Insurance Corporation have been proudly funding and supporting innovative ideas from Health and Social Care (HSC) staff to enhance health and social care provision in the Bailiwick through their annual Healthcare Bursary.
The annual competition, which has been running for 26 years, is open to staff members of HSC who submit ideas to improve health or social care in the islands.
2017 has been another year of inspiring entries; and after shortlisting from ten entries to five the finalists were announced at an annual awards ceremony at The Farmhouse on November 15th 2017.
After an afternoon of presentations on 31st October 2017 in front of a panel of six judges, it was decided that Dianne Birch & Martin Doran would be awarded the top prize of £2000 to help fund the development of their project ‘Bring Me Sunshine’.
By introducing non pharmacological interventions for people who suffer with dementia; including laughter yoga, the team hope to reduce the need for medicine and assist with depression, loneliness, agitation, and stress levels.
“This prize money will allow us to start the beginning of this journey, and then ripple out across the whole organisation and community. We’re still a bit shocked that we won but the team are really pleased!” says project leader Dianne Birch.
Bring Me Sunshine will use the winnings to fund professional training for ten staff around laughter yoga.
The runner up award was presented to Tony Collins & Dr Ben Newell, who’s aspirations to support people suffering with ADHD through dialectic behavioural therapy for young people and parents saw them awarded with a prize fund of £1000.
Tony Collins said “The money from today is basically going to help us get what is an idea at the moment into a reality. We now have the funding to get the support we need.”
Matt Jones, Senior Operating Officer: “Once again I would like to thank Insurance Corporation for their continued support of the bursary scheme which is appreciated and valued across Health & Social Care. This is now the 26th year that they have supported health and social care staff to take forward innovative initiatives.
It is a very important scheme that provides staff with the opportunity to think outside of the box and come up with something a little bit different. It was my turn to judge this year and I was really impressed with the standard of submissions and presentations that were made by colleagues. It was very difficult job to shortlist as every entry had merit to be a winner.
The winning entry we have chosen is innovative, builds on the excellent service provided to some of our most vulnerable service users and aims to bring more fun and happiness to the way we provide care. It captured the imagination of all the panel, and we are sure it will be a great success as it is delivered in the New Year to our service users.”
Michelle Arundale, HR & PR Executive at Insurance Corporation said “This bursary would not be possible without the hard work and dedication from the entrants themselves. Our thanks go to the staff at HSC who take the time to complete our bursary applications and take part in our awards to benefit patients and service users. Understandably, we are very proud to have made this contribution to local life for so long, and long may it continue!”
This year’s other shortlisted entries were as follows:
- Development of a Human Factors trainer for Theatres – Mary Carre
- Group Teen ‘Triple P’ (Positive Parenting Program) (Research Trial) – Max Vile & Dr Ben Newell
- Exercise For Life – Karen Leach
The top prize at the 2016 Healthcare Bursary was awarded to Michelle Green & Francesca McLuskey of the Physiotherapy Department. Their project, which opened in June 2017, proposed that an area by Le Marchant Ward was redesigned to include raised planter beds accessible to wheelchair users, and a glasshouse providing a covered vegetable patch.
See the whole photo album from the ceremony, and follow the development of the winning projects throughout 2018 via the Insurance Corporation Facebook Page www.facebook.com/insurancecorporation
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