Exploring published literature of emerging practice as a response to challenges due to COVID-19
27 April 2020
The summaries below are of articles that might help thinking about what has been learned from the COVID-19 experience so far, along with suggestions on how this might be used to support improvement in future.
This week, featured articles include those regarding:
Overview: reflections
While we are in the early stages of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, examples of how organisations are adapting to meet new needs can be categorised as:
- collating and summarising information
- providing new guidance and advice for people/organisations
- increasing current provision, and
- moving to digital/remote service provision.
As a result, clear examples of emerging practice are not yet widely available as they are in still in the early stages of maturity. However, from this first scan there are a number of reflections on the response across different types of organisations.
National membership/representative organisations
Main activity among these groups has been to collate information and guidance for their stakeholders. For example, SCVO have pulled together an information hub for charities along with database on community services, and Shelter Scotland has a new advice page with updated advice based on recent changes. Alongside this, new resources and guidance is being developed by civil society groups to deal with a wide number of intersecting challenges being faced. The Chartered Institute of House and Scottish Women’s Aid have published guidance for social landlords on how to identify and support women experiencing domestic abuse.
These activities are similar across these type of organisations, with the aim to provide advice and support to their members.
Third sector and charities
Organisations providing direct support to people have done an incredible job in increasing their capacity and keeping their services open remotely. The majority of information coming from these organisations in on reporting an increase in the type of service they are delivering or in outlining how they are continuing services during the lockdown.
Communities
Information about communities comes mostly from social media and in blogs that are more informal. The community response seems to centre on the distribution of food and shopping to people unable to leave the house, and those financially impacted by lockdown. The COVID Mutual Aid movement is the biggest example of this. However, smaller examples include the Community Larder in a town in Perth and Kinross.
Housing associations
The response from the housing sector has been in providing advice and support regarding maintaining tenancies and the changing legislation/policy.
In addition to this, the response from the housing sector has been to help support community-type initiatives using their infrastructure of staff. This means helping deliver food and shopping for people and keeping people in touch with family. For example, Elderpark Housing supporting someone coming from hospital and the initiatives outlined below by Bield and the Wheatley Group.
Summaries: examples of emerging practice
Within these general trends, there are a number of clear examples of emerging practice that highlight the kind of work being done.
Galston Estate Trust
"At a time of crisis, community will look to their own," says Lisa Maclean, manager of Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn (the Galson Estate Trust) on the Isle of Lewis. "I fully believe it’s all about trust."
Galston Estate Trust was formed in 2007 after a community right to buy purchase of over 56,000 acres of land on Lewis. The estate contains a number of villages with a cumulative population of around 2000 people.
The Galston Estate Trust has established a group of volunteers from each of the 22 villages to collate a list of mobile numbers and landlines and set up a network on WhatsApp. In mid-March, before the lockdown, the team had sent out forms to everyone as a way of collecting information on what kinds of support people might require.
This network has been utilised by two GP surgeries to deliver prescriptions, as well as a crofting cooperative that is providing food for the community. The effort has been supported by local businesses, including provision of a van by a car rental agency.
The trust is also offering help for businesses, sign posting to support schemes and contacting them to find out what other help they might need.
Harnessing the power of communities
Essex County Council have set up a central Facebook page to act as the core of their communication strategy. This includes a private Facebook group that acts as a new 'front door' for information and signposting.
This was done in six key steps:
- Set up a central Facebook page, which is verified and contains accurate and trusted information.
- Set up a citizen support group on Facebook, which is private, for people asking for help.
- Connect with and mobilise local community Facebook admins – supporting them to access and share trusted information.
- Set up business and volunteer registration into a central database.
- Redeploy non-essential council staff to focus on community initiatives using volunteer resources.
- Explore how this infrastructure can be used to support communities on an ongoing basis.
Ubatuba plan to combat COVID-19
Ubatuba Municipal Council (São Paulo, Brazil) have established a cross-departmental COVID-19 crisis committee. This committee met with staff from across commerce, education, street people, sports, transportation and public roads to make decisions and inform the response.
Working together in this way allow them to pool their connections into the community, mobilizing a wide range of community groups in a coordinated way.
Similarly, bringing together a diverse range of departments ensured that communications, advice and activity were consistent and transparent.
Data on communities to support decision making
Demographic data on COVID-19 risk factors has been published to help housing associations to understand their local communities and provide the right support.
This information includes:
- at-risk groups: older people, people underlying health conditions and benefit claimants for health and disability
- groups requiring additional support, including single-person households, households with no cars and prevalence of dementia
- economic factors, including key workers and vulnerable sectors.
What community groups are telling us about their response to COVID-19
The Scottish Community Development Centre surveyed community groups about how they are responding to COVID-19 and how they might be supported. Responses include:
- Issues:
- Practical issues with increase in staff absence and paying rent for unused building space
- Service issues around how to best support their communities with mental health challenges, access to food and continuing vital services in the context of lockdown
- Things to help:
- Guidance for maintaining communication with people – especially those who are not online
- Clarity on who can/cannot support community responses, consistent protocols for keeping workers and local people safe when supporting them
- Sharing of information across community settings, for example local authority, social enterprise, and third sector
- Funding support:
- Funding to cover response to increased demand
- Extra funding for new resources required due to COVID-19 related challenges
Supporting tenants with small repairs remotely
Kingdom Housing Association based in Fife is using virtual approaches to offer support with small repairs and issues.
The technology allows a trades operative to be virtually present in a tenant’s home, to see the issue in real time using video technology on a mobile phone or tablet and to offer support and advice by having their hand superimposed on the scene in the tenant's home - all without ever stepping foot inside the property. This technology has been helping with many small repairs such as fixing a door or reconnecting a washing machine.
Data on communities to support decision making
Demographic data on COVID-19 risk factors has been published to help housing associations to understand their local communities and provide the right support. This information includes:
- at-risk groups: older people, people underlying health conditions and benefit claimants for health and disability
- groups requiring additional support, including single-person households, households with no cars and prevalence of dementia, and
- economic factors, including key workers and vulnerable sectors).
Providing food and supplies for tenants
On a small scale
Bield Housing Association, at Crosshill Gardens in Port Glasgow, have developed a service to ensure that tenants are able to get what they need during lockdown and self-isolation.
It is a volunteer led project that allows people to choose from a list the things they need. This is then left outside their house, picked up by a volunteer who gets the items and drops them back off. People can order a wide range of grocery items from milk to bread to biscuits. An extra effort will also be made to source specially requested items, if it is possible to source them.
On a larger scale
The Wheatley Group have delivered over 6000 food parcels in a month to those in need. The EatWell service has expanded to be able to support those who have been effected by COVID-19.
How mental health social workers are responding to the coronavirus pandemic
The organisation Think Ahead interviewed 36 mental health social workers across England on how they are changing their practice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff are becoming more flexible with regards to their deployment, this is allowing cases to be pooled and a restructuring of teams.
Key points:
- pooling caseloads to be jointly managed across a team, so that team members can support and safeguard the highest-priority service users at any given time
- staff are taking on more shifts acting as an approved mental health professional
- there is redeployed into other mental health teams
- there is a focus on hospital discharge – as mental health inpatients are discharged to avoid infection, and
- teams are getting restructured – either by merging specialities to ensure that priority cases are seen urgently, or by developing hubs of staff that are able to support community teams.
In addition, the review outlines:
- new digital services that are being offered
- how staff well-being is being looked after, and
- the role of trainees.