Supporting people to recover and stay well  

In 2024, we collaborated with five local voluntary and community groups. Together, we aimed to understand the challenges people face attending NHS appointments and explore solutions.

Missed NHS appointments can have serious health implications and even lead to premature death, so the NHS want to make sure people attend their appointments so they can recover and stay well. Missed appointments cost millions of pounds yearly and increase waiting times when the NHS is already stretched.

Local VCS groups best understand their community and the people they serve and can provide support enabling people to recover and stay well.

Our health colleagues needed insights from:

• Black people
• Families with young children
• People with poor mental health
• Older people
• People affected by poverty.

Innovative and collaborative activities with specific communities across Dorset were delivered by:

Christchurch Community Partnership worked with the BU PIER (Public Involvement in Education & Research) Partnership to upskill volunteers to facilitate and lead engagement activities.

CoCreate Dorset CIC worked with individuals in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Weymouth with poor mental health through Forum Theatre, using a structured performance method that encourages active problem-solving.

Home Start Wessex volunteers lead engagement activities with families with young children, including families affected by poverty.

Nigerian Communities in Dorset (a not-for-profit community networking group) engaged with people of black ethnicity through focus groups and one-to-one activities supported by BU student volunteers.

Poole Communities Trust used creativity to stimulate conversation and engagement in the community. They worked with a local illustrator to create powerful imagery highlighting the barriers and challenges they explored.

Read the summary report of the project findings. To find out more contact emma.lee@can100.org. Follow the project journey via Our Dorset.

Funding from NHS Charities Together via Dorset County Hospital Charity and in partnership with Dorset Community Foundation and Public Health Dorset.