This is the final version.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF

Colebrook, L

Leyshon, C

Leyshon, M

Spooner, K

Walker, T

Open Research Exeter

Guided ConversationsFindings and Social ImpactGuided Conversations1A Guided Conversation is a person-centred, community-focused tool which enables participants to articulate needs and capabilities; grow social innovation; build a network of support; and engages the public, private and voluntary sectors. The conversation tool utilises three major, categorised elements; ‘the Wellbeing Compass’, ‘House & Street Diagram’ and ‘the Place Compass’.Who conducts Guided conversations? At Smartline, the Community Development Manager (Karen Spooner) and Researcher (Dr. Tim Walker) conducted the conversations with assistance from volunteers and Coastline Housing representatives. In the future the conversation can be conducted by staff or volunteers trained in conversation techniques, safeguarding and the support process.What are the outcomes of the conversation?The individual will identify their personal wellbeing priorities and define an achievable action plan. For an organisation, the tool provids inisight into individual and community wellbeing priorities which can direct organisation work.How was the tool developed for Smartline? Research was conducted with community organisations and Coastline Housing’s Community Investment Team in order to develop the structure and content. The tool was then piloted with Smartline participants. The Smartline team made two innovations to the tool; 1) visualise the conversation prompts; 2) enable the capture of quantitative and qualitative data on a topic.Guided Conversations (in various forms) are used amongst the voluntary and community sector when participants join projects or courses. Existing tools typically use a list of written prompts to guide the conversation.2EXERCISE & RECREATIONSOCIAL OPPORTUNITIESLIFEOPPORTUNITIESHEALTHCARENUTRITUION &HYDRATIONOCCUPATION &LEARNINGEMOTIONALWELLBEING FINANCES &PAPERWORK123456712345671 2 3 4 5 6 71234567TRANSPORT &MOVING AROUNDCOMMUNITYSERVICESINFLUENCE &SENSE OF CONTROLSAFETY &SOCIAL BEHAVIOURSTREETS &SPACESFACILITIES &AMENITIESCOMMUNITY IDENTITY& BELONGINGWORK &LOCAL ECONOMY123456712345671 2 3 4 5 6 71234567Wellbeing CompassParticipants are asked “Out of 7, how satisfied are you with this area of your life? (1 = not at all and 7 = completely)” with regard to 8 categories.3The Conversation Tool The conversation tool developed by Smartline has three components. The Wellbeing Compass exercise, the Home & Street diagram discussion, and the Place Compass exercise. These exercises have been developed to asssist people who find it easier to interact visually than the written word.Home & Street DiagramParticipants are asked “Do you think your home, and/or street, has any issues which might affect your health or wellbeing? And where are these issues located?”Place CompassParticipants are asked “Out of 7, how satisfied are you with these things in your community? (1 = not at all and 7 = completely)” with regard to 8 categories.4What we discovered2Our ‘Wellbeing Compass’ demonstrated that exercise and recreation, emotional wellbeing and life opportunities were areas for concern within Camborne/Illogan/Redruth. 88% of participants identified an issue in their home or street which they felt affected their general health and wellbeing. And our ‘Place Compass’ tool recorded low satisfaction levels for work and the local economy.Findings 62 Guided conversations were completed within Smartline. Participants were concentrated in Camborne, Redruth and Illogan.How long does a conversation take?The average time was calculated as being 40 minutes. We found that:• As the number of actions increases so   does the duration of the conversation.• As the average wellbeing compass scores increase the length of the  conversation decreases.