Category Archives: Social Network Analysis

The Latest News from Poperinge

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The following article, translated from the Dutch, appeared in the local publication, Stadskrant (“the City Newspaper”), in Poperinge, Belgium in February, 2022, informing local citizens of the work undertaken so far by Poperinge’s HAIRE team.

Poperinge is a partner in the HAIRE project, which stands for Healthy Ageing through Innovation in Rural Europe. The project aims to improve the wellbeing of seniors in Poperinge and its sub-municipalities, and to break through isolation and loneliness in the countryside. Numerous volunteers and professionals in healthcare have been involved in the project.

75 people over sixty were interviewed in Poperinge and smaller surrounding areas. The interviews mapped out the wellbeing of each participant, and allowed the drawing up of an individual action plan. The interviews are also part of a developing ‘community report’, with suggestions for all kinds of areas for improvement for the neighbourhood. Wellbeing is a word that is important in everyone’s life and at every age; meaningful and fun activities for the elderly help create a positive community atmosphere.

Four volunteers from Nestor services, the Local Service Center De Bres, WZC Huize Proventier and the Social Service went out with an extensive questionnaire asking about general well-being, what seniors think of their neighbourhood, what activities can be organized to help them age better and how everyone can benefit from this. A number of questions about the individual’s social network were also discussed.

The interviews lasted one and a half to two hours. The interviewee could choose from telephone or face to face sessions in person to complete the survey. Of course, all safety measures regarding coronavirus were observed during personal visits. Participation was entirely without obligation and participants were able to choose between a thank you gift voucher of 20 euros or two free meals delivered to the home by WZC Huize Proventier.

“Although I was armed with a mouth mask, safety screen and hand sanitiser, I was warmly welcomed everywhere by the fifteen interviewees despite Covid,” says Luc, who is 68 years old and volunteers at Local Services Center De Bres and WZC Huize Proventier. “Many older people found it a pity that services such as banks, post offices and shops are disappearing from their local areas. It’s vital for them that the city invests in basic services like neighbourhood salons or shops, which then become the beating heart of the village.”

MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES

The person-centred topics in the survey addressed the emotional well-being of the seniors. It emerged that they need a listening ear for emotional problems and for things that are not going well in the specific care of older people. An effort is needed to enable more people to grow old with good mental health and well-being. Luc clarifies: “Participation in meaningful activities such as volunteering, culture promotion, computer education and in some cases staying longer at work are here clearly reflected in the answers.” Concerns about caring for later, dementia and early care planning were also discussed. Many seniors want to age actively. “Local cooperation is of great importance. It is important to gain insight into loneliness in all its aspects. Everything starts with making contacts. As a result, all of a senior citizens’ associations, including community workers, the police and the postman, are of great importance,” said Luc.

TO STAY INFORMED

Regular contacts with neighbours, friends, family and caregivers are crucial. Luc concludes: “On average, we noticed an increase in the number of relatives in the social network of seniors, but at the same time a decrease in the number of non-relatives. As you get older, your world becomes smaller. People around you die or become less mobile, so that they disappear from your social network. It is important that the seniors are provided with resources so they can stay informed and be involved in the world around them.”

You can read the article in its original language below:

Un an plus tard : Qu’avons-nous accompli ?

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The HAIRE team at Exeter is pleased to have an MA Translation Studies intern, Valentine Naude, on board for a few months. This is the first of our dual language blogs. Welcome, Valentine!

Il y a un an de cela, le 10 février 2020, une toute nouvelle équipe s’est réunie autour d’un repas dans un petit bistrot de Lille pour célébrer le lancement du projet HAIRE, « bien vieillir grâce à l’innovation en Europe rurale » [en anglais « Healthy Aging through Innovation in Rural Europe »]. Voilà qui semble presque décadent, désormais : personne n’aurait pu prédire l’année qui suivrait et les difficultés que nous rencontrerions tous dans les affres d’une pandémie mondiale.

