Date published: 8 July 2024
On Tuesday 25th June - Eden Primary Care Network and Westmorland & Furness Council launched a new community health initiative named 'Eden Together'.
The project aims to created a friendly environment for the community offering help and guidance for those affected by loneliness as well as supporting independence and health management.
Nicky McGarrigle, Care Co-ordinator and Social Prescriber for the iCAT * Team in Eden Primary Care Network said: "We wanted to do something for the community, not just the individuals, we wanted to do it as a whole for the community. We had a chance to work with Westmorland and Furness Council, alongside our Admiral Nurse and Fit For All, so we all joined together for this project.
"The idea is to combat loneliness but also to support people in other ways as well. As we know everything can't be fixed by giving somebody a prescription. We facilitate these groups but we want to empower the people themselves to say what they want and to help support them doing what they enjoy."
GP practices across the Eden Primary Care Network (PCN) and Westmorland and Furness Council are working together on the project which will continue on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
Lianne Parrett, Health and Wellbeing Officer for Westmorland and Furness Council said: "The benefit of working together like this is it's a much more seamless experience for patients, for residents that are dealing with health issues who don't know where to turn. We've been in partnership with Eden PCN for quite some time and working together on the Fit For All programme, which we ran a taster session at this first event.
"We wanted it to be like a health outreach hub for primarily older people but really for anyone who needs a bit of extra care and support in the community, in a non-healthcare setting. So they can have a cup of tea, have a natter, play a game and meet new people, but also they can raise any health concerns they might have and talk to the nurses that are on the team."
Staff were pleased with the success of the launch event and hope to build on this as the project continues.
*ICAT - Integrated Community Ageing Team:
The iCAT Team are members of a Community Support Team, working on behalf of the ten GP practices in the Eden Valley.
More info on Eden PCN page here.
