Engaging with your community is an essential ingredient for developing community resilience. This includes engagement with community members at different levels:
Information
- accessible, wide promotion of information about our services (and alternatives, and when to use them)
- information about the range of emergency resource options in their community eg community defibrillators and Community First Responder schemes
- information about preventing common health problems and reducing health risks.
Engagement
- opportunities for you to get involved in deciding how best to deliver emergency and urgent services and patient transport services.
Involvement
- opportunities for you to be involved in supporting emergency and urgent care in your community as a Community First Responder volunteer
- training for you in CPR and / or first aid skills.
Example – Health and Happiness, Inverness
This example shows how the Service can engage clients at various levels to improve their experience, access and use of our services.
We have been working with ‘Health and Happiness’ in Inverness who provide support to young people with learning difficulties. We have had their input in the development of a ‘health passport’ - a document people will have to log all their personal information so that it is readily accessible when they need to use the NHS. This project is in progress. Health and Happiness also have had input in the design of a communication tool for cab-based terminals (computer tablets in our vehicles) using symbols to assist communication with children, people with speech / hearing difficulties and people with learning difficulties. This tool is currently under construction with our supplier of cab based terminals. There are plans additionally to provide essential life support training for Health and Happiness and their clients.