How can we help North East Essex residents ‘stay well’?

SUPPORT for carers, better communication, improved transport and increased community groups have been highlighted as ways to help residents in Tendring and Colchester to ‘Stay Well’.

The recommendations have come from the Stay Well Report, the latest in a series of deep dive reviews published as companions to the Community Assets Mapping refresh of North-East Essex.

With a focus on people waiting for treatment and those living with long-term conditions and their carers, the report looked at relevant data, current services, the views of the community, and perceived gaps in services.

It also includes a citizen’s voice from focus groups and interviews with people living in Walton and Greenstead to highlight what creates barriers and what supports them to access services.

Click here to read the full report

The report says: “The recommendations look at the different ways in which the citizen journey may be improved by making changes to the range of care and support available or to the system.

“They include improved advice and information, improved access to transport and waiting facilities at the hospital, and improved information, care and support for carers.

“In common with every other deep dive undertaken to date, carers often feel ill-informed, find difficulties in navigating the healthcare system and do not feel that their pressures are understood, especially as access to services becomes limited.”

The report also raised issues of the services and activities in remote communities and the need to improve communication support for all who need it.

Further work is also suggested to combat the anxiety people have about going out by using buddying and befriending, the need for more digital literacy support, and to build on local support groups.

The report added: “While Colchester and Tendring are in a very strong position to continue addressing the needs of their communities, we also learned that there needs to be serious attention paid to issues such as well-being, loneliness and carer burden from the angle of the immediate danger of the rising cost of living.”

The Stay Well Report has been produced by Healthwatch Essex, CVS Tendring and Community360 in collaboration with a steering group, which included the Stay Well domain lead, representatives from district and county councils, Essex Fire and Rescue, the Local Delivery Pilot, North East Essex ICS and ESNEFT.

It is the fourth in a series of reports to be published.

Using the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance domains as a framework for each report, there will ultimately be a library of six reports: