A team of researchers at the University of Essex in collaboration with Essex based local authority, third sector and NHS staff as well as people with lived experience of mental distress have developed a signposting tool “CoSign”. The development process was supported by NIHR ARC East of England.
What is CoSign?
CoSign was designed to support individuals over 18 to identify wider determinants (e.g. relationships, work, family, housing etc)that may be triggering their current emotional distress and to facilitate signposting to appropriate community-based support. CoSign is not an assessment or diagnosis tool and is not an outcome measure. Neither is CoSign an asset map or attempting to replace existing asset maps and search tools, since the main aim of CoSign is to help users identify what kind of support to start looking for rather than to provide an exhaustive list of support services. The signposts generated by CoSign signpost individuals to support/services in Essexor national advice services that match the user’s specific challenges. Users are also directed to the Essex Map, Frontline and other local maps for more detailed, localised searches.
Although designed for individual use, CoSign could also be used by professionals (e.g. social prescribers, community workers, GPs, student support workers) working collaboratively with clients.
The question items in CoSign have been selected through a rigorous process using statistical techniques. The statistical analysis used data from the Understanding Society: UK Household Longitudinal Survey. CoSign is ready for use in a pilot phase and feedback is being collected from users through an evaluation project.
The Essex Alliance is sharing this on behalf of the Making It Count Project, a partnership between Essex County Council and the University of Essex.
In speaking with many community and voluntary sector organisations, a key challenge they face is evidencing the impact of their work. Many have told us that the issue is not counting activities, but demonstrating outcomes such as:
Increased confidence
Reduced isolation
Sense of belonging
Improved wellbeing
Long-term change
These outcomes matter deeply, but they can be difficult to measure consistently and meaningfully.
Addressing this challenge is at the heart of the Making It Count project– a partnership between the University of Essex and Essex County Council. This project aims to support Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE) organisations by creating a simple, practical toolkit to help them measure their impact. We are looking for VCSE organisations and community stakeholders in ESSEX to join us in developing this toolkit together.
There will be opportunities to contribute through:
Workshops
Feedback sessions
Reviewing draft approaches
Sharing challenges and priorities from practice
Whether you work in a food bank, community organisation, wellbeing service, social prescribing programme, volunteer-led project, or another community setting, your experience could help shape the future toolkit.
Are you delivering services in Essex and interested in getting involved? Contact us below.
The Essex Alliance is sharing this opportunity on behalf of the University of Essex and Essex County Council.
We are inviting people to join the Making It Count Steering Group, a project run by Essex County Council and the University of Essex.
The project aims to develop a practical toolkit to help community organisations, charities, commissioners, and public health teams understand and show the difference their work makes.
We would like to hear from:
• Local residents who have completed feedback forms or surveys about services they have used (such as community groups, food banks, or wellbeing activities)
• People who work or volunteer in organisations that provide these types of services
If you are interested, please take a look at the attached flyer for more information about the role, support available, and payment for taking part.
