Transforming Self Management in Scotland Fund – Application Form

This is the application form for the Self Management Fund which is administered by the ALLIANCE on behalf of the Scottish Government. We are keen to hear about your ideas and offer all applicants support throughout the funding process. We are available to meet, chat on the phone or by email to discuss any applications, answer any questions you may have and read through draft applications.

For support please contact:

Emma Goodlad – Grants and Impact Officer
e:
t: 0141 4040231
m: 07872149588

Kevin Geddes – Director of Development and Improvement
e:
t: 0141 4040231
m: 07545 425 605

Guidance

A guidance document is available on our website here: help you with the application process and details the key criteria for the Fund. Please ensure to read the guidance carefully before completing your application.

There are threetypes of grant currently available and projects must apply for ONE of these:

  • Innovation – supporting ideas or approaches which are new to your organisation or community
  • Development – supporting new and existing Self Management approaches in Scotland to grow and adapt
  • Sustainability - supporting existing ideas to become embedded in practice in Scotland with a strong steer towards partnership and health and social care integration

When to submit:

The deadline for applications for this round of funding is Friday 18th December 2015 at 5pmfor work to begin in April 2016. Please submit completed applications to

Part One – Your Organisation

Organisation Name / ANGUS CARDIAC GROUP (ACG)
Address / C/O LINDA BROWN
4 DAIRY ROW
NEWTON OF STRACATHRO
BRECHIN DD9 7QQ
Telephone Number / 07725052933
Website /
Address for correspondence (if different from above) / AS ABOVE
Telephone Number / AS ABOVE
Legal status of organisation (if a registered charity please state charity number) / PATIENT LED SUPPORT GROUP

Main Contact

As part of the assessment process we phone all applicants to have a chat about the application and discuss the project idea. Please provide a main contact who has a good knowledge of the project idea and budget.

Name of main contact / LINDA BROWN
Position held / PROJECT COORDINATOR
Contact number / 07725052933
Contact email address /

Part Two – Project Details

Proposed project title / Angus Activity Programme for People with a Long-term Condition
Type of grant applying for
(Innovation, Development or Sustainability) / DEVELOPMENT
Amount requested / £135,295
How long will the project run for? / 3 years
Will this project involve partnership working with another organisation? (please detail organisation) / Yes; Currently we work in partnership with NHS Tayside (Angus)and Angus Council. Angus Carers Centre and Penumbra will be key partners for the developments proposed below. For the web based exercise component, we will work in partnership with the University of Glasgow.
Will any new staff be employed/contracted to run this project? If yes, how many? / All our previous funded projects have involved contracting personnel as necessary. Five core personnel(project coordinator, marketing & promotion, administrator, data collection, and finance) have been costed for. In addition, we will need hours for a physiotherapist or exercise instructor to support the web based exercise described below and also hours for IT support
Will any volunteers be involved in this project? If yes, how many? / Yes; 3 to assist participants to start off web-based exercise.
What area(s) of Scotland will your project cover? / Angus
What, if any, equalities areas will your project reach? / Age☐
Disability☐
Gender Reassignment☐
Sex☐
Sexual Orientation☐
Race☐
Religion or Belief☐

Part Three – Budget

Please list what you plan touse the grant from Self Management Fund for.
Proposed Expenditure
(please detail) / Year 1 (Apr ’16 – Mar ’17) / Year 2 (Apr ’17 – Mar ’18) / Year 3 (Apr ’18 – Mar ’19) / Year 4 (Apr ’19 – Mar ’20) / Year 5 (Apr ’20 – Mar ’21) / Total
Time costs / 25,942 / 25,942 / 20,190 / 72,074
Travel / 9,549 / 9,549 / 5,832 / 24,930
Training & development / 5,526 / 4,289 / 2,586 / 12,401
Promotion / 7,850 / 6,150 / 5,650 / 19,650
Evaluation / 960 / 960 / 720 / 2,640
Admin & documentation / 1,200 / 1,200 / 1,200 / 3,600
Total Expenditure / 51,027 / 48,090 / 36,178 / 135,295
Partnership funding is not essential, but if you have secured or have applied for funding from other sources please detail here.

Part 4 – Project Plan

Background

Angus Activity Programme for People with a Long-term condition has a proven track record of successful projects and has consistently demonstrated that being involved in regular physical activity can improve people’s abilities to self manage their health conditions. Supervised physical activity sessions led by qualified instructors are delivered within Angus at 9 local authority venues. There are 45 classes delivered weekly. Seated exercise, aqua fit, circuit classes, and gym-based classes are available. The programme is highly successful with latest figures showing that there are383 peoplebenefiting from the programme. In the last year (October 2014 to September 2015) there were over 27,000 attendances.

Participants, all with long term conditions, are involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of the programme.

