COMMUNITY HEALTH EDUCATOR PROJECT

1. COMMUNITY HEALTH EDUCATOR PROJECT

2. What is it? • 14 week peer education course aimed at local community members from areas of high multiple deprivation. • Community students become part of “TheFamily” and return to their communities to deliver paid work. • Based on Paulo Friere’s model. • Share basic preventative health promotion messages with their communities.

3. What does it do? • Makes people laugh! • Raises consciousness. • Combats social isolation. • Increases confidence. • Develops employability & market value. • Keeps people out of hospital? • Social not a medical model. • Delivers simple messages usually around diet & exercise.

4. How does it work? • Never work alone! • Always in groups! • Work next to health professionals, community workers or prison officers etc. • Big! Fat! Demarcation lines on what information is shared. • Not one complaint in four years, apart from about me (for giving too many condoms out).

5. Who do they work with? • Eclectic and diverse groups • Faith groups • The prison service • Doctors • Occupational therapists • African women fleeing domestic violence • Men who have sex with men and other sex trade workers. • The homeless • “Unteachables and tagged teenagers” • Isolated Asian women’s groups.

6. ORIGIN • HEALTH PROMOTION ROBOTS? • Began in July 2004 at West Leeds Healthy Living Network. • Commissioned by Dr John Fear (Director of Public Health for the West PCT). • Dr Fear was sceptical of past programmes because they trained but did not deliver in the community. • Had a vision of an industrialised process. • E.g. if you can train twenty C.H.Es, why not 40, then 80 etc etc. (BANG ‘EM IN-BANG ‘EM OUT)

7. ORIGIN • Community worker visited comparable programmes up and down the country to extract best practice (Sheffield 10 year project seen as a beacon of excellence) • Training plan developed for a 14 week C.H.E course and the first brick of the factory was laid. Eventually bought the Sheffield manual. • Tested it, by doing it, then rigorous reviews and evaluations followed.

8. WE’RE CREATED A MONSTER! • Out in the community before graduation! • Contact time = 2 minutes to 2 hours • Community Members interacted with; • 2005 = 8095 • 2006 = 8745 • 2007 = 9413 • Beyond our wildest expectations. • Demand and over subscription high!

9. How is it run? • Like the MAFIA! • Once your in! • You can never leave! • Unless it’s in a box! • The project needs no special pleading • Our philosophy = “IT WORKS – BECAUSE IT IS” • A project with a life of its own, it learns as it does, as it adapts”

10. What has worked? • Calibre and street intellect of the C.H.Es • Interactive / arts based course. • Our say-not yours! –students have a large choice about what they learn. • Tutors have to make students want to come back week in week out. • Training and delivering simultaneously. • Informality – but with structure. • Humour – essential

11. What has worked? • Don’t segregate the class into special interest groups or by race or gender! • Diversity is strength. • Let the students choose as much as is humanely possible. • Use the last course to inform the next. • As little prescription as possible, no red tape and no bureaucracy.

12. How we deliver? • Fast and informal! • Has to be better than day time TV! • No preaching! Just sharing! • No judging just listening! • Borrowing ideas to reuse! • No time to get bored! • Leave them wanting more-always rebooked. • Keep it dead simple!

13. How we promote! • Cheese is the word! • Promote like a tabloid and think like a broad sheet. • “CON THE KIDS” • “GROOVY GREYS” • “KISS THE COOK” • Never say no to anything

14. Feel the love? • Love the client group, if they don’t, don’t put them in. • Talk to people the minute you walk in the door. • Don’t pretend to be anything your not. • Keep it simple.

15. KEEPS YOU GROUNDED! • “So let’s get this right then, were on one of the most down on it’s arse estates in the West with an x-prostitute, a heroin addict, a recovering alcoholic and me an x-offender! • “Yes e-r-r that’s right. • “and we’re going to share healthy living tips with the people on this estate?” • “Er yes” • …”and my social worker tells me I’ve got mental health issues!”

16. What else has worked? • “The family” have been used for numerous research projects. This gives the family a voice. • No stress no pressure, work when you like on what you like as your confidence grows. • Run it like a factory-job cards! • Use a steering group!

17. Mistakes! • There’s been a few! • Labels! And “Lab rats!” • Being too much of a “DAD” –not letting go! • Students not feeling ready. • C.H.Es project as a piece of modern art. • Challenges.

18. The Future! • Strategic Health Authority funding! • C.H.Es central! A training school • Duplication along the lines of single celled amoeba! • A community cooking school • Cafes and restaurants

19. Give me a quote! • “Unless and until we are willing to come to terms with organisational power and influence, and admit that the skills ofgetting things done are as importantasthe skills of figuring out what to do, our organisations will fall further and further behind” Pfeffer quoted by Hunter and Killoran 2004

20. A FINAL WORD FROM THE FAMILY! • “IT’S NOT WE SAY THAT DEFINES US, IT’S WHAT WE DO!” • Batman-from the film “Batman Begins” Warner Bros. Films.