MECC and Adult Social Care
Making Every Contact Count is an approach to practice which aims to utilise the numerous conversations and contacts that the social care workforce have with citizens in Coventry City every day. Social care practitioners will encourage, assist and guide people to make healthier lifestyle choices with the view to motivate and help people achieve long term behaviour change:
Examples of these types of conversations could include:
- stopping smoking
- healthy eating
- low alcohol consumption
- physical activity
- Mental health and emotional wellbeing.
- Environment
- Social isolation
Did you know:
- In 2017, 6720 of the population of Coventry aged 65 – 74 were said to be living alone.
- An estimated 1 in 6 people in Coventry are thought to be experiencing a common mental health condition.
- Stopping smoking interventions and prevention of respiratory infections (i.e. vaccinations) were said to be the most effective in preventing hospital admissions due to COPD.
- At a rate 767 per 100,000. - In 2015/16 there was 2348 alcohol related hospital admissions. 60% of these patients were aged 55 years or older.
- 14.4% of households in Coventry are in fuel poverty.
- People who have a more active lifestyle were 20/30% less likely to be at risk of cardio vascular disease
Making Every Contact Count is driven by the Adult Social Care movement to work towards a strengths based framework. By using practice tools such as motivational interviewing to facilitate “change talks” and further knowledge of the community services available. The citizens of Coventry in contact with Adult Social Care will be guided and supported to maintain their independence, autonomy and over all wellbeing.
Access online MECC training and register [https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/].
To start this change process, look at the different services for the specific lifestyle behaviour you wish to improve [/info/190/health_and_wellbeing].
Download our MECC Toolkit. [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/5425/mecc_toolkit]
MECC and Public Health
Coventry's Making Every Contact Count (MECC) project is a way of working, which will make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of local people.
MECC encourages frontline staff, using the thousands of conversations they have with the public each and every day, to talk about healthy lifestyles and to point people towards services or information which could help. This could include starting a conversation to encourage people to:
- stop smoking
- eat healthily
- keep to a healthy weight
- drink alcohol within the recommended daily limits
- do the recommended amount of physical activity
Through training and resources, MECC supports staff to find the right way to ask people about their healthy lifestyles and help them get any help they need. It's not about staff telling someone how to live their life - it's about staff taking the opportunity to help.
There is a great deal of research which tells us that this way of working makes a difference. The programme is city-wide and reaches across both the public and voluntary sectors - not just NHS staff. Local people will then have consistent messages, information and support to make positive changes to their lives, whichever service they are in touch with.
Please visit our Healthy lifestyles pages [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/190/health_and_wellbeing] for more information and advice about health and wellbeing services in Coventry.