Healthwatch Walsall Walsall CCG Communications and You Report

Transcription

1 Healthwatch Walsall Walsall CCG Communications and You Report Simon Fogell Healthwatch Walsall Suite 103 The Rock Centre, Lichfield St, Walsall, WS1 1TJ

2 Contents Background Page 3 Introduction Page 3 Sample Page 3 Methodology Page 4 Findings Page 6 Conclusions Page 20 Recommendations Page 20 References Page 20 Page 2 of 20

3 Healthwatch Walsall Priorities Report Background Healthwatch Walsall is an independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public. Healthwatch play a role at both the national and local level to make sure that the views of the public and people who use services are taken into account. At a local level, Healthwatch Walsall work to help people get the best out of the health and social care services in their area; whether it s improving them today or helping to shape them for tomorrow. Local Healthwatch is all about local voices being able to influence the delivery and design of their services not just people for who use them, but for anyone who might need them in the future. NHS Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is responsible for commissioning (buying) hospital, community and mental health services across Walsall. They are made up of 59 GP member practices that work together to ensure the people of Walsall have access to high quality healthcare services. The CCG buys healthcare services from providers across the NHS, commercial and third sectors. The NHS provides the funding for this and NHS England meets with Walsall CCG four times a year to provide assurance to the Department of Health that Walsall CCG is meeting its statutory duties. Introduction NHS Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group has commissioned this research to find out more about the diverse population of Walsall and the best ways in which to communicate health messages to its different communities. Sample The survey was disseminated to the Healthwatch Walsall Network, publicised on the website and distributed at targeted local engagement events. The survey s intention was to target Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, newly emerging communities such as Eastern European as well as hard to reach or seldom heard groups, such as the elderly and young people within the Walsall Borough The survey was available on line from August until November It was promoted on the CCG and Healthwatch Walsall s website and other local agency websites. It was also promoted by a local Asian Radio Station. Page 3 of 20

4 The survey was also sent out to Healthwatch Walsall Network to target the listed communities. It was also available as a hard copy at many of the Healthwatch Walsall Network groups and communities that make it up. It was promoted via Twitter and Facebook, encouraging people to complete the online survey. The details about the survey were also ed out to all the Healthwatch Walsall Network contacts. The survey was promoted at various community groups, groups supporting hard to reach people, church groups, health settings, the hospital and in schools as part of a forum exercise. Four focus groups were also held with two different BME women s groups at the Bath Street Community Hub, a group of young carers at a youth centre in Delves and students at an academy school in Walsall. The focus groups were conducted to provide in-depth insights and experiences that may not have been available through a survey. The survey achieved a total of 1200 responses. Whilst the number of participants targeted is unknown due to online dissemination, as a general rule of thumb, a population size of 270,000 that uses a sample of 1200, will present a confidence interval of 96%, with a 2.95% margin of error (see Niles, 2006). The confidence level is a measure of how certain we can be that the sample accurately reflects the population, within its margin of error. For instance, if 32% of respondents feel that GPs or health professionals are the best way of receiving information about health issues, the actual range could vary between 29% or 35% when polling an entire population. Given the sample size that was obtained for this survey, we can be confident that this is reliable and a fair representation of the local community views. Methodology A survey was developed by the CCG in partnership with Healthwatch Walsall that contained a series of questions to establish the respondents demographic profile, the part of the borough they live in as well and questions seeking to understand what the best ways would be to communicate important and often vital health messages to hard to reach groups. Each question contained pre-set choices but also contained open text fields for questions 7 to 11. See table 1 for the list of questions: Page 4 of 20

5 Question Question Number 1 Age 2 Ethnicity 3 Gender 4 Do you speak English 5 Do you read English 6 What is your postcode 7 Which of the following media channels do you use for health information 8 If the NHS wanted to share important health messages, for example about the flu vaccine, what s the best way for them to do this 9 If the NHS wanted to tell you about changes to health services in Walsall, for example a new health centre, what s the best way for them to do this 10 Where would you notice health information posters/ adverts 11 Would you like specific information on any of the following health issues 12 Do you have any comments on how the NHS can better communicate with the people of Walsall 13 Would you be interested in taking part in a focus group to explore these questions further Table 1 Page 5 of 20