What we now want to do is to develop our programme in order to better meet the needs of hard to reach groups. Namely, those with mental health conditions, unpaid carers and those not engaged in current exercise opportunities.We want to trial the use of web-based exercise as analternative for those who cannot (or chose not to) access leisure centres and as an additional exercise opportunity for those who currently participate in our programme. In addition, we feel that there is considerable potential to further enhance self management for people with a long-term condition by providing more targetedinformation, support and education as part ofour existing programme.

Aim and Outcomes

Our overall aimwith this project is to increase participation in physical activity in order to improve self management and health-related quality of life for people with a long-term condition and their carers.

We will do this by achieving the following outcomes:

  1. Increased self-esteem, and reduction in stress and anxiety in people with a diagnosed mental health condition through participation in physical activity
  2. Improved ability of participants to self manage health conditions by providing information, education and support
  3. Improved mental and physical wellbeing of unpaid carers through participation in physical activity
  4. Increased access to physical activity by piloting web-based exercise.
  1. Support those with mental health conditions to access physical activity

Outcome 1 - Increased self-esteem, and reduced stress and anxiety in people with a diagnosed mental health condition through participation in physical activity

One in four people in the UK will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year. Participation in regular physical activity can increase self-esteem and reduce stress and anxiety. Physical activity can help play a role in preventing mental health problems and can improve the quality of life of those experiencing mental health problems (‘Start Active, Stay Active’, 2011).

Exercise instructors within our programme report that participants with mental health issues are less likely to attend introductory consultations following referral, and are less likely to maintain a programme of physical activity. We have also identified that service users admitted to adult psychiatric wards in Angus who want to be more physically active, do not currently receive adequate support to maintain activity following discharge.

We have worked with Penumbra (Scottish mental health charity working to improve mental wellbeing across the nation) to consult their users about their attitudes and preferences related to exercise and activity. From this consultation, the following issues were identified:

  • Lack of confidence, cost, and being self-conscious around others were cited as barriers
  • ‘Something tailored to my needs’, one to one sessions, smaller groups, ‘a class with people that’s all in the same boat’, dance, and yoga were some ideas from people about what they would like to see

We will:

  • Tailor our physical activity options in response to identified needs so that what we offer will be more person-centred, e.g. smaller group sizes, different types of activity and appropriate levels of support
  • Support Penumbra’s work in promoting physical activity as part of the recovery journey of their service users
  • Further improve the skills and knowledge of exercise instructors in dealing with people experiencing mental health issues by supporting more exercise instructors to undertake training, including Level 4 Mental Health & Physical Activity, Suicide Awareness and WRAP training (Wellness Recovery Action Plan)
  • Set up a supervision group for exercise instructors within the programme, led by the Highly Specialist Physiotherapist in mental health.

Additionally, we will:

  • Offer up to 12 free sessions to participants managing a mental health condition to encourage their attendance
  • Recruit participants via Penumbra, Angus Adult Mental Health Service, and general practice
  • Look at ways of supporting adults to maintain their activity when they move from an in-patient situation back into their communityin order to promote social inclusion and self management.
  1. Improve self management via education, information and support for participants with LTCs accessing physical activity

Outcome 2 - Improved ability of participants to self manage health conditions by providing information, education and support

Providing people with relevant information, education and support is crucial for effective self management. We know from feedback following sessions on blood pressure management that we have undertaken during coffee time after exercise classes and at health related talks at ACG meetings, that participants welcome the opportunity to learn more about aspects of their health.

Clearly, one of the keyareas of expertise of our exercise instructors is in promoting physical activity in relation to health improvement, therefore, we will:

  • Deliver education sessions on the promotion of physical activity in each of the 7 main local authority leisure/sports centres where the programme is operating
  • Pilot the use of an ‘action plan’ to help participants increase/maintain their level of physical activity. Our target is to reach 15 people on average in each of the 7 main venues
  • Placeour 8 Exercise Instructors on the Health Behaviour Change refresher course as we recognise the need for such skills in supporting people to get and remain physically active. These Instructors have previously attended Health Behaviour Change initial training
  • Reprint the ‘BE ACTIVE….live well - Healthy Lifestyle Programme’ booklet incorporating an ‘action plan’ (as above) and promoting all suitable physical activity opportunities in Angus. We will ensure all current and newparticipants within the programme receive a copy.

A review of our programme in September 2015 highlighted that, given appropriate time and information, exercise instructors are in an ideal position to advertise and promote peer support groups, condition specific courses and other self management resources available in Angus as well as delivering crucial education sessions to their participants. We will consult with participants to identify what information would help them to manage their specific health conditions.

  1. Support unpaid carers to access physical activity

Outcome 3 - Improved mental and physical wellbeing of unpaid carers through participation in physical activity

‘Two thirds of older carers have long term health problems or a disability themselves. Half of all older carers reported that their physical health had got worse in the last year and seven in ten said caring had had a negative impact on their physical health. More than four in ten older carers said their mental health had deteriorated over the last year’.

