Hi Laila

I work with what was the NHS England Maternity Vanguard (hosted by Liverpool CCG) and we are/have been working with Manchester University (LUCID) and the WEA to roll out an ESOL Stepping Stones programme for mums and babies as part of a wider social prescribing programme for women and children in the North of England. Development work is/has been funded by Health Education England and NHSE. We are at an early stage.

We are responding to health inequalities as well as looking to support integration and build mental wellbeing through social engagement. This programme was developed primarily  to address issues around :

·        language support/development( improve communication/engagement  with health professionals) and the wider community

·        to promote integration and build a welcoming environment

·        to foster self care and confidence from conception to birth and

·        to promote confident parenting.

And it reflects a concern to engage early with :

women at higher risk of mortality and morbidity see: CEMACH (July 2018)

Black and Asian women have a higher risk of dying in pregnancy.

White women 8/100,000

Asian women 15/100,000

Black women 40/100,000

It isn’t an ESOL course per se in terms of funding it is ABE programme. It is delivered in the community with the support of Maternity Support  Workers and linked to a Maternity Voices networks. We link our activity to other community provision like rhyme time and bump booster ( talking to your bump from 18 weeks)work to provide a continuum of support. This is a pilot.

Manchester University say, ‘ESOL Stepping Stones is a new course we've developed for non-English speaking low-income mothers and their babies. It delivers functional language skills in combination with health and parenting information in the form of a structured 12 week mother and baby ‘stay and play’ group. Each session focuses on one particular aspect of family daily life and includes infant-centred activities and informal language instruction. The course is designed to be delivered by existing staff in schools and children’s, cultural and community centres with free training, materials and support provided. To date, there is no ESOL provision for these mothers in the UK and there is an urgent need to address this gap.’ The course author is Sharon Freeman.

See

http://www.lucid.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/esol-stepping-stones-launches-to-support-non-english-speaking-mums-and-babies/ This work  is all linked to an STP concordat we launched last July for Cheshire and Merseyside. We are the only region(NW) in England who has a commitment to developing social prescribing for women and children.

In terms of main social prescribing developments:

NHSE are funding social prescribing Link Worker (1k)appointments not actual social prescribing provision from July. Primary Care Networks are being encouraged to look at how they support provision in localities.

Best wishes Jo

Laila El-Metoui  

LGBT Education Consultant & Teacher Educator 

https://lelmeducation.wordpress.com

Member of Action for ESOL http://actionforesol.org/ and NATECLA London https://nateclaldn.wordpress.com

Supporter The Ruth Hayman Trust http://www.ruthhaymantrust.org.uk

Sent from iPhone 

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