6 Findings The first six questions determine the age range, gender, ethnicity, spoken and written English understanding and residency postcode of the respondents. The remaining questions ask people to tell us what media channels they currently use to access health information. Further questions go on to ask what would be the best ways to share important health messages or information about changes to health services and then where people might notice important health messages. All these categories can then be cross referenced with each other to suggest the most practical ways with which to share important information about changes to health services or important health related messages. For example, you might need to share an important health message for 65 and overs. TV, Radio, Newspapers and Info Screens in GP Surgeries would be more targeted way to engage with this age group of people. Question 1 What is your age? 1191 people answered this question with 9 people choosing to ignore it. Chart 1 Age profile of respondents The highest response was from the year group, closely followed by the and the 65+ year groups. Page 6 of 20

7 Question 2 What is your Ethnicity? 1,171 people answered this question with 29 people choosing to ignore it. White British Chart 2 Ethnicity profile of respondents Over 55% of responses came from the Black and Minority Ethnic Communities category. Of these, the largest proportion of respondents were from the Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi communities. Page 7 of 20

8 Question 3 What is your Gender? Chart 3 Gender profile of respondents Twice as many women responded in the survey than men. Question 4 Do you speak English? Chart 4 Level of spoken English of respondents The vast majority of people indicated they could speak English, with 12.6% saying they could speak a little English and 3% none at all. Question5 Do you read English? Chart 5 Level of reading of English of respondents A similar proportion of people could read English, with slightly more saying none at all perhaps confirmed by the slightly higher number of people skipping the question. Page 8 of 20

9 Question 6 What is your postcode? Chart 6 Peoples postcode The postcode WS2 had the highest response rate with 315 respondents and WS2 with 272 respondents. WS10 saw 123 respondents and WS3 had122, while WS5, WS9 and WS4 were between 50 and 40 respondents on average. Question 7 Which of the following media channels do you use for health information? Chart 7 Peoples current use of media channels for health information Over 50% of people use Websites such as NHS Choices, 40% use information screens in GP Surgeries, 26% say they use social media with 20% saying TV while others say18% reading newspapers and 12% listening to the radio. This perhaps provides an insight into the media channels to target when trying to disseminate information to BMEs and hardto-reach groups. Page 9 of 20

10 275 people highlighted which specific channels they use, represented by Chart 8. Chart 8 peoples preferred media channels 27% said the BBC and 21% Radio followed by 11% watching ITV and 10% BBC1. For newspapers there were 6% with some specifying the Sun 5%, Express and Star 5% and Daily Mail 4%. Walk in Centres came in at 2% and Heart FM 1% with the remainder equally low. Therefore, the BBC is the preferred media channel for respondents. Comparing the results of question 7 for media channels with question 3 for gender demonstrates there are some similarities in the channels used by different genders but also some marked differences. Chart 9 Gender and Media Channels Used Page 10 of 20

11 Media Channel Healthwatch Walsall Priorities Report To ensure that the results are accurate across the different number of respondents we have received between the genders (i.e. there are more females than males responding), the results have been weighted. Weighting happens when the data collected from survey respondents are adjusted to represent the population from which the sample is taken from. In this case, weighting allows for the number of males to be compared against females without worry that the larger number of females will compromise the accuracy of the results. Results show that males (47.1%) and females (46.2%) both prefer to use websites to find out health information. More females (38.9%) than males (32.7%) prefer to use information screens to find out information, while both genders equally prefer to use the radio (Males, 10.2%; Females, 11.1%) least to find out about health information. Age range mapped against Media Channel Other - (please specify) TV (please state which channel) Newspapers (please state which paper) Radio (please state which station) Information Screens in GP surgeries Social Media (e.g. Facebook/ Twitter) Websites (e.g. NHS Choices/ patient.co.uk) Number of age range using the channel 65 and over 55 to to to to to to 17 Chart 10 Age range mapped against Media Channel Page 11 of 20

