End of Pilot Assessment of the Health Spot

April 2014 – March 2015

  1. Backgroundand Functions of the Health Spot Pilot

The Health Spot is a 12 month pilot launched in April 2014 in partnership with Public Health (PH), the libraries service and the Health and Social Care Forum (HSCF) from the Hackney Voluntary and Community Sector (HCVS).

Libraries have a key role in providing health and wellbeing information,they are accessible community facilities that can promote, support and encourage healthy lifestyles. Public Health also has a responsibility to promote health and wellbeing. Hackney Central Library was picked to undertake the pilot due to its central location and high footfall. HSCF were invited to work in partnership with the two Hackney Council services, to promote the Health Spot activities to its members and to also advertise local voluntary and community groups to service users.

In order to focus the value of libraries to the health and wellbeing agenda, a dedicated ‘Health Spot’ area within Hackney Central Library was set up. This area was branded, including additional furniture, signage, promotional leaflets and information, as well as a dedicated health and wellbeing book stock. In addition to the Health Spot area, the pilot ran a programme of monthly stalls and events with themes linking to national campaigns, the local health calendar and JSNA priorities.

Aims of the Health Spot pilot:

To raise awareness of health and wellbeing in Hackney.

  • Disseminate information on health and wellbeing.
  • Interact with residents on relevant and priority health and wellbeing issues.
  • Create a space to bring together health practitioners with residents.
  • Create a debate looking at behaviour, perceptions and attitudes on health issues.
  • Influence a better future of health and wellbeing for Hackney residents.

Objectives of the Health Spot pilot:

  • Pilot a health and wellbeing area in Hackney Central Library.
  • Provide high quality books and health information.
  • Organise a programme of 12 health stalls and activities per year tied into the national & local health calendar, JSNA priorities and existing local groups.

Outputs

The target audience is adults and the following outputs were agreed at the beginning of the pilot:

  • a launch event
  • the number of book issues
  • a programme of 12 health stalls and activities

End of pilot assessment aims and objectives

This assessment is to evaluate the operations and impact of the Health Spot pilot. It was recognisedat the start of this initiative that it would be difficult to comprehensively evaluate contributions to Public Health outcomes or general resident wellbeing, and this is reflected in this assessment.

To support this, the assessment sought to explore the following:

  1. Has the Health Spot met its aims and objectives?
  2. Has it been implemented as planned?
  3. What is the reach of the pilot in terms of the number of service users and targeted groups? To include:
  4. Number of books issued from the health and wellbeing dedicated book stock
  5. Numbers of attendees at monthly events
  6. Numbers recorded on the health and wellbeing stalls
  7. How can the Health Spot be improved? To guide recommendations for Phase 2.

Launch of the Health Spot

The Health Spot was opened by Cllr McShane in April 2014. At the opening evening, a range of organisations and stallsthat were signed up to the 12 month programme of activity attended. The event was extremely well attended, with 425 attendees visitor count on that day. This was covered extensively in Hackney Today[1].

The Health Spot

One of the key objectives of the Health Spot was the delivery of a 12 month calendar of themes, and related activity (Appendix A). The monthly themes were based on national campaigns, the local health calendar and JSNA priorities. Each month Public Health staff produced an information poster with an explanation of the month’s theme and related groups and services from both Hackney Council and the Community and Voluntary Sector. As an untargeted communications mechanism, all promoted services had to be as inclusive as possible and free for service users to use or attend (due to the wide demographics of library users). A monthly taster activity was also arranged for each month, as well as a stall from a linked organisation. All taster workshops were linked to local voluntary and statutory services so participants could continue their learning in the community on a regular basis if they wanted to. For example, stalls included a smoking adviser from Hackney’s Stop Smoking Service and a representative from the Alcohol Recovery Centre.

Permanent information is also part of the Health Spot which includes a large map of all the local services and a noticeboard for local voluntary and community groups to advertise their services, free of charge. Groups wishing to display on this noticeboard had to fill out a card and hand to a member of the library staff or contact the HSCF. All cards were checked by HSCF before being pinned to the noticeboard.

Publicity, outreach and events

Each month, arange of promotionaland outreach work was undertaken (Appendix B) including an additional poster designed to promote the forthcoming month’s theme and activity. These posters are displayed in six other Hackney libraries and include brief information on the theme and details of the taster activity and stall. The Health Spot is advertised every month in a number of newslettersincluding HSCF; HCVS; Staff Headlines; GP Practice Newsletter; Carers Centre Newsletter; Children’s Centre Newsletter and through Public Health networks and links with groups and organisations. It has been advertised in Hackney Today, and was recently promoted in Hackney Gazette’s ‘Top five things to do in Hackney this week.’ (26 February). A booklet was published quarterly to promote the activities, stalls and monthly themes, with the content also uploaded to the council’s website[2]. Outreach was carried out in Hackney Service Centreand to a number of service user groups in the borough including Hackney & City Mind; Hackney Carers Centre; Social Action for Health; Lifeline; St Joseph’s Hospice.

Working in partnership with HCVS on the pilot has meant a greater spread of awareness of the Health Spot and has resulted in additional organisations contacting Hackney Central to deliver or set up a stall on an ad hoc basis (Appendix C)

Implementation of the Health Spot

Table A outlines the roles and responsibilities of all those involved in delivering the Health Spot pilot. The pilot is led by the libraries service with input from Public Health and partnership working with HCVS.

Table A: Roles and Responsibilities

Name / Organisation / Role / Responsibilities
Sue Comitti / Hackney Council / Library Development and Support Manager / Libraries lead for the pilot.
Amber Linell / Hackney Council / Libraries Project Officer / Leads the pilot project.
Coordinates monthly health calendar, arranges and liaises with all events and stall organisations,
Produces content for quarterly Health Spot booklet, undertakes active promotion and regular outreach for the programme, coordinate evaluation responses and collation.
Chairs the Libraries Steering Group meetings and attends the Health Spot Steering Group
Adrian Morris / Hackney Council / Hackney Central Library Duty Manager / Hackney Central Library lead.
Leads the whole staff team who promote the area. Initial set up coordination including purchasing furniture and noticeboards. Attends the Libraries Steering Group meetings.
Janet Adegoke / Hackney Council / Hackney Central library Library Supervisor / Hackney Central Library project lead.
Promotion of the programme in the library and regular outreach work, coordinates participant bookings, staff activities, collecting evaluations, updating noticeboards and general maintenance of the Health Spot area.
Attend Libraries Steering Group meetings.
Natalie Lewis / Hackney Council / Library Outreach Officer / Initial communications lead for libraries
Tina Sabz / Hackney Council / Libraries Support Officer / Inputs evaluation data and feedback.
Nicola Quinn / Hackney Council / Communications and Consultation / Communications lead for the production of the quarterly booklets and social media lead.
Louise Brown / Hackney Council / Public Health Comms Manager / Communications lead for Public Health, signs off on all promotional and the monthly posters.
Matt Clack / Hackney Council / Public Health Strategist / Public Health lead for the pilot project.
Supported the design and initial setup, end of pilot assessment
Attends Health Spot Steering Group
Kate Wignall / Hackney Council / Public Health Senior Strategist / Coordinates and designs the monthly poster, poster advertising the Health Spot in other libraries
Attends Health Spot Steering Group.
Jackie Brett / Hackney Community and Voluntary Sector / HSCF lead / Health & Social Care Forum (HSCF) lead.
Coordinates input from HCVS and coordination of cards.
Attends Health Spot Steering Group
Shamima Aktar / Hackney Community and Voluntary Sector / Health and Wellbeing Network Project Officer / Sends request to members to be promoted on the noticeboards, advertising events through newsletters.
Samson Osun / Hackney Community and Voluntary Sector / HCVS Comms lead / Communications support across the VCS sector.
Suzi Howie / MacMillan (left September 2014) / Volunteer coordinator / Coordinated the permanent Macmillan stand, stocks the leaflets and promotion.
Eeva Huoviala / CCG / CCG Patient and Public Involvement officer / Coordinates CCG input and promotion in the Health Spot.

Challenges and Successes of effective implementation

Overall Public Health, the libraries service and HCVS have worked well together in implementing the Health Spot pilot. One of the main issues though, has been the gathering of content for the monthly noticeboards from local groups and organisations. Public Health actively pursue this information which is arguably the HCVS role.

Maintaining communications interest throughout the year’s programme has been challenging. It was easier to promote some monthly themes and events than others. For example healthy mocktail making for December’s Drinkaware theme compared to a specific health talk for men. It has also been hard to target some specific groups to attend but this was mitigated by libraries staff visiting organisations and HCVS input.

There have been issues with maintaining the stock of the leaflets in the Health Spot, especially the Macmillan leaflets. The Libraries service are working to mitigate this for phase two. Public Health also have a responsibility to ensure the library have the most current information.

At on the onset of the pilot, there were issues with obtaining feedback from library users who are borrowing books from the health and wellbeing book stock and those who have attended the monthly events. This has improved substantially towards the end of the pilot due to better partnership working.

2.Evidence

Methods for collating data to measure aims and objectives

The following was collected and collated during the Health Spot pilot to assess whether the end of pilot assessment met its aims and objectives:

  • The health and wellbeing book stock issues and renewal figures against each individual library user
  • Feedback from library users of the health and wellbeing book stock
  • Evaluation of attendees to each of the monthly events
  • Feedback from the organisations who led the monthly events and ran the information stalls
  • Feedback from Hackney Central library staff

Health and wellbeing book stock use

Data on withdrawals from the dedicated health and wellbeing book stock in the Health Spot has been collected since its launch, and the libraries data team have provided the raw data to Public Health for analysis. (Appendix D) In total 1,732 books were borrowed, including 676 unique withdrawals (excluding renewals). This compares favourably to other stock in Hackney’s library stock.

In terms of the types of library users who are borrowing books from the Health Spot stock, the analysis shows:

  • 80% of library users borrowing the Health Spot book stock were Hackney residents. Among these, Hackney Central, Homerton, London Fields and Victoria Wards were particularly well represented.
  • The average Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) score of 241 Hackney residents with a recorded postcode was 41.1. This is the same as the overall borough score, suggesting that the library users reflect the general population in terms of deprivation.
  • The library users borrowing the Health Spot book stock were predominantly female, only 33% of 297 borrowers who stated their gender were male.
  • The ethnicity of the library users generally reflect the broad diversity in the population of Hackney, but with more library users in the black ethnic groups.
  • Most library users were of working age. The age range of library users is older than the general population, with children and young adults less represented. The 50-64 age group was particularly highly represented compared to the Hackney population.

Data on the health and wellbeing book stock has also been analysed in terms of the number of times each book has been borrowed against each individual library user. In terms of the types of books borrowed from the Health Spot book stock, the analysis shows:

  • The most borrowed book across all the library users of the Health Spot book stock is I can make you happy by Paul McKenna. This book was also ranked top for the most borrowed book by female library users.
  • Mindfulness breakthrough by Sarah Silverton was the second most borrowed book across all library users, and also ranked top for the most borrowed book by male library users. This book also ranked top for the most borrowed book by black library users.
  • Alongside books relating to mental wellbeing, there was a fair mix of titles relating to physical health, managing conditions, behaviour change, and spirituality

Satisfaction

In addition to the analysis of the health and wellbeing book stock, a survey was sent to all library users who borrowed a book from the Health Spot since its launch. 45 library users responded to the survey, 58% were female and 42% were male (Appendix E). Analysis of the library user feedback shows:

  • 64% of library users felt the book offered what they expected and 23% that it somewhat offered what was expected.
  • 60% of library users felt they were now better equipped to manage their own health because of the book they borrowed and 29% felt somewhat equipped.
  • 61% of library users were very satisfied with the Health Spot as a place to find useful books and learn about local activities, with 18% fairly satisfied.

Evaluation of attendees to each of the monthly events

Each month a theme relating to a particular health issue or campaign was highlighted, supported by an event and an information stall at the Health Spot. Surveys were produced for attendees to provide feedback on their opinion of the events. Unfortunately evaluation was not collected from all of the monthly events due to staff absence and sickness.

Table B: Number of attendees at each monthly event and visitor numbers at stalls

Monthly theme / Number of event attendees (Max number in brackets) / Number of visitors to stalls
April: Happy Healthy Hackney
-Open evening / 425- taken from library visitor count
May: National Walking Month / Exercise: guided walk and foot massage
7 (12) / LBH Sustainable transport
12
June: Diabetes / Healthy eating
24 (16-GP referred so over booked) / Homerton Diabetes Team
5
July: Mental Health / Yoga for the mind
16 (16) / Samaritans
Did not attend
August: Learning Disability Awareness / Pilates and body control
3 (12) / PohWER (advocacy service)
2
September: Blood Pressure Awareness / Healthy eating
29 (15 – passing library users joined in) / TLC Outreach advisors
30
October: Stoptober / Knit to quit
13 (12) / Shoreditch Trust smoking adviser
12
November: Men’s Health / Stress relief talk and massage
18 (12) / Prostate Cancer UK
12
December: Be Drink Aware / Gaby’s Kitchen – Healthy mocktails
15 (n/a) / Alcohol Recovery Centre (ARC)
100
January: Cancer talk Month / Make do and mend
13 (14) / Bowel Cancer UK
35
February: National Heart Month / Brazilian Dance
13 (14) / British Heart Foundation
55
March: Women’s Health / Gardening workshop
16 (16) / Breast Cancer Care
22

Feedback from attendees at the monthly events (August-January 2014)

  • 68 respondents completed an evaluation after attending an event between August and January 2014. 66% were female and 34% were male. 31% were aged between 45-54 and 21% were aged 55-64.
  • 82% enjoyed the event a lot, and 15% enjoyed it somewhat.
  • 71% stated that they had learnt something from the event that would better help them to manage their health and wellbeing, 25% somewhat felt this and only 3% felt that they had not learnt anything.
  • 26 respondents left suggestions for other activities they would like to see run by the Health Spot, these included a number of cooking and healthy eating courses, knitting and more exercise classes including yoga and pilates.

Feedback from organisations who led the monthly events or ran a stalls

A short survey was sent to all organisations who ran a stall at one of the monthly events. Only four respondents answered the survey, possibly because it was circulated at the end of the pilot instead of at the end of every monthly event. Two out of the four organisations thought the visitors appreciated their event or stall positively a lot, with one respondent positively a bit, and the other not sure/ no difference. This was the same response for how well they thought the Health Spot complemented the Hackney Central library.