Citizen Advisors - Turning Point

Turning Point Connected Care Report 38
4. The role of Citizen Advisors should not be limited to signposting to
existing services but encompass wider support across early intervention,
self care and building community capacity.
This report has indicated that building social capital and increasing informal
connections in the community, as well as more formal links to mainstream
services, can help people to be more independent and supported in their local
area. Providing and signposting people to social activities and community
networks and services is an effective way of preventing the need for more costly
statutory services in the future, particularly amongst older people. Indeed,
prevention and early intervention are at the heart of the personalisation/localism
agenda, and Citizen Advisors are an appropriate and efficient way in which this
message can be spread to service users with individuals encouraged to access
the appropriate level of support to address their needs. This has been illustrated
in the Partnerships for Older People Projects which has had great success in
decreasing reliance on statutory services and reducing the associated costs.
The Local Area Coordinators, for example, have made efforts to support
individuals to get more involved with their local communities. Similarly, an
important aspect of the village agents’ role is the organising of and linking of
people into social activities with the aim of maintaining their independence. This
is particularly important in rural areas, where there is likely to be fewer services
and people need more support to access and travel to community projects.
Citizen Advisors should, therefore, seek to motivate and mentor individuals to
build their aspirations for change and to take responsibility for their well-being, to
help connect them with existing community networks, and ultimately remove
their reliance on statutory services. Encouraging individuals to manage their
own health and well-being and to get more involved in the community helps to
build local resilience as well as leading to the more appropriate and effective
use of services and resources.
Furthermore, through working amongst the community, Citizen Advisors may
have the knowledge of local need and the expertise to support or to lead the
coordination of timebanking activities in their local area. Timebanks are
frameworks that allow people who would not normally meet to come together
and help one another by sharing their skills, experiences and time. Time
banking values everyone's time as equal, 1 hour equals 1 hour, or 1 credit. For
every hour you spend helping someone in your community you are entitled to an
hour of help in return. Time Bank members can give and receive support such
as lifts to the Doctors or the Hospital, accompanying people to the shops,
befriending and companionship, gardening help etc. All of which are services
and types of support that enable people to be more independent and engaged in
their local communities.