Covid-19: communities and organisations: Strange or natural bedfellows?

How has COVID shown us communities can work in partnership with organisations? This paper will share reflections from a COVID project in a hospice in the United Kingdom that aimed to ensure that people in the community remained as connected as possible to others and felt the 'presence' of care around them despite physical distancing measures. In the paper, we will explore how necessity and restrictions presented by COVID actually offered us an opportunity to trial a new partnership approach to working together to ensure that people at home or shielding were connected to the community. The challenges and speed of COVID measures and their impact on every day work meant certain principles of reciprocity and agency that underpin relationship building between organisations and community members became a default rather than were hard won. We will reflect on how the learning and opportunities arising from this project have helped us all learn about community action, including the challenges of innovating between communities and organisations. Aims or goal of the work: To establish a community- based response to COVID-19 pandemic by working in partnership;to establish a learning and experimentation platform for innovation around social models of care;to ensure that at a time of physical distancing people felt supported and cared for by the surrounding community. Design, methods, and approach taken: A community development/action approach was taken, emphasising working with community members, groups and colleagues in partnership, using a 'learning and reflection' approach rather than a training one. During this time, a looser programme management approach was taken to models and delivery systems, using volunteers in flexible roles and, rather than managing people, linking affiliated community members together with others whatever their need, skillset or experience. Working in partnership with other groups to share resources and knowledge, training, or liaising with community groups around COVID. Resourcing the response through funding applications so that to help people did not come with greater cost for community members. Results: We have observed a growing confidence in community members associated with this initiative around death, dying and loss, and confidence to help others. Emphasising learning rather than training has introduced a reflective approach where community members support others and introduce new subjects to discuss. We have had a rise in interest from colleagues in initiatives involving the community, with 4 new projects internally requesting community-based help within a couple of months. We have had a rise in community groups requesting support from us or partnership working with peer-peer bereavement, befriending, and other community-led initiatives around death, dying, and loss. Conclusion/lessons learned: Working with a sense of shared purpose and simple ideas about compassionate care for others during COVID is a key element for changing the way that institutions and community members can work together. Emphasising that anyone who is part of an institution is also part of a community helps to value the lived experience of staff and community members. Having people involved in initiatives that help them make their own connections via 'learning by doing' and reflecting on their actions might be a more strategic way to introduce changes than to introduce 'top-down changes';relational approaches that emphasise community skillsets work well for emphasising trust and respect, and lead to a more networked approach in the community.