• As the average place compass scores   increase the length of the conversation   decreases.Wellbeing Compass ScoresThe table below shows the mean ratings from lowest to highest with Exercise and Recreation being the area that people are the least satisfied with and Finances and Paperwork being the area with the highest satisfaction.Exercise & RecreationNutrition & HydrationOccupation & LearningFinances & PaperworkSocial OpportunitiesEmotional Wellbeingn (comments)504448464443Explanations for low scores (1-4)Physical disability & illness (22/50)Poor routine and cost (10/44)Mental health, learning disability, isolation (4/48), childcare (2/48)Struggle with finance management and paperwork (12/46)Combined factor or feeling disconnected from community and not finding social opportunity right for me (5/44) and don’t go out much and wish to change (5/44)Diagnosed mental health condition (11/43) and bereavment (3/43)Explanations for high scores (5-7)Walking; the dog, to work, for pleasure (12/50)Good routine, self control and enjoyment of cooking (15/44)Indoor hobby (knitting, crosswords, reading) (15/48); working (7/48); and volunteering (5/48)Competent at managing finance and paperwork (22/46); Receive support with financial paper work from family, friends, and organsations (6/46)Regularly seeing friends & family (12/44); clubs & formal volunteering (7/44); neighbours & informal volunteering (4/44)I am resilient, strong willed and get on with it (14/43), I am successful managing a mental wellbeing (6/43)5Home & Street55 out of 62 people identified an issue in their home or street which they thought affected their health and wellbeing. Damp, mould and ventilation are the most important internal issues that participants thought affected their health and wellbeing. Noise pollution and barking are the most important external issues.0 5 10 15 20Number of Issues Damp &/or MouldNoise PollutionLack of ParkingPoor VentilationMisue of Rubbish Bins & Bike StoreBuilding Accessibility& Trip HazardsMuddy Grass VergesDog or Cat Fouling1815131198866Place Compass ScoresThe table below shows the mean scores in order from lowest to highest with Work and Economy having the lowest overall satisfaction rating and Transport and Moving Around having the highest. Actions38/62 participants had at least one action. Most people had either 1 (34%) or 2 (40%) actions.1 Action2 Actions3 Actions4 Actions5 ActionsWork & Local EconomyCommunity ServicesStreets & SpacesCommunity Identity & BelongingSafety & Social BehaviourFacilities & AmenitiesTransport and Moving Around6Mean Scores (Low to High) 0 1 2 3 4 53.644.634.985.275.315.655.675.74Actions & Conversation FeedbackHaving completed a guided conversation, a participant’s bespoke action plan is produced to address the wellbeing issues discussed. There are three types of actions. ‘Signposting’ involves directing particpants to wellbeing opportunities. ‘Support’ requires help from Smartline Community Development Manager. ‘Refferal’ is means onward recomendation to a specialist organisation.15135417Signpost, Support and/or ReferralThe most common action required was signposting (63%).The remaining percentage was split fairly evenly between support (17%) and referral (20%).Origin of ActionsThe majority (58%) of the actions were identified in conversation around the Wellbeing Compass. The table opposite breaks the origin of actions by conversation sub topic.Future interest in community projects? Participants were asked “Are you interested in volunteering or being part of a local community development project?”.  The majority (77%) of people were enthusiastic for involvement in ommunity project. Emotional WellbeingNutrition & HydrationTransport & Moving AroundHome & StreetExercise & RecreationFinance & PaperworkCommunity ProjectsSocial OpportunitiesVolunteeringOccupation & LearningHealthcare0 5 10 15 20Number of Actions 491315SignpostingSupportReferral8Organisations Involved in ActionSmartline has been able to link participants with local community organisations in order to improve wellbeing. This table lists the organisations involved (signposted to, supported by, or referred to) in actions following the conversation. This shows the diverse range of social needs within the Camborne, Pool, Redruth, and Illogan area. It also demonstrates the extensive support available in the area.Organisations Involved in Action & Conversation Topic Emotional Wellbeing  1Penreath    Influence & Sense of Control  1MP George Eustice   Nutrition & Hydration  2Trevenson Food Bank   Healthcare   GP @ Home App   Diabetes UK; Spencer Wimberton GP     Transport & Moving Around  7Bus Pass (English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS)) Volunteer