Most of us are keen to get back to some sort of normality in the way we work. But what does the “new normal” look like, and are there some things that simply can’t go back to how they were?
In our blog last month, Clean Slate and Quids in! founder Jeff Mitchell, talked about the importance of re-connecting as we move cautiously out of lockdown. For Quids in!, it’s about building new and existing connections with our readers and stakeholders. For other organisations it could mean reconnecting with service users, tenants and residents, or patients.
Adapting to Survive
Like many sectors, housing and debt advice was forced to adapt as soon as the crisis hit, moving operations online and to phone. Many organisations had to increase capacity. Charities like StepChange for example, which saw 49 per cent of clients seek debt advice by phone, while 51 per cent went online.
But, despite our best efforts to adapt and make services work remotely, many people missed out on support during the pandemic. Whether it was due to a lack of digital access, not feeling comfortable or trusting the internet, or not feeling able to ask for help.
StepChange reported that only around 200,000 clients went through full debt advice in 2020, compared with over 300,000 in 2019. CEO Phil Andrew said: “Despite problem debt increasing, and our website running red hot as a huge influx of people sought information, we actually took fewer clients through full debt advice as many adopted a “wait and hope” approach to their latent financial difficulties.”
Figures show this counter-intuitive decline is mirrored across the whole of the debt advice sector.
Debt and Mental Health
The link between debt and poor mental health has intensified during the crisis. Re-think Mental Illness is connecting with service users through its role in the government’s debt respite scheme, Breathing Space. The scheme – which gives people with problem debt legal protections from creditors – has two types of ‘breathing space’. A standard breathing space can be applied through a debt advice agency. A mental health crisis breathing space, will be processed by Re-think.
Managed by the Money and Pensions Service, the mental health pilot is specifically for people who are receiving NHS treatment, who may not be able to access debt advice and apply for Breathing Space themselves. It lasts as long as the person’s treatment, plus 30 days (no matter how long the treatment lasts). An application can be made on their behalf to a debt adviser, based on evidence provided by a mental health professional. Re-think will process the referrals and support the client after they leave crisis care. Sarah Murphy, Associate Director of Advice, Information and Training at Rethink, said: “This innovative pilot provides specialist financial support at a crucial time, so people don’t emerge from a mental health crisis to learn that their financial situation has spiralled out of control.”
Meanwhile, national charity Mind, continued to provide therapy and counselling services throughout the pandemic, as demand reached an all time high. The charity is made up of over 150 Local Mind’s across England and Wales, which operate independently, running their own groups within the community. In April 2020 – when we went into the first lockdown – Lambeth and Southwark Mind set up a free telephone befriending service. Inundated with calls from people struggling with their mental health or feeling isolated, they offered a half-hour phone call once a week with a volunteer, for five weeks. The scheme ran until the summer. Now, the service is starting up again and should be running by next month. Other services such as counselling, psychotherapy and support groups, which were moved online during the lockdown, are hoping to resume in person, over the coming months.
Alastair Smith-Agbaje, chief executive of Lambeth and Southwark Mind, says: “It’s been difficult for most providers, having to adapt very quickly. Working remotely is definitely not the same as face to face, it’s a totally different experience.
“Not everyone is IT literate so where we would normally hold weekly or monthly support groups, some people did just drop off because they aren’t used to being online. For example if you have a psychosis symptom, fear or mistrust of the internet could make your situation worse.”
The charity is eager to get back to face-to-face working but only when it is safe to do so. “We need to make sure our facilitators and programmes are working in a safe environment,” says Smith-Agbaje. “The need for our community has quadrupled but we are realistic that we can’t reach everyone – we don’t have the resources or finance in place to do that.”
Despite this, the service is doing all it can to increase its visibility. It has just launched a new website to promote its groups and programmes, and explain how they are going to work post-lockdown. “There’s a massive push even within ourselves to get back to normal, but we probably won’t get back to office until September. We need to protect everyone.”
Similarly at Bath Mind, prior to the pandemic, all services were delivered face-to-face. Christine Swift, new business manager, says: “We had little experience of digital communications and the pandemic presented us with a huge challenge. However, within days, we adapted to provide continued support online. Whilst some places closed, we increased our services at a time when many were cutting back.” The centre adopted a hybrid model of online, telephone and face-to-face support as restrictions changed.
The charity says it has been able to increase the number of people it supports, reaching people who may otherwise have been cut-off. “Many of our clients have been shielding and our services may be their only connection with the ‘outside world’.”
When restrictions were eased in the summer, some people weren’t comfortable attending a group so virtual services were continued. “Our telephone support lines were so busy that we knew we had to keep it running,” adds Swift. The centre plans to work the same way it has been for the past 15 months – taking into account the needs of the individual.
Slow But Steady
Elderly people were particularly affected during the pandemic. Many of the services at Age UK had to be shut down when the crisis hit. Age UK Head of Wellbeing, Alison Ingram, said: “Two in five people over 75 are not online, so we were really conscious there was a group who needed extra support.”
The charity soon discovered new ways to interact with its service users. Local Age UKs started posting activity packs to members of the community, including hard copies of sudoku, crosswords, puzzles and magazines, which proved a big hit.
“It isn’t something we would have done before but we will definitely carry it on into the future, alongside more traditional delivery. It’s a different way to reach people,” says Ingram.
Other things such as online coffee mornings, knitting clubs and craft classes have been successful, with people joining via WhatsApp or Zoom. “Although we want to get those groups back to face it may be that we have someone who one can’t come every week and they can still join online. We don’t want to lose what we’ve learnt so far.” Its telephone service has increased threefold since the first lockdown.
Within Covid guidance, Age UK is now beginning to get groups back together again. But the charity has to remain cautious when it comes to keeping people safe.
With physical activity the focus is on outside work, such as ‘walking football’ and strolls in the park, giving people as much space as they need. As Alison points out, a big issue for older people has been confidence: “Being told you’re clinically vulnerable and asked to shield has a huge impact on people. The fear of Covid still hasn’t gone away and lots of older people are still reluctant to leave their home.” There’s also the issue of physical mobility. “If you’ve been sedentary for 18 months and you were already not as fit, your strength and balance will have decreased. People are worried they will fall, or just don’t feel strong enough to get to the shops.”
Through one-to-one befriending, volunteers are building up people’s confidence, starting with short goals and working up to longer distances. “But there’s a lot that needs to be done in that space before people can engage in the activities they were doing before the pandemic,” adds Ingram.
Optimistic
Across the charity sector it’s clear that new ways of working can and will be carried forward, even as lockdown restrictions lift. Increasing remote services and learning how to work online can only be a benefit moving forward. While Covid hasn’t gone away, we can at least start to think about what the “new normal” might look like for our individual organisations. It will take time to fully adapt but hopefully for now, the biggest challenges have been overcome.
