| About the CHWWs | FAQ | Press | CHWW News & Documents | Partners | Case Studies | Contacts | Postcode Checker |
About the Community Health and Wellbeing Workers
Community Health and Wellbeing Workers (CHWWs) are an exciting, new part of the health system landscape in Cornwall. It is inspired by, and based on, the Brazilian Family Health Strategy, which has had an army of CHWWs in place since 1994! In Brazil, there are 275,000 CHWWs all across the country, working closely with about 40,000 primary care teams. It has led to extraordinary outcomes across all age groups and conditions.
As in Brazil, the Cornwall CHWWs are recruited from local areas, and they are paid full- or part-time, to provide regular and ongoing health and social care support to all households, and for all residents, in small neighbourhoods of around 120 households each. CHWWs are part of the primary care team, but also integrated into the wider health and social care system, so any problems that arise, or any support that residents might be needing, from one month to the next, can be identified and referred on in a timely manner. Currently, Cornwall counts on around 34 CHWWs, and it has been so well received that it might grow even bigger!
This work is part of a wider effort to scale the CHWW role across the whole of England and Wales. Since 2019, the National Association of Primary Care and Imperial College London have been working together to implement this in many areas in the country. There are many localities already piloting and scaling this role, such as in Westminster, Bridgewater, Calderdale, Wandsworth, Oxford and many more. The initiative has been cited in major national policy reports and is looking to expand even further. Over time, we expect the CHWW initiative to lead to big improvements in patient care outcomes, uptake of preventative services, access to care, and care coordination. - Dr Matthew Harris.
Where we cover
The CHWW teams are spread out across the Cornish county, below is a map that highlights the areas that we currently operate in.
For a more detailed breakdown of where the service is active, please refer to the postcode tool at the bottom of this page.
Some of the things we can help with:
- Connect with your local community
- Money and housing concerns
- Advice or a chat over a cuppa
- Veteran support
- Energy saving ideas and devices for your home
- All age service
- Accessing mental health support
- Learning new activities and skills
We provide tailored resources and support to what residents need, when they need it.
Video from Dr Matthew Harris, Imperial College London
Listen to Dr Matthew Harris talk about the Community Health and Wellbeing Worker role at the Central Cornwall ICA Celebration and Learning Event in December 2023:
Video from Tobi Amadasun, Watton Medical Practice
Listen to Tobi Amadasun from Watton Medical Practice speak about how adopting the Community Health and Wellbeing Worker model supported him and his colleagues with their work in Watton:
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of the commonly asked questions about the Community Health and Wellbeing Workers:
What is this service and how will it benefit me?
This service gives you your own community health and wellbeing worker, we will meet you to find out what matters to you and how we can support you with your own health and wellbeing goals.
Is this service free?
Yes, the service is completely free.
Where can we meet?
We can meet you at any location that is easy for you: your home, the local café or community hub.
What if I’m not interested?
That’s absolutely fine! We will touch base with you occasionally just in case you change your mind.
Do I live within an area supported by the CHWWs?
You can use our simple postcode search tool at the end of this page to check if you live within one of the currently supported postcode areas.
Is there a limit to how much support I can receive?
Individuals living within the CHWW postcode areas can receive as much support as they need for the entirety of the programme.
Press
Article by Jayne Kirkham, Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth
"It’s putting the care where it needs to go. And advocates of the scheme, which started in Brazil, say the benefits go beyond health care and reach into a host of other problems, including depression, suicide, domestic violence, children being absent from school, damp, debt and unpaid bills, housing problems, grief and loneliness, and access to practical support like care, debt advice, memory cafes and classes on preventing falls."
Read more on The Post's website:
Featured in National Association of Primary Care's May Newsletter
We are delighted that one of our team, Julie Pollard, who oversees the Community Health & Wellbeing Programme across Cornwall, is being featured in the newsletter of the National Association of Primary Care.
We are incredibly proud of the programme, which is funded by NHS Cornwall & IoS and Cornwall Council Public Health, to tackle health inequalities. It is delivered by a large partnership of voluntary and community groups and leading the way in delivering on the government’s stated priorities of moving from treating illness to preventing it and from hospital-based services to those in the community.
