Local Outcome 3: Healthy appetite for online engagement

Quality of life, care and support are themes at the heart of Local Outcome 6 and they were also very much at the heart of our combined efforts to overcome COVID-19.

The Council worked closely with East Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership - and a range of organisations and groups - throughout 2020-2021.

Coronavirus placed a massive strain on resources, but it also underlined the importance of Local Outcome 6:

Our older population and more vulnerable citizens are supported to maintain their independence and enjoy a high quality of life, and they, their families and carers benefit from effective care and support services.

Incredible efforts were made across the board to:

• Deliver COVID-19 vaccinations (as well as 'flu jabs)
• Support care homes (oversight, workforce, clinical and testing)
• Maintain care at home services, including people with COVID-19 and those unable to access day care and/or respite provision
• Keep in touch with vulnerable adults on the Persons at Risk Database and those shielding
• Support carers with PPE and vaccinations
• Continue the focus on reducing accidental opioid overdose through awareness and training as regards Naloxone.

Restrictions meant severe disruption to services, so the provision of online resources to keep people connected, informed and engaged was essential.

Local Area Co-ordinators (LACs) secured funding from Creative Scotland in 2020 to run a ‘Festival of Celebration’ - promoting the inspirational efforts of autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

It would have been the third such annual festival in East Dunbartonshire, however, COVID-19 meant that public performances could not be staged and the LACs, in collaboration with adults involved, agreed to look at the possibility of sharing creative work online, using the Council’s social media channels.

Submissions were sought and there were significant and powerful contributions from Creative Spark Theatre Arts, Limelight, Sonic Bothy, GRACE, Ceartas Advocacy, Campsie View School and our own Sounds of the Gallery Band.

These were made available online - showcasing local talent and the importance of the creative/performing arts in the lives of contributors and their families.

The videos are still available on the Council’s YouTube channel.

Digital resources also proved vital for the ‘Plant to Plate and Soil to Soup’ project, helping autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities.

Pre-pandemic the LACs supported a small gardening group and supper club, with funding originally sourced from the Scottish Government’s ‘Keys to Life’ development scheme.

Both opportunities allowed those with a mild learning disability and/or a diagnosis on the autistic spectrum to build on their social skills and to broaden opportunities for building independent living skills.

When the pandemic caused these groups to stop abruptly, many of the members found themselves extremely isolated and without those important opportunities to take part in the activities that they enjoyed.

LACs successfully applied to the National Lottery for ‘Food for Life Get Together’ funding. It allowed them to remotely facilitate a “reconnector” gardening and cooking project to build on skills learned during the original face-to-face groups, and to learn some new skills to cook independently at home. It also helped individuals reconnect with each other again via a safe online platform, through which they could share pictures of what food they had made and their growing plants.

The LACs produced a video and a printed step-by-step guide to help individuals plant and care for their own coriander and basil seeds. They also filmed themselves making a carrot and coriander soup, and a tomato and basil pasta for the group to watch if they preferred.

The funding allowed 21 adults to take part in the project, with participants given the ingredients and resources to grow their own plants from seeds and cook the soup and pasta dishes at home. Risk assessments, hygiene prompts and 1:1 support (if needed) were all provided.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive:

“It created an interest for my son as he got to plant the type of herb he was cooking with."

Participants:

“I really enjoyed planting the seeds and am excited to see them grow!”

"I enjoyed making the pasta."

“Making the pasta was easy to follow, instructions were easy to follow - the numbers and boxes and pictures made it very easy to follow."

After the success of the project, the group received further funding through the Scotmid Community Fund and Corra Foundation to allow them to create a further 10 healthy recipes at home in the summer of 2021. The group continues to keep in touch and members share the delicious food they have been independently making at home.

More good news was later received for the gardening group as they successfully received funding from the East Dunbartonshire Community Grants Scheme and The Mushroom Trust to safely restart face-to-face gardening sessions in October 2021.