These stark statistics from ‘Always on Call, Always Concerned’ (The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, 2011) illustrate why there is a need to target carers. There is a wealth of evidence that physical activity can improve:

  • People’s ability to manage a long-term condition
  • Physical health and mental wellbeing.

Angus Carers’ Strategy 2013-16 involved carers in a series of consultation events held across Angus. Through those consultations carers confirmed the priorities which reflected their needs. With regard to adult carers, five priorities were identified, one of which was that:

  • ‘Carers’ health and wellbeing is improved’

As an action point the Strategy states:

“We will work towards providing free access to leisure facilities to support carers’ health and wellbeing”.

As a result of this consultation carers have identified physical activity as an important aspect of maintaining health and wellbeing. This is reflected both within the local Angus Carers Strategy and also the national ‘Caring Together: The Carers Strategy for Scotland 2010-15’.

‘Angus Carers Centre’ figures show that there are 1,960 registered carers, and that of those 699 are estimated to be managing a long-term condition themselves.

Free passes for carers to Angus Council leisure centres were available until five years ago and at that time 445 carers were registered with that scheme. Currently there is a concession scheme available for carers (i.e. subsidised cost of entry) but only 203carers are currently with this scheme. This would indicate that there are carers who would respond to incentives and support to actively engage in exercise.

Working with Angus Carers Centre we aim to enable more carers to access physical activity by providing support and up to 12 free sessions to encourage attendance. Our target is to reach 150 carers over a three year period. We will work with our partners to re-establish free passes for carers where financial constraints are a barrier to accessing physical activity. This would create a pathway to the desired outcome of free passes for all carers at a later date.

  1. Piloting web-based exercise

Outcome 4 - Increased access to physical activity by piloting web-based exercise

Angus is a rural area, and for many residents travelling to a leisure centre to participate in physical activity is just not feasible. Others may not want to exercise in a group situation.

In order to include these hard to reach people, we have long been interested in using technology so that people could exercise in their own homes, at a time convenient to them.

We became aware of the ‘Web based physio’ programme developed by the University of Glasgow, initially for multiple sclerosis sufferers. Participants are given anumber of individualised exercises in their programme which they access by a unique log in. They complete an online diary to record which exercises they have completed. A physiotherapist/exercise professional monitors progress and adjusts the exercises accordingly.

Although it is recognised that an internet-based approach to exercise might not suit everyone (due to lack of, or a poor internet connection and/or poor IT knowledge) we do believe that this is an exciting progression for our programme. It has the potential to benefit a significant number of peopleand support self management on a long term basis. We will build in IT support to help participants.

Evaluation undertaken by the University of Glasgow found that participants reported that the website was easy to use, convenient, and motivating and would be happy to use it in the future (Clinical Rehabilitation, April 2014). The motivating nature of recording progress and receiving feedback is illustrated by the following quote from a participant:

‘I reported back that if something was too easy it would be adjusted for me. It was motivational. Things that were difficult would become easier and I would report back that they were becoming easier and then you would upscale what I had to do or the weights I had to use. It helps’.

We feel this is an excellent opportunity for our programme. ‘Web based physio’ have very generously offered us the use of their programme for our project. There would be no website costs and they have agreed to meet the filming costs for any additional exercise clips we’d like included.

Following an induction by an IT support person, we intend to use volunteers to initially assist participants until they are confident to work on their own. We have a volunteer project already running so have volunteers and protocols in placefor working with people in their own homes.

Over a 2 year pilot, we aim to recruit 20 people to trial this web based exercise. Potential beneficiaries include:

  • Carers (who may be unable to leave the person they are caring for)
  • Those with diagnosed mental health conditions
  • Existing participants in our programme who want to participate in additional structured exercise at home
  • People identified from rehabilitation programmes that chose not to uptake the traditional exercise offered
  • Those living in remote and rural locations.
  1. Monitoring and Evaluation

Success of the programme will be measured against the stated outcomes and other performance indicators, e.g. attendance targets.

Participants will be asked for feedback on their exercise experience and its value to them.

We expect the project will:

Improve participants’ ability to self manage their health conditions, improve their confidence, and contribute to improved physical and mental health and wellbeing. More people will be more active due to our activities. People will have increased access to support and information which will allow them to make better and more informed decisions related to their health and wellbeing.

Our physical activity programme brings people with long-term conditions together- 383 people at the last count, with more people joining each week. This is a significant opportunity to empower people to be lead partners in their own health through education and support.

We know from previous projects the difference we can make to people managing a long-term condition and we anticipate we can make that difference to the groups we now want to target. Of the wealth of feedback we have, one participant summed up what we will work to achieve for all those participating in our project:

‘I feel the exercise programme we are given has done an enormous good not only to my fitness but to my wellbeing too, and my wife agrees’.

We will work to show that in Angus support for physical activity from all partners is crucial to promoting self-management. We will continue to promote our successes within and out with Angus.