Building resilient neighbourhoods with small doses of kindness
KI ND NE S S I N CO MMU NI T Y
Syeda Akhtar
Age UK Birmingham Healthy Friends Project Manager
The Healthy Friends social prescription service works with older citizens to address disabling loneliness and isolation. Local community groups for older people in East Birmingham were lacking. After listening to citizens’ voices and with the help of participants we created an ‘older people friendly’ community group that was accessible for all. The Healthy Friends monthly ‘get-together’ events, inspired by our late MP Jo Cox, aim to give isolated older people a taste of meeting strangers in a safe and welcoming environment and with the hope of enriching lives and nurturing lasting friendships’.
© Journal of holistic healthcare
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Having worked in health and social care settings over the last 15 years supporting the most marginalised communities in Birmingham, I came to realise that what made people ‘tick’ was their sense of belonging, of having purpose for living, and to appreciate the ‘simple things in life’. It seemed to me that people who had these qualities tended to bounce back from life’s adversities, remain optimistic and be more emotionally resilient.
Age UK Birmingham has been running in its current form since 2012. Its primary objective is to provide services across the city for all people over 50 and their carers. Our mission is to empower and enable older people to make informed choices and so retain control, independence and wellbeing, and so lead fulfilling and enjoyable lives. Healthy Friends social prescription has been funded by Big Lottery since March 2016 to work with older people in East Birmingham – an area with high levels of income deprivation and poverty – to provide practical, nonclinical holistic support with the aim of preventing escalation of healthcare needs. The project aims to ensure older people’s financial resilience, tackle their social isolation and loneliness, enable them to better manage their health conditions, and so reduce pressure on primary care. We realise that good health and wellness does not come from medicines alone; most of the time it comes from peace of mind, laughter, love and having meaningful social connections. But in East Birmingham, realising that older people had nowhere to go and meet to share stories, feel heard and validated, we decided to take it upon ourselves to create a monthly ‘get-together’
Volume 16 Issue 2 Summer 2019
friendship club for older people. We hoped this would become a place of sanctuary for those who needed it, and provide some social infrastructure in an area lacking the social glue, by bringing people and places together to enhance local social capital. Our evaluation report completed by independent consultants, LK Communications concluded that ‘… Healthy Friends’ approach recognises the importance of community by helping people to attend group activities in their neighbourhood and encourage inclusion of others in this. They also encourage older people to volunteer and mobilise in communities.’ The Healthy Friends service has allowed older people to meet in its micro-communities, safe and friendly places where it’s ‘OK to not be OK’ or to discuss feelings and worries without them being judged or medicalised. For many, just talking was enough to improve mood and quality of life. Someone who had accessed our service for basic needs but who subsequently attends the group regularly commented: ‘I had someone to talk to and talking has helped me greatly. If it wasn’t for Healthy Friends I would have been stuck in my own home.’ 11