Cornwall community transport Home & Street   7CC Rogue Traders   Coastline maintenance number  PCSO    CC Environmental Protection Noise Pollution Hotline  Exercise & Recreation  8All Saints Comunity Center  Carn Brea swimming   Low Impact Fitness (via Get Active Cornwall)  Finance & Paperwork  8Age UK    Citizens Advice   Cornwall College finance team  Smart Tenants   Community Projects   11Smartline KE team   Arm Chair Exercise sessions  Cycling Without Age   Cornwall Community Foundation Funding for community projects  Trelwaney Coffee Mornings  Green Space project   Organisations Involved in Action & Conversation TopicSocial Opportunities   12 All Saints Community Centre  CN4C    Red Cross    MeetUp.com   Cantabile Choir Redruth  Camborne Town website  Cornwall Link   Live at Home   Volunteering   18Blood Bikes   Smart Tenants   Volunteer Cornwall   Penny Red    CN4C    Live at Home   Cornwall Link   Coastline Residents Association  Do.It.Org    Red Cross    Occupation & Learning  20Active Plus    Red Cross    Royal Voluntary Service community library Borrow Box   Art & Pottery courses   Inspiring Futures   Redruth Amateur Operatic Society Trust Redruth Amateur Musical & Pantomime Society   Local History Talks   The Skills Network   Vision2Learn   Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change (CN4C)   Switch    Total    98No. ofActionsNo. ofActions9Conversation FeedbackParticipants were asked to evaluate their experience against four statements.I enjoyed the process of reflecting on my wellbeingI learnt new things about myself through this conversationSTRONGLY AGREEI learnt new things about opportunities in my communityI think the agreed actions will improve my wellbeingDigitizing the Conversation ToolThe Smartline team are working with the design company M-A-P digital to create a flexible architecture for guided conversations in paper, hybrid and digital formats. Through a series of design testing workshops with Coastline Housing and local community sector organisations the structure and content of the conversation is being improved.A digital or hybrid conversation tool (a physical object connectable to the internet) is useful for users and organisations in the following ways;• Connecting user to the next step - through  local/potentially networked databases.• Streamlining an organisation’s capture and   storage of info about the user.• Ease for organisation to comparatively   analyse subjective data across users in   order to identify priorities.AGREENEITHER DISAGREESTRONGLY DISAGREE33233STRONGLY AGREESTRONGLY DISAGREEDISAGREEAGREENEITHER821243 1STRONGLY AGREEAGREENEITHERDISAGREESTRONGLY DISAGREE15221465STRONGLY AGREEAGREENEITHERDISAGREESTRONGLY DISAGREE152913ARMCHAIR EXERCISE CLASSESSmartline funded a pilot phase of low impact exercise classes within the community which continues now on a self-funded basis.10Social Impact3Here’s a snapshot pf some of the work we have been doing within the community:RE-ESTABLISHED COFFEE MORNINGPeople in this community wanted to get together more so we re-established a coffee morning.FIRST AID AWARENESSTwo days of emergency first aid learning for community leaders.COMMUNITY EXERCISE CLASSESWorking with our partners Sparc and the Red Cross, we delivered 3 months of exercise classes for mature people which included social gatherings after each class. IT SUPPORT‘SWITCH’ delivered training to local people who expressed a need for greater IT knowledge and skills.GREEN SPACE DEVELOPMENTSmartline helped a committee of local people to develop an underused, communal green space.11For more information please visit us at:www.smartline.org.ukProduced by:Dr Tim WalkerKaren SpoonerDr Laura ColebrookDr Michael LeyshonProfessor Catherine LeyshonSmartline has been funded in Cornwall by the European Union Regional Development Fund in order to help local businesses develop new technologies and increase job opportunities in the county. Additional funding has been provided by the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN).

Guided Conversations: Findings and Social Impact

https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/124660/1/Explanatory%20Booklet%20Hi%20Resolution%20Output%20%283%29.pdf

Guided Conversations: Findings and Social Impact

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