP hopes more people will take part.

Each area has a Locality Planning Group (LPG) in place and the membership of these groups includes service users, carer representa­tives, third sector representa­tives and HSCP staff.

The LPGs will set priorities for their area, including what topics will be discussed within each conversati­on cafe. A service manager related to the topic will be invited to attend the cafes. The manager will provide some informatio­n about the topic, can take questions and comments about the service they run, and take responsibi­lity for informatio­n and actions arising from the session.

A conversati­on cafe has been arranged in Kintyre for Tuesday July 9 at 2pm in the Bengullion day room at Campbeltow­n Hospital.

Members of the public are invited to discuss the Kintyre ‘neighbourh­ood team’, which includes occupation­al therapy, physiother­apy, community nurses, health and social care support workers, and social work. The team works to enable people to safely stay at home, prevent unnecessar­y hospital admissions, facilitate hospital discharges, and to maximise people’s independen­ce and enhance their quality of life.

Email nhs.abhscp@nhs.net.

 ?? 20_c27KCH02 ?? Care assistant Christine Stirling with Catherine Wareham and Catherine Reppke.
20_c27KCH02 Care assistant Christine Stirling with Catherine Wareham and Catherine Reppke.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom