Care and wellbeing in your borough

As we begin to emerge from the pandemic and the Council supports recovery in our communities, we asked for your views on the care and wellbeing priorities in the borough. This included:

• Covid-19 testing and support
• Obesity and physical activity
• Care and being a carer
• Dementia support

• Mental health wellbeing

By asking about your priorities, the Council is best advised on where to direct future programmes, policies, and investments to improve care and wellbeing across the borough.

A key message from the survey results was that there was a lack of awareness about many of the care and wellbeing priorities (listed above) which were asked about. This included the Covid-19 support services and Kensington and Chelsea being a dementia friendly borough – this status was awarded by the Alzheimer’s Society in February 2020. Also, very few of you had heard of the Council’s Residents’ Pay and Play scheme (this is a free annual membership, giving residents access to a range of discounted activities across Kensington Leisure Centre and Chelsea Sports Centre)  or were aware of the care homes in the borough. There was, however, support for the Council purchasing local priorities to provide homes for adults with learning disabilities and a number of you expressed an interest in becoming a Dementia Friends’ Champion.
 

Since the start of the pandemic, more of you had seen a decrease in your physical activity than had seen an increase. There was demand for walking and running clubs as well as yoga and tai chi classes to encourage more physical activity. Whilst some of you had seen no change in your mental health wellbeing, the majority had seen some sort of increase in feelings of stress or anxiety. Although a significant minority of you know where to get support for your mental health wellbeing, there was a demand for more navigation/signposting of what support is available by 48 per cent of respondents. A number of you described yourselves as carers and you wanted to see the Council facilitate more practical help to support carers.

The majority of you felt that the borough was accessible (particularly in the centre of the borough). There was support for pedestrian crossing with lights, lowered curbs, and disabled parking to improve the accessibility further.

The lack of awareness of many of the care and wellbeing priorities in the borough suggests the need for some targeted communication to drive up awareness and allow more residents to benefit from locally funded services. Other improvements the Council can realise from listening to your views include:

• Contacting those who expressed an interest in becoming a Dementia Friends’ Champion
• Organising more physical activities at future public events the Council runs and, in our parks, and green spaces
• Informing the types of support and signposting provided to carers in the borough
• Informing planning for improved accessibility around the borough, particularly for those with additional needs
• More promotion of K&C as a Dementia-Friendly borough
• Consideration as to whether the Council purchases new buildings for the care of adults with learning disabilities
• Better promotion of mental health services and self-care to those needing extra support recovering from the psychological impacts of Covid-19.

Later on this year, we will update you with more details on the actions taken and how to get involved.