We have adopted MECC to address health inequalities affecting screening programmes and hospital attendance in different services such as the Rapid Diagnostic Service, Bowel Cancer Screening, Community Dental Service and Outpatients.
The aim
Our MECC vision is to empower our population through wellbeing conversations and relevant support to adopt healthy behaviour and act as wellbeing connectors within the community.
Having wellbeing conversations with patients within our most deprived CORE20 areas and signposting to support services increases awareness of community services, encourages self-management, prevents DNAs and further prevents unnecessary hospital visits making the appointment available to those that need it.
The approach
We embedded MECC in our Integrated Musculoskeletal Service (iMSK) pathways recording nearly 6,000 conversations with patients about physical activity as part of the NHSE Active Hospital pilot in 2022-23. The culture and language of MECC is well established in this staff group following this work and conversations continue with patients about physical activity, smoking, alcohol and healthy weight.
In 2023, we became a pilot site for the NHSE Digital Weight Management Programme for patients living with OA and obesity with 25% of referrals originating from NTHFT, demonstrating our approach to MECC is well established and part of the holistic care we provide.
This work continues in our iMSK service and evaluation is helping us understand the demographics of this patient group to address health inequalities. We are scoping ways in which the digital weight management offer can be available for staff as part of the Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Insights and impact
We realised that not everyone is interested in becoming a MECC trainer and cascading to other members of staff, as reflected in the number of staff organising trainings after the initial Train the Trainer sessions.
As a result, we adopted a more targeted approach afterwards, informing the trainers of the responsibility of training others before attending the Train the Trainer course. We also started providing more support for trainers towards planning and implementation.
Top tips for success
- Supporting different service area to develop and own MECC approaches based on their service priorities
- Providing platforms for staff to collect and share success stories
- Engaging communications department to promote MECC awareness, trainings and resources
- Collaboration with external organisations including NENC MECC, NHS Trusts and Local Authorities to share practice, transform service and provide support
Go back to the page: Addressing Healthcare Inequalities Through Making Every Contact Count (MECC)
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