12 Whilst there are some similarities when the age range is plotted against media channels, there are equally some marked differences year olds are most likely to use NHS Choices though and are also likely to use it year olds are most likely to use Social Media with being the other higher user. The three older age bands will use radio in similar proportions and most age ranges use newspapers with a higher number for 65 and over bar again. TV is consistent across most ages though it drops for 18 24s and has a bigger number for 65 and over. Overall, this suggests that when targeting those 34 and youngers, websites, social media and information screens are good options, while newspapers, radio and information screens are better options for those older. Ethnicity mapped against Media Channel. This provides with a unique view of some of the better media channels to use to reach out to specific groups. Chart 11 gives a visual representation of the analysis of the more popular channels. For example, for Africans it would be better to use Websites and Information Screens in GP Surgeries though for people from Eastern European backgrounds and Chinese people it would be Websites and Social Media. For Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani people Websites, Social Media and Information Screens would all be good channels. For White British people Websites and Information Screens would be good channels though Newspapers, TV and Social Media are also useful mediums. The mixed group of young carers and students at the academy from BME backgrounds confirmed that social media would be the most effective way to get them to notice information about health messages. They also commented on the challenges that their grandparents face, some not speaking or reading English. The group also said some grandparents could not read the language they spoke. The young people spoke about how they often share information that they have been told at school with their families and grandparents. The two groups of elderly women from BME backgrounds confirmed that many of them do not speak or read English and some do not read their own language. Several did say they listen to Asian radio and thought this would be a good way to get messages out to the community. Page 12 of 20

13 Ethnicity mapped against Media Channel White & Black Caribbean White & Black African White & Asian Welsh Scottish Pakistani Irish Indian White British Chinese Caribbean Bangladeshi Any other Mixed background (please specify) Any other Ethnic group (please specify) Any other Black background (please specify) Any other Asian (please specify) Any European background, for example Polish/ Bulgarian/ Russian/ Romanian (please specify) African TV Radio Social Media (e.g. Facebook/ Twitter) Newspapers Information Screens in GP surgeries Websites (e.g. NHS Choices/ patient.co.uk) Chart 11 Ethnicity mapped against Media Channel. Page 13 of 20

14 Question 8 - If the NHS wanted to share important health messages, for example about the flu vaccine, what's the best way for them to do this? Best way to share important health messages Face to face visit in a community setting 115 Articles in the media 70 Via health related websites In your workplace 5 6 Using information screens in GP surgeries 201 Via text message 269 Posters/ adverts 345 Via 51 Through social media Through your local pharmacy Through your GP or other healthcare professional Chart12 Best way to share important health messages. 29% of people chose posters / adverts as the best way to receive information. 27% said Social Media would be the best way for them and 25% thought Pharmacies as ideal. 22% also mentioned Texts. Surprisingly there was a low score for Information Screens in GP Surgeries at 17% whereas in Question 7 this option received 40%. This could suggest that while people may prefer to receive information from information screens, important messages should be shared through much more obvious (like posters/adverts) or quicker (like social media) means. Page 14 of 20

15 Question 9 - If the NHS wanted to tell you about changes in health services in Walsall, for example a new health centre, what's the best way for them to do this? Best way to tell you about changes to health services In your workplace 4 Face to face visit in a community setting 41 Posters/ adverts 80 Articles in the media 37 Via text message 48 Using information screens in GP surgeries 57 Via 62 Through social media 68 Via health related websites 59 Through your local pharmacy 94 Through your GP or other healthcare professional Chart 13 Best way to tell you about changes to health services This question produced a large majority of people indicating their GP or healthcare professional as the best way to share information about changes to health services. It has to be noted that this was the first option to tick in this multi-choice category. Therefore, people may have associated change to health services as a more personal reference to their own health so seeing this as needing their GP to tell them about it rather than it having a wider reference to service change as a whole. There was certainly a larger spread of answers for the media channels people use in question 7 and similarly for sharing important health messages in question 8. Page 15 of 20

