The good news is that with a bit of space, time and well thought through process design, undertaking a customer journey mapping process isn’t unattainable for a not-for-profit organisation to deliver effectively. To help get you started, we’ve outlined a common customer journey mapping process that we have used successfully across a number of previous projects.

Moving from a position of mobilising general support for the concepts towards the uptake and implementation of social prescribing elements is the challenge. There are significant opportunities to enhance the uptake of social prescribing in local communities and health systems right across Australia, with PHNs having a particularly profound opportunity to lead the charge. 

In considering what ‘good’ looks like in the context of social prescribing, we should start with why it’s not already happening. It seems logical to focus on a person’s health and social needs and from the work we’ve done with consumers and health professionals, there is shared recognition of the importance and need for something like social prescribing. 

With the continued focus on social prescribing as a ‘high-value, low-cost’ way of improving the responsiveness of the health system, we thought it would be worthwhile to unpack some of what we learnt in that project to share with other PHNs commissioning social prescribing service models or linkage program providers. This blog is the first of three in a South Eastern NSW case study series: what is social prescribing?

Through the experiences and insights shared with us during a project to strengthen the responsiveness of health service to the mental health literacy needs of the community, we thought there was value in unpacking what mental health literacy is, exploring how it can be built in communities, and discussing the role of health services. 

In Queensland, those populations considered to be socially disadvantaged are more likely to face a range of socioeconomic issues and conditions that affect their opportunities to thrive. We explore some of the data illustrating these relationships.

Watch the Beacon Strategies 2020 year in review vlog. From team expansions to new building client relationships, get to know more about what our Beacon Strategies team achieved in 2020.

As a team of consultants working with many organisations at once who are spread across many locations, Beacon Strategies values collaboration as a key part of ‘the way we work’. Collaboration makes it easy for our client’s to work with us, align with our clients values, utilise the expertise of a wide range of stakeholders and leverage off our team’s individual strengths and preferences.

The following blog is written by Julia Mullin, a recent graduate who has undertaken a pro bono project for Gateway Baptist Church. The blog explores in detail how Julia approached a ‘needs assessment’ for a new service to successfully and innovatively enter the ‘homelessness’ sector and what Julia learnt conducting a needs assessment within a vulnerable community.