Le Covid-19 a beaucoup affecté notre groupe cible, exacerbant les problèmes que le projet HAIRE était précisément destiné à résoudre. Non seulement l’accès aux soins (santé et bien-être) est devenu plus difficile, mais notre groupe cible, déjà vulnérable, a encore plus souffert de la solitude et de l’isolation dans bien des cas. Les entretiens en face à face (les « Conversations Guidées » du projet HAIRE) n’ont pas pu se dérouler comme prévu. Alors que toute l’Europe s’est confinée, il a fallu trouver en toute urgence des solutions alternatives pour communiquer avec les personnes âgées.

Le premier défi a été de mettre en place une plateforme d’interprétation simultanée à distance, afin de faciliter la communication virtuelle avec nos partenaires européens. Grâce à nos efforts communs, nous avons pu adapter les Conversations Guidées – l’outil qui nous permet d’identifier les besoins et les désirs des personnes âgées – pour qu’elles soient menées en ligne ou par téléphone, selon les préférences du participant et du bénévole. Elles ont aussi et surtout évolué en fonction de la situation propre à chaque localité. Adaptée au milieu et axée sur la personne, l’approche adoptée par le projet HAIRE a été (et continue d’être) modulée avec soin à chaque étape d’adaptation de la « boîte à outils », depuis la planification du contenu jusqu’à son exécution. Une des caractéristiques de la boîte à outils consiste à utiliser une image propre à la localité du participant, de façon à l’aider à formuler ses besoins et ses désirs vis-à-vis d’espaces autant intérieurs qu’extérieurs. Tous les partenaires du projet ont contribué à ce travail de cocréation et ont été amenés à mieux connaître les localités de chacun.

Rien ne témoigne plus de leur engagement que l’implication indéfectible dont ils ont tous fait preuve au cours de l’année 2020 en dépit des restrictions relatives au Covid-19 dans leurs pays respectifs. A l’occasion d’un « Festival Bien Vieillir » [en anglais « Ageing Well Festival »], le conseil général du Sussex de l’Est et Rother Voluntary Action [organisme bénévole de la même région] ont animé de multiples dialogues communautaires en ligne pour le projet HAIRE, auxquels d’autres partenaires ont également assisté.

Tous nos partenaires n’ont cessé de donner d’eux-mêmes, et ce malgré la nécessité d’adapter leur approche aux autres actions entreprises par le projet HAIRE et aux collectes de données, par exemple « l’Analyse du Quartier » et les rapports des collectivités. (Ces composants de la boîte à outils permettent de mesurer et d’identifier le réseau social et les connexions de chaque individu, ainsi que de déterminer les opportunités – par exemple les activités ou les services – auxquelles les participants ont accès dans chaque communauté.) Là encore, les partenaires se sont entraidés pour trouver des solutions alternatives et résoudre mutuellement les problèmes intervenus dans la collecte des données.

Lors de notre dernière réunion entre partenaires, nous avons demandé à chacun de décrire le travail réalisé par le projet HAIRE en un mot, par le biais de l’application web Slido. La bulle de mots a peu à peu pris forme et trois mots se sont démarqués : Autonomiser [en anglais « empowering »] Communauté Ensemble. A la lumière de cela, on ne s’étonnera pas de voir que nous avons dépassé notre objectif de recrutement d’Aidants en dépit des confinements et d’un contact présentiel limité avec les personnes âgées. Les Aidants sont les bénévoles et les professionnels de la santé qui ont été formés pour utiliser la boite à outils du projet HAIRE et diriger des entretiens avec les personnes âgées. Au départ, notre objectif de recrutement était de 80 Aidants ; nous en avons maintenant 147, dont 115 qui ont reçu leur formation. Bien que nous ayons été retardés, nous sommes en voie d’atteindre un total de 600 participants aux Conversations Guidées : nous avons recruté 282 participants parmi lesquels 126 ont déjà commencé leurs conversations.

