Collective Force action plan and learning sessions

The national Collective Force for Health and Wellbeing action plan is an innovative cross-sectoral partnership led by NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), the ALLIANCE and the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC.) It aims to maximise the role of libraries as drivers of health and care transformation by consolidating their role as the go-to place in their communities for:

• Quality assured health and wellbeing information
• Digital, information and health literacy skills and access
• Facilitated reading and storytelling for personal growth and therapeutic support
• Social interaction and empathic help and support – both face to face and digital

Collective Force was launched in February 2022, with the initial phase of the action plan covering 2021-2023.

You can read the Collective Force Evaluation Report, which was produced using the Logic Model for the action plan. The SLIC Collective Force Impact paper is also available. 

Angela Fulton, ALISS Programme Partnerships and Engagement Manager and Cameron MacFarlane, ALISS Programme Engagement and Insights Manager , from the Health and Social Care Alliance  give a live demonstration of ALISS (A Local Information System for Scotland) and  discuss how library staff can use ALISS to: 

• Signpost library users to services, groups and activities in their local community. 
• Promote their own library groups, access to meeting space, and library activities for their community ,to support health and wellbeing.
• Create tailored toolkits for specific communities and user groups.

Video (45 mins)

The Sensory Hub is a platform for people living with sensory loss in Scotland hosted by the Health and Social Care Alliance (Scotland).  In this webinar, Dr Hazel Macfarlane, Senior Sensory Hub Officer shares details of the Hub and its focus on a social model of disability – the principle that  that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference.

Building on this way of understanding sensory loss, Hazel discusses with participants how to make libraries more accessible to people with sensory loss including blindness, sight loss, deafness, hearing loss, deaf-blindness and dual sensory loss. 

Video (55 mins)

This learning session explores the potential to use digital equipment such as virtual reality headsets and 3D printers to support people with their health and wellbeing needs. 

This learning event showcases projects that are underway in public libraries in Moray and Orkney.

Nicola Munro, Learning Centre Co-ordinator, Elgin Library, shares details of digital sessions they have hosted over the Summer with families of children with additional support needs and how they use interactive floor projectors with reminiscence groups.

Vikki Kerr, Team Manager, Libraries and Archives, Orkney Library shares how they are using virtual reality headsets to support people with early onset dementia.

Video (50 mins)

School librarians are well placed to support students to engage with literature that can minimise their emotional distress and enhance their wellbeing.  This virtual learning event, specifically for school library staff, explores how bibliotherapy can be used creatively in a school setting to meet students’ diverse mental health and wellbeing needs.

School Librarians, Lucrezia Gaion and Moira Paton share how they have successfully delivered bibliotherapy sessions within their own school settings and suggest resources and training that are available via the Information for Wellbeing site to build your own confidence to offer these sessions.

Video (45 mins)

In this 90 minute learning session, James Duncan, Accessible Information Officer, Disability Information Scotland covers web accessibility, software and aids to support users.  He demonstrates tools that can be used to make websites accessible and how to assess if your own website or online resource is fully accessible to users.

James has also provided detailed notes to accompany the video.

Collective Force for Health and Wellbeing - Accessible Information Learning Event from dhiscotland on Vimeo.

Powerpoint from the Digital Health Inclusion webinar held on 12 December 2024