Wigan locality project
Bringing together partners from statutory, voluntary & community organisations in a ‘one-stop-shop’ event – ‘Under One Roof’
What we did
Two events were held which brought together partners from the Alzheimer’s Society, Later Life Adult Memory Service, Lewy Body Society, Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre, Good Deeds Trust Guardian Angels, Wigan Dementia Action Alliance, Join Dementia Research, Dementia friendly communities (public health, Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh hearing therapist with people living with dementia and carers
Evaluation results
- More carers than people living with dementia attended and the majority were female
- Feedback from attendees stated 100% had obtained valuable information, organisers were knowledgeable and understanding, beneficial to have all services in the same place and it was informative
- Suggestions for the future included more promotion of the event, more varied support services in addition to cafes and events in other areas of Wigan
Recommendations
- To look at hosting more Under One Roof events across the borough ensuring all the relevant services buy into the event as the initial events. The initial event was in Wigan Life Centre where some of the services such as welfare rights and citizens advice are based. However, if we move around the borough to more community based hubs we still need to ensure the services attend and support the events
- Look at how we measure outcomes better such as the conversion rates from signposting to attending, the number of blue badges applied for and accepted, the amount of benefits allocated etc.
- We’re still looking at the frequency of the sessions and are looking to run future sessions approximately six weeks after the memory service post-diagnostic education sessions end so people have time to digest the diagnosis / initial information and know they have somewhere to go to find out more information which would support with people feeling like they are left with no support once these sessions end