Making Every Contact Count
Why?
•WMFS could contribute to Health & Wellbeing Agenda
•Fits WMFS Action Plans (Links: alcohol, smoking and risk of fires & injuries)
•Proactive prevention & improves awareness of service providers
•Opportunities – contacts with public during home safety checks
•Seemed to ‘fit’ with Vulnerable Persons Officer visits
•‘Safe’ (ie. not about becoming specialists & other brigades had done training)
•Potential to improve staff health & wellbeing
Making Every Contact Count
What We Did & How?
•Liaised with Public Health Contacts (Deryn Bishop & Anne
McLeod)
•‘Alcohol Brief Advice’ and ‘Healthy Lifestyles Team’ training
(delivered to Vulnerable Persons Officers)
•Training was given a ‘fire service’ emphasis
•A specific ‘aide-memoire for fire service staff’ given out
•Useful example text of how to broach subject.
•Ask, Advise Assist
•OARS: Open Questions, Affirmation, Reflections, Summaries
Making Every Contact Count
Barriers
•Lack of knowledge/understanding about MECC
•Lack of understanding of WMFS links to H&WB
•Lack of confidence in broaching certain issues
•Lack of awareness of service providers
•Lack of Information to give to individuals
Making Every Contact Count
Review?
•VPOs fill out a report after each visit
•Level 2 Plan monitors number of signposting referrals
•MECC will be included in brigade Action Plans
•MECC training now to be given to operational crews.
•Development needed for evaluation & outcomes
•Re-fresh of training?
Activities
(Milestones)
What activities do you plan to
deliver and when by
Activities
Deadline
April
2014
Outputs
What resources are
required to deliver your
activities (e.g. finance,
people equipment)
What will your activities
produce, how much and
to whom. These are
direct, measurable
products or services of
activities.
Ops Crews,
Advocates,
VPO’s,
Fire Control,
Partners,
Volunteers,
ICT, Statistics,
CS Team, Ops
Commanders,
Station
Commanders,
Station
Personnel,
VPO Leads
All VPO’s and
50% of
operational
staff to receive
Making Every
Contact Count
[MECC]
training and
working to
embed MECC
across the
West Midlands
Short Term
Outcomes (0-1 year)
Intermediate
Outcomes (1-2 years)
Changes in learning,
knowledge, skills. These
are changes you expect
to occur immediately or
very soon after the
activities are delivered
and occur as a direct
result of your activities
and outputs
Changes in action,
behaviour and practice
These are changes you
want to occur after the
short term outcomes
have been achieved. They
are the link between the
short term outcomes and
longer term impact
Improved staff
awareness and
understanding of
the wider
determinates of
health related
issues and
inequalities and
WMFS personnel
supporting health
agenda priorities
Increased number
of people
receiving healthy
lifestyle
information or
signposting where
appropriate
through initial
interventions
Increased
numbers of
partnerships with
health
organisations and
service providers
Impact (3 years +)
Change in conditions:
social, economic,
political and
environmental. This is
change you hope will
occur over time. Impact is
harder to measure and can
be less attributable to the
objective because there
may be other interventions
aiming to achieve the same
impact.
Reduce the number of fires, deaths and injuries
Improve the safety, health and
well-being of our local communities.
Work in
partnership to
improve
health and
wellbeing
through
reducing
inequalities
by
addressing
the wider
social
determinates
of health
within the
community
Inputs
Making Every Contact Count
Feedback from VPOs
“I haven’t personally made referrals with regard to Alcohol use-not yet
anyway, but I would certainly feel confident to. I could approach the
subject in an appropriate fashion & offer advice”.
“I’ve not referred someone back yet but it may be the case when ……. &
me visit the ….. family as there are alcohol issues with the family”.
“It is still quite hard to broach the subject though, due to not wanting to
offend”
“It’s good to have the knowledge”
“Even for information it was worth it” (doing the training)
Making Every Contact Count
Any Questions?