16 Question 10 - Where would you notice health information posters/adverts? Chart 14 - Where people would notice health information posters/adverts This was a multi choice question so people could choose as many fields as they wanted. GP surgeries once again was the preferred location that respondents stated they would Page 16 of 20

17 notice health information (82%). The hospital as a location also fared well scoring 47% with Pharmacies coming in with 42%. Health clinics achieved 32% and schools 23%. Children s centres, Bus Stops, Buses and Supermarkets all came in between 17-19%. Likewise, Newspapers, Billboards and Libraries scored 13-14%. Pakistani Indian Chinese Caribbean Bangladeshi African Library Newspaper Supermarket Bus Pharmacy TV Bus stop Children's centre School/ nursery Health clinic Hospital GP surgery GP Hospita Health surgery l clinic School / nursery Childre n's centre Bus stop TV Pharm acy Bus Super Newsp market aper Pakistani Indian Chinese Caribbean Bangladeshi African Library Page 17 of 20

18 Chart 15 - Ethnicity and where you would notice health information If it was necessary to target specific groups with information, it is possible to establish the best locations to consider displaying information in. For the African, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian and Pakistani communities the best location would be GP Surgeries, with Pharmacies also featuring well, whilst libraries would not reach them very effectively at all. Question 11 - Would you like specific information of any of the following health issues? Chart 16 Information about specific health issues. The largest area people thought information about specific health issues would be useful was Diabetes with about half of all people asking for this. Information about flu is also largely requested, perhaps prompted by the winter flu campaign by Public Health. Other areas include cancer, mental health, stop smoking services, dementia and sexual health, details of which can be found in the above chart. 50 people also signalled some further areas for information that are represented in Chart 17. Page 18 of 20

19 Chart 17 further areas for health issue information While quite a small sample of people responded to this, Arthritis and Health were the highest requested areas, followed by Blood Pressure and Weight Loss. Question 12 - Do you have any comments on how the NHS can better communicate with the people of Walsall? Chart 18 Suggestions for better communication. Just over a fifth of people provided suggestions as to how the CCG could better communicate with the people of Walsall. Community and Face to Face were the largest at 9% response rate. Whilst there were many suggestions, there is no one way identified but rather a collection of very small groupings of suggestions. Page 19 of 20

20 Conclusions The survey has produced tangible results that will allow Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to focus its outward communications that will provide the best opportunity for the message to reach the intended audience. This will enable the CCG to adopt a focussed delivery approach for important health messages or of changes to health services. It has also flagged up the need to be very, very clear when talking about changes to health services in the sense of whether the change is about their receipt of personal health services or referring to whole system change. Supplementary information containing data generated by this survey will also enable the CCG to tailor the way information is shared to specific groups in various locations using discreet media channels. Recommendations For campaigns that promote Big Public Health messages such as flu jabs that are targeting older people Info Screens in GP Surgeries, TV, Newspapers and Radio would be the most effective way to engage with this age group. If the CCG was considering using Radio to support the campaign it may well consider saving its money and not paying for adverts on commercial radio such as Heart FM which has very little reach as people are more likely to listen to BBC radio. For ongoing and more nuanced health messages use Websites such as NHS Choices and Info Screens in GP Surgeries that are the most popular media channels. If the health messages are focusing on younger age ranges such as year olds use Websites such as NHS Choices though and are also likely to use it. For the year olds use Social Media extensively, though year olds are also higher users. Make it clear when you are changing the system as opposed to somebody s own healthcare. Enhance the digital information offer for certain conditions possibly by mirroring the NHS Choices website but tailoring this to the Walsall pathways. Don t waste your time with lots of language translation as often older people from Asian communities may not read these anyway, but invest instead in oral and visual content. References Niles, Robert, "Robert Niles' Journalism Help: Statistics Every Writer Should Know," RobertNiles.com. Retrieved from Page 20 of 20