Abstract
Background: Families facing adversity often need additional support to achieve engagement in services. The Wellbeing Coordinator (WBC) program was designed to facilitate engagement to services via a combination of care navigation and social prescribing within an integrated Child & Family Hub (CFH). There is currently a dearth of research specifically evaluating this type of program for children and families.
Who it is for: The WBC program was co-designed for families who were socially isolated; newly migrated to the area; overwhelmed with navigating community services and/or needing help with engaging with services including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The WBC was also able to offer support to families with a child with a new diagnosis or who were on service wait lists.
Who we involved: The WBCs role was co-designed with families and practitioners from health, social and community services to ensure it catered for the needs of families in the local area.
What did you do: Practitioners were co-located and trained to identify social needs and issues engaging with health services. Referral pathways were developed which enabled both Hub practitioner referrals and family self-referral. The WBC program was provided as a short-term program, with approximately 6 sessions, depending on a family’s needs.
Quantitative and qualitative data were collected for the program evaluation. Quantitative data comprised of demographic data from caregivers and validated outcome measures of general health, loneliness, social connectedness, health confidence and parent enablement. Qualitative data were collected in semi-structured individual interviews with practitioners and families which explored the experience of the WBC referral pathway or program. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: XX number of families were referred to the WBC program. Most referrals were for care navigation, rather than social prescribing, particularly with help to access the NDIS.
Preliminary thematic findings from practitioners identified four main themes: i) WBC is the “backbone” of the CFH and had an important role to link both families and practitioners, ii) Need for clarity about a WBC role to improve uptake of program, iii) Restricted eligibility criteria prevented broader use of the service.
Thematic findings from caregiver interviews will be available by November.
Learnings: Further stakeholder engagement is needed to encourage all Hub practitioners to utilise this service. A WBC plays a central role in an integrated CFH and can strengthen ties between practitioners and the community.
Most referrals to the WBC came from paediatricians, allied health and social care staff which resulted in care navigation support being more heavily utilised than social prescribing. It was hypothesised that practitioners would be able to identify and refer socially isolated clients, however this required greater capability building with practitioners due to higher needs clients.
The WBC program has the potential to improve child health outcomes however, the program requires broader entry criteria for families.
Next steps: Further work is required to fully understand caregiver needs for social prescribing or care navigation for families facing adversity.