RED

February 28, 2005

Redesigning school dinners - an idea for Jamie

An idea for Jamie Oliver, from our work on redesigning school dinners in Surrey: What if school kitchens cooked not only school dinners but also prepared suppers? Imagine a reverse lunchbox, taken home to feed the family. The meals would be made in the time that school kitchens are currently unused and encourage healthy eating at home and school. The extra revenue would subsidise the 37p-a-head budget.

Chris Vanstone | LINK | AGRICULTURE AND FOOD + HEALTH | COMMENTS (0)

February 16, 2005

Leggin' it in Thirsk

The North Yorkshire County Council are running a pilot project in Thirsk to increase residents' awareness of the real time involved in walking or cycling around their town. The aim is to have a lasting impact on transport choices - influencing individual decisions with practical information rather than just telling people what they 'should' be doing. Methods will include changes in the streetscape and the County Council is open to good ideas in this area. Read more below and contact at Geoff Gardner if you have any suggestions.

READ MORE..."Leggin' it in Thirsk"

Jude | LINK | TRANSPORT | COMMENTS (0)

Card for learning has lessons for health?

Initial brainstorms on the health project raised questions around the potential for smart cards for health. It is interesting to see that findings of a recent evaluation
by the DfES and MORI has found the Connexions Card Project - aiming to encourage young people to remain in learning and improve career and lifestyle choices - has not reached it's original aims. One observation is that the cards tend to be used only by the more highly qualified and accessible young people..

Jude | LINK | PUBLIC SERVICES | COMMENTS (0)

Is health-consciousness making us sick?

"The unintended consequence of fully engaging people with their health is an invitation to morbidity, which values health as an end in itself" - Professor Mike Bury was among the speakers at a conference: "Health: An unhealthy obsession?" hosted by the Institute of Ideas on 12 February. Professor Bury claims that lots of people are becoming obsessed with small changes in their health.

Jude | LINK | HEALTH | COMMENTS (0)

New technology to improve the flow for courts

A new computer system has been designed to keep victims of crime up-to-date with the progress of their court case. XHIBIT will cut the time people spend waiting to give evidence in court. It could also save as many as 80,000 police days every year as officers often have to waste hours hanging around before being called to give evidence. Witnesses can now be told to come to court via text message or can track the progress of hearings via the internet. Public display screens in the court building will also feature the latest case status. XHIBIT is now in use at Crown courts in Bristol and Taunton and will soon be rolled-out across England and Wales. Courts minister Christopher Leslie said: "This is a clear example of courts using technology to improve the reality and perception of the criminal justice system. " "It all adds up to a better deal for victims and witnesses in the court process. It is a practical measure that will help make it easier for victims under great pressure."

Jude | LINK | CITIZENSHIP | COMMENTS (0)

February 14, 2005

Diabetes design - Week 3: Run through

For week 3 we pulled together all of the thinking and work that we have been doing for both patients and professionals into a photographic scenario, accompanied by prototypes of the final deck of cards which is now down to 42 cards. We then ran through this with both groups to get feedback. If anyone has any final comments do not hesitate to include these here so that they can be included in the conclusion document.

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February 4, 2005

Activmob Week 4 report : 'I will go down to Safeways tomorrow and say 'when I was with my personal trainer...''

Monday evening Anne Marie our personal trainer ran the first Backmob, the four participants were delighted with the experience and didn't even ache too much the next day. Anne Marie had devised a simple circuit involving exercises with a swiss ball, weights stretchy thing, trampoline and a medicine ball (3kg). Some of the participants have serious back injuries, but after some initial apprehension that Anne Marie did well to manage they got into the swing of things. (maybe it was ABBA in the background that helped) and are looking forward to next weeks session.

Initially we thought that we could devise activities that people would be able to do in their own front room, but 'getting out of doors' in itself was a clear motivator. We thought that activities could be devised which wouldn't need the support of a trainer - yet having seen the fundamental role that a trainer is playing this is difficult to imagine too.

Key functions of the trainer:

Identified individual motivations and medical conditions

Enhance group dynamics

Reassurance - 'Don't look scared' - 'You will feel pain tomorrow, but it's the worst it will ever be - it's important to come back..'

Safety - 'Don't use your hands on the swiss ball'

Planning suitable activity

Vary exercises for individuals abilities - 'I don't want you doing this one Sue'

Prevent people from doing too much - 'Don't over exhert yourself - we'll do that next week'

Encouragement - 'All of you are brilliant, your mobility is great, your form is great'

The rest of the week has been spent in London refining the system and producing the catalogue and presentations to get feedback on next week - our final week in Park Wood.

Chris Vanstone | LINK | HEALTH PROJECT | COMMENTS (0)

February 3, 2005

Motivational cards naming competition

As part of our work on the Diabetes project cards concept we are looking for a name for these cards! Some possible names are listed below - please join in and help to name a tool which can help to emphasise patient choice by helping them to take control of their care agenda. Final entries by 16th February!
Deal me in
Me in 3
Me 2
My deal
Agenda cards
Trigger cards
Pathways cards
Outlook cards
The me deck
Navigation cards
meDeck

| LINK | HEALTH PROJECT | COMMENTS (3)

Diabetes design - Week 2: Evaluating the support network

During the week two sessions we focused on; exploring the system and new services that could be put into place in order to best address the needs of diabetes patients; how the cards concept could work best with patients; and identifying situations in which the cards would be of most use.
Key feedback from week two was that there did appear to be a need for a person who fulfilled a role in increasing the motivation of people (where motivation is defined on the basis of being "an ability to act on knowledge".) This develops on the idea that existing treatment is knowledge-based and that some patients would benefit from additional support that helps them to act on the existing support that is being provided. In order to address the divergent needs of patients it was felt that this position should be as an independent patient champion, and that they should be able to select this person based on their specific needs.
Areas that still need to be addressed are; how long patients would have this support; how this support may relate to the Asian patients; how this fits alongside the use of the cards as a tool for more effective consultations for clinicians; how the cards could be tested; and how the motivational interviewing skills can be built into the core competence framework.
All thoughts welcome!

| LINK | HEALTH PROJECT | COMMENTS (0)