Dans sa conception, le projet HAIRE prend en compte ses futurs utilisateurs ainsi que le souci de la durabilité. Nos partenaires sont déjà en train de présenter le projet à de potentiels futurs utilisateurs de la boite à outils. Au Royaume-Uni, Devon Mind [association caritative axée sur la santé mentale] a présenté le projet HAIRE et son équipe à CoLab Exeter, un centre de cotravail intersectoriel et pluri-institutions sous le toit duquel environ 35 différents projets et services travaillent ensemble. Des échanges ont également eu lieu entre le conseil général du Sussex, Rother Voluntary Action et le conseil d’arrondissement de Hastings. D’un bout à l’autre de la région des 2Mers, nos partenaires sont en conversation avec les services sociaux des autorités locales ; en Belgique, des échanges ont eu lieu avec la Province d’Anvers et LiCalab (« Living and Care Lab »). En France, l’Université d’Artois a mis en place un partenariat – baptisé le « Cluster Senior » – entre plus de 30 organismes de la région; nos partenaires français se sont aussi associés au projet Interreg TICC, dirigé par Buurtzorg. Dans tous les pays, les sites pilotes maintiennent un contact régulier avec leur partenaire observateur. Au total, plus de 350 groupes locaux, groupes de bénévoles et une grande variété d’organismes ont contribué au partenariat HAIRE.

La transférabilité du projet HAIRE n’est pas seulement géographique, mais franchit aussi les frontières de multiples secteurs jusqu’à toucher des cibles inattendues. En effet, nous estimons que notre approche axée sur la personne pourrait être appliquée de manière plus large, par exemple pour résoudre le problème des sans-abris ou de l’addiction à la drogue. Pour de nombreuses communautés, il se pourrait que l’année 2021 et les suivantes représentent un chemin parsemé d’embuches. Nous ne doutons pas que le projet HAIRE relèvera le défi, et, loin de se contenter de cela, qu’il remettra à ces communautés les solutions et les outils qui leur permettront de s’épanouir au-delà de la pandémie.

One Year On: What Have We Achieved?

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A year ago on 10th February, 2020, the fledgling HAIRE team sat down to eat together in a little bistro in Lille to celebrate the launch of the project, Healthy Ageing through Innovation in Rural Europe. It almost seems decadent in retrospect. No-one could have predicted the year that was to follow and the difficulties the world would face in the throes of a global pandemic.

Covid-19 struck at the heart of our target group, exacerbating the very problems HAIRE had been designed to address. Not only was access to health and wellbeing services made more difficult, our already vulnerable target suffered increased loneliness and isolation in many cases. Face to face interviews (HAIRE’s Guided Conversations) could not go ahead as originally planned. As Europe-wide lockdowns took hold, alternative methods to talk to older people had to be found, and fast.

Our first challenge was to secure a remote simultaneous interpretation platform so that we could easily talk to all of our European partners online. Thanks to everyone working together to find solutions, the Guided Conversations – the technique used to establish older people’s needs and desires – were adapted to take place virtually or by telephone according to participant and volunteer comfort. Crucially, they evolved with the unique situation in every locality. HAIRE’s place-based, person-centred approach was (and continues to be) carefully managed at every step of the toolkit adaptation, from content planning to execution. One of the features of the toolkit is the use of a site-specific image to help participants articulate their needs and desires in relation to both interior and exterior spaces. This co-design work involved all partners and brought about a deeper understanding of each others’ localities.

It is a testament to their commitment that throughout 2020 each partner continued to be fully engaged in the project despite Covid-19 obligations in their country. East Sussex County Council and Rother Voluntary Action hosted several online HAIRE-branded community talks for an Ageing Well festival, which other partners attended as well.

The level of every partner’s commitment has not waned even though each partner has had to flex their approach to other HAIRE activities and information gathering, such as the Neighbourhood Analysis and community reports. (These elements of the toolkit establish the extent and nature of individual social networks and connections, and what opportunities, such as activities and services, are available to participants in each community.) There too, partners have helped each other find workarounds and helped problem solve for each other in order to gather the data.

In our most recent partnership meeting, we used Sli.Do to ask partners for one word that describes the work of HAIRE. As the word bubble took shape, three words stood out: Empowering Community Together. So it is perhaps not surprising that, despite Covid-19 lockdowns and limited face to face contact with older people, we have overachieved on Enabler recruitment. Enablers are the volunteers and health professionals who are trained to use the HAIRE toolkit and conduct interviews with older people. We had an original recruitment target of 80 Enablers – and we now have 147, with 115 of them trained so far. And despite delays, we are on track to achieve 600 participants for the Guided Conversations: we have 282 recruited participants, with 126 having already started their conversations.

