Elemental offers COVID-19 support for the most vulnerable

Elemental is a health tech innovation company founded by joint CEOs Jennifer Neff and Leeann Monk, former community development workers who developed technology to better connect communities and measure the impact that those connections make on the person, the community and the health and social care system.

Elemental came from an idea that Jennifer and Leeann had in 2013 to empower people to access and engage in the many great things happening in their communities such as gardening, dance classes, debt advice, Men’s Sheds and community running clubs. They didn’t know at the time that this was called social prescribing, a movement that has been proven to increase people’s wellbeing and reduce demand on GP practices and Emergency Departments.

Identifying a shift in priorities and rapidly responding

Elemental is the platform of choice for over 200 digital social prescribing hubs across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, so when The World Health Organisation(WHO) announced that Covid-19 was officially classed as a global pandemic, the company knew they had to respond quickly with a contingency plan, not just for their team, but for their customers and the hundreds of thousands of people they collectively support.

Co CEO/Founder Jennifer Neff, said: “We are seeing really effective and person centred models across the country where Local Authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups, voluntary, community and social enterprises, Housing Associations and others, are working closer together than ever. What’s really important to them is identifying specific groups of people who need support, understanding what type of help is now out there and coordinating access to that support. They are analysing real time information around who and, most importantly, who isn’t being connected to the support they need. We’re delighted that Elemental has been chosen as the digital partner for this.

“On Monday, March 16, we got the team together to scope and plan out how we could enhance the capabilities of our existing social prescribing platform so that we could help support our customers in the NHS, Housing and VCSE sector with the mobilisation of their community support plans and make those vital connections and measure the difference that they are making. On Wednesday, March 18 we tested and released our Covd-19 specific enhancements, which are now freely available in use by Elemental customers all around the UK and Ireland.”

Elemental’s team, like many other companies around the world, are working remotely from home, so how have they responded so quickly to the needs of the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Serena Terry, COO, Elemental added: “We already had the infrastructure in place for a smooth transition in the event of a situation arising that required drastic measures. The rapidness and effectiveness of our response is testament to the incredible team we have at Elemental. Like many others they are working from home, juggling childcare, homeschooling and everything else, but each and everyone of them is dedicated to ensuring we can provide and maintain this solution so that vulnerable people in the UK and Ireland are still contacted, connected, mobilied and supported during these extraordinary times.”

If Elemental can help you to co-design, deliver and scale your COVID19 plans visit their website for more information.