South Shields medical centre launches new scheme to help children living with asthma

Talbot Medical Centre in Stanley Road has partnered with a marketing agency to create a new digital asthma and wellbeing workshop for children and young people living with the condition.

The new initiative was set up to provide digital support to young people with asthma by providing access to online tools and resources to help them manage their condition better, with the aim to reduce severe attacks in young people as well as providing added value in the session through wellbeing support and activities.

The team at the centre said they were investing in new ‘digital inclusion practices’ to support those who may be missing out on vital resources and services due to a lack of basic information technology skills, access to digital devices and internet connection.

The centre worked with Sunderland-based marketing agency dodio which identified two key partners to help make the project possible – Mindstars CIC, which specialises in providing wellbeing sessions to children in Tyneside, and North-East telecoms specialist LM Global, which stepped in to supply and manage devices for this and future projects.

Stacey Reid, practice manager at the medical centre, said: “As part of our commitment to Digital Inclusion we are working alongside community partners to bring better access to information and care, increased convenience, and more opportunities for greater control of patients’ own health and shared care.

“Around eleven million people – that’s 20% of the population of the UK - lack basic digital skills, or do not use digital technology at all, and with a new focus on ensuring that as many people as possible can access our services, we will be developing projects that may include workshops, training, device loaning over the coming months. For the health and care system digital health can mean more effective delivery of care, better outcomes and reduced costs.”

Following the success of the asthma and wellbeing workshop, Talbot Medical Centre and dodio will continue to work together on the next stage of the project helping patients better access services in a more effective way.

dodio director Senga Kean added: “As Talbot Medical Centre’s marketing partner, we have recently supported them with creating a new website, social media management as well as their commitment to Digital Inclusion.

"Through working with Talbot’s practice manager and senior staff we identified several opportunities, which would have a substantial impact on digital inclusion within the community.

"One of which was to provide digital support to young people with asthma by providing access to online tools and resources to help them manage their condition better. It was decided that an Asthma and Wellbeing workshop for children was an ideal way to carry out the initial project.

"The session not only covered asthma and wellbeing but how children could get online, access the most relevant resources, where in the community WiFi and devices were available if they didn’t have access to these at home and how to do all of this safely.”