The EC3 Programme
Community based
Emotional Care for Chronic Conditions
Geoff Lees and Carol Evans
The EC3 Programme
• An innovative Programme, funded by the
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
out of Wales Assembly Government’s
Chronic Care Management Transitional
Funding, the EC3 Programme is delivered
across Denbighshire by a team of
professionals from Vale of Clwyd Mind.
Who can access EC3?
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Patients must have a HADS score of <11 but >4 or a PHQ9 score of <14
Patients must be resident in Denbighshire
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Patients must have a diagnosis of one or more of the following
chronic conditions Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Failure, Coronary Heart Disease
Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Diabetes
Stroke
Obesity
Parkinson’s Disease
Chronic Pain
Multiple Sclerosis
Skeletal Disease
Somatisation
And have associated mild/moderate anxiety and/or depression
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Patients requiring services are
expected to include:
•People with chronic conditions who require assistance
in managing the emotional impact of their illness
•People who require assistance in developing effective
coping strategies in relation to the emotional impact of
their illness
•People who need to effect behavioural change relating
to their chronic condition
•People having difficulty managing pain and discomfort
associated with chronic conditions
•People with physical manifestations of psychological
distress
•People with unexplained physiological symptoms
•People accessing this service will not currently be in
receipt of, or normally able to access psychological
services
EC3 – An accessible community
based programme
• The Programme has been designed to be
as accessible as possible to people living
in their communities in Denbighshire
• Most elements of the EC3 Programme can
be delivered close to the person’s home
• Support will be provided to link people in
with other social, learning and leisure
activities within their communities
A tailor-made Programme
The Programme includes the following elements
• Solution focussed counselling
• Motivational interviewing and coaching techniques
• Beating the Blues – the online CBT programme for
anxiety and depression
• Exercise referrals and books on prescription
• Self help & support groups,
• Training workshops on issues such as living with chronic
conditions, food and mood, etc.,
• Support to link people in with other social, learning and
leisure community activities.
A Person Centred Holistic
Programme
• The needs and wishes of the service user are at
the centre of this programme. The Programme
aims to empower people with chronic conditions
to overcome barriers to achieve self determined,
satisfying and personally meaningful goals.
• At initial interview, the Recovery Star, a person
centred, holistic assessment tool, is used by the
person and EC3 worker to jointly explore areas
of their lives where they would like to make
changes
• Goals are set to support the person to move
forward to maximise their quality of life
The Recovery Star
An unique programme
• The Programme will not be duplicating any
existing services. There are many Chronic
Condition Management Programmes in the
community, e.g. The Diabetes Xpert Patient
course and the Breathe Easy Groups. EC3 will
be aiming to link people in to these existing
community initiatives, helping them to overcome
psychological and sometimes physical barriers
to accessing them.
A training programme
The second major element of the
Programme is to train personnel in all
sectors at all levels to recognize and work
with the emotional effects of Chronic
Conditions.
See Training Programme handout
The Denbighshire EC3 Programme
For more information contact
Carol Evans, Manager
Tel: 01745 812461
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.valeofclwydmind.org.uk
A targeted programme
In Denbighshire, counselling can be accessed through
Primary Care. However, this is only available for people
with a primary mental health problem and excludes a
large part of our Chronic Condition target group. The
EC3 Programme counsellors and Wellbeing Workers will
only be engaging with people with a primary diagnosis of
a specific chronic condition and will principally be
working in solution focussed and motivational
interviewing models to support people to identify ways to
come to terms with their conditions, focusing on their
abilities not disabilities, and to help[ them move on.