Read Julie's case study on the NAPC website
South West Integrated Personalised Care Award for Health Equity
Successfully bringing the ‘Brazil Model’ of Community Health and Wellbeing Workers to Cornwall in February 2023, we are delighted to announce that the programme has been awarded the South West Integrated Personalised Care Award for Health Equity.
Congratulations to everyone in the Cornwall Team across our many partners on this fantastic achievement.
The photo shows a few members of the team who attended the awards ceremony at The Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset.
NAPC Podcast - Community Health and Wellbeing Workers
Listen to the NAPC Podcast as they speak to some of the team about the incredible results of the CHWW programme in Cornwall.
In the Podcast, NAPC are joined by:
- Dr Marie Polley,Co-Founder and Co-Director at Meaningful Measures
- Donna Chapman, Centra ICA Development Manager at Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB
- Julie Pollard, Operational Team Manager at Volunteer Cornwall
The First CHWW Conference, Imperial College, London
Yesterday was a very special and emotional day for me. Courtesy of the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) and Imperial College London we held our first national Community Health and Wellbeing Worker (CHWW) conference. 3 years ago we started a small pilot with 4 wonderful CHWWs (or Chewies as they call themselves) in Churchill Gardens Nahima Begum , Comfort Idowu-Fearon, Maureen Katusabe and Asma Monir. Inspired by the impressive Brazilian Family Health Strategy championed by Matthew Harris with Jeffrey Lake from Westminster City Council and sheila neogi from the Pimlico health at the Marven practice, we reached out to a geography of 500 households.
Three years on, we have over 100 CHWWs all over the UK, many of whom came together yesterday to celebrate the amazing work they do in and with their communities, reaching out to 1000s of households in the most deprived areas in the UK. All 4 original CHWWs were there yesterday and are now sharing their experience, knowledge and resources with new sites trialling this powerful and scalable model. https://napc.co.uk/chww/
Chewies are not a ‘service’ in the traditional sense, they represent community infrastructure for a better connected, resilient and knowledgable community. They are locals who are trained, paid, integrated, supported, holistic and universal.
Lets invest our money in people, improved relationships and better communications.
We heard from CHWWs in Brazil thanks to Marcelle Costa Marinho, from Amanda B. about Matt Ball‘s Justice in Listening model as the foundation of human to human connection and secret super power of our CHWWs to keep themselves and their residents well.
Our colleagues from Cornwall shared their impressive evaluation and incredible stories, @saul kaufman clinical director at Healthcare Central London talked about Westminster’s Octopus INT inspired by the CHWW and now integrating their relational and dialogical way of working across the borough.
I’m hoping there will be hundreds more at next year’s Chewie conference #2025 organised by Chewies for Chewies.
We are a finalist for the HSJ Awards 2024
We are excited to share that our CHWW programme has been shortlisted for the the HSJ Awards 2024 under the category of Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year.
An innovative project to support local people who are facing health inequalities has become a finalist for a prestigious national Health Service Journal Award.
The joint entry is for the Community Health and Wellbeing Worker model, a collaboration between the NHS and voluntary sector. It was submitted by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board and the 4 London-based primary care networks which form Healthcare Central London, in the category ‘Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year’.
Community Health and Wellbeing Workers are located in areas facing the most health inequalities. Each worker supports 120 households on a monthly basis, becoming well respected and trusted members of the community. They listen and understand what matters to each person regardless of age, then support them to address their concerns.
Read the full press release here.
CHWW News & Documents
Case Studies
Here you can download and read a collection of case studies from the work of the Community Health and Wellbeing Workers.
Contacts
If you would like to learn more about the Community Health and Wellbeing Workers, please get in touch with one of our team via the contact information below:
Julie Pollard, Community Health and Wellbeing Operational Team Manager for Cornwall & Project Coordinator for Central Cornwall
T: 01872 266991
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sarah Redfern, Community Health and Wellbeing Project Coordinator for West Cornwall
T: 07968 706114
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jen Campbell, Community Health and Wellbeing Project Coordinator for North & East Cornwall
T: 07749 416857
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Postcode Checker Tool
The Community Health and Wellbeing Workers provide support that is in addition to anything that a health care professional is offering, the service that we provide not a replacement for any other support.
.