HAIRE is being designed with future users and sustainability in mind. Partners are already presenting the project to potential future users of the toolkit. In the UK, Devon Mind has introduced HAIRE and the team to CoLab Exeter, a cross-sector, multi-agency co-working hub that is home to some 35 different projects and services that work collaboratively. Other conversations have taken place between Sussex County Council, Rother Voluntary Action and Hastings Borough Council.

Across the 2Seas region, our partners have been talking to local governments’ social services departments; in Belgium, conversations have taken place with the Province of Antwerp and LiCalab (Living and Care Lab). In France, the University of Artois has developed a partnership with 30+ organisations in their area, called ‘Cluster Senior’; our French partners have also connected with the Interreg Project TICC, led by Buurtzorg. Pilot sites in all countries have been in regular contact with their Observer Partners. In total, the HAIRE partnership has engaged over 350 local groups, voluntary groups and a variety of organisations.

The transferability of HAIRE is not just geographic but also crosses sector boundaries to unexpected targets: we are seeing opportunities for its person-centred approach to be applied widely, e.g. tackling homelessness and drug addiction. 2021 and beyond may be a tough road for many communities. We are confident that HAIRE will not only rise to the challenge, but will also offer solutions and tools for communities to thrive beyond this pandemic.

 

What is Social Network Analysis?

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The post this month comes from Sebastian Stevens and Rebecca Baines from the University of Plymouth, who have developed the Social Network Analysis component of the HAIRE toolkit.

What is a social network?

The term ‘social network’ is often used to describe online and offline connections between people. For this project, we use the term social network to mean the connections people have with one another in their local community. This could be people you enjoy spending time with, call upon for help and support, or share hobbies with.

What is social network analysis (SNA)?

Social network analysis (SNA) is a method often used in social research to measure, understand and visualise connections between people and organisations. It has many applications including mapping friendships, exploring health advice seeking behaviours and tracing contact patterns during disease outbreaks such as COVID-19.

Why are we interested in social networks?

There is increasing evidence to suggest that the size and make-up of a person’s network plays a vital role in their health and well-being. For example:

“Existing research has demonstrated the significance of social networks in relation to physical and emotional wellbeing” (Heenan: 2011)

However, creating and sustaining these networks in a rural and ageing environment can be particularly difficult:

“Aging adults living in rural communities have less access to and lower utilization of health care services; they rely heavily on available peer and family networks. Although social networks have been linked to positive mental and physical health outcomes, there is a lack of understanding about social networks in rural-dwellings” (Gannon et al: 2016)

Working together to map people’s networks, identifying potential gaps and finding ways to build new connections can therefore be incredibly important in supporting peoples health and wellbeing in a rural setting.

What role does SNA play within the HAIRE toolkit?

As part of the HAIRE toolkit, we have developed a SNA ‘tool’ in collaboration with community members and project partners that will:

  • Empower individual community members to review, reflect and discuss their own social networks and consider ways of growing and/or strengthening their connections with other people
  • Allows community organisations to understand how connected people feel to one another
  • Explore how social networks may differ between settings, countries and cultures.

Combined with the neighbourhood analysis and guided conversation tools, the social network tool will help provide a holistic understanding of an individual’s social connections, loneliness and isolation.

How will we capture the social networks of community members and what will we do with this information?

We will capture peoples networks through a series of short questions. These questions will be asked by a HAIRE enabler during each guided conversation with community members. Responses to these questions may then be used to inform the action plan that is created in partnership between the HAIRE enabler and community member.

In time, community members will be able to see a visualisation of their social network. This visualisation may help individuals to identify and reflect on the strength, gaps and opportunities within their social network.

We look forward to sharing insights about social networks in rural communities across Europe with you all very soon!

Seb and Rebecca work on the HAIRE project in collaboration with project partners and pilot sites. Led by Dr Arunangsu Chatterjee, Associate Professor of Digital Health & Education and Head of Digital Education at the University of Plymouth, Seb and Rebecca are providing academic support to the HAIRE project to help explore and understand the impact of social networks on health and wellbeing. To find out more about their research or The Centre for Health Technology, please click here.