Hope For The Community CIC has been boosted by funding from the Social Ventures competition, run by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the Healthy Ageing Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK.

UKRI's Healthy Ageing Challenge Scaling Social Ventures funding is designed to support innovative social enterprises in scaling products and services to support healthy ageing and deliver social impact.

Just over £314k was awarded to Hope For The Community CIC (H4C), a Coventry based innovative social enterprise empowering people to manage their health and wellbeing, to fund co-production and evaluation of personalised HoPES (Hope and Prepare Effectively for Surgery) self-management support for people on hip and knee replacement waitlists.

Lengthening waiting lists are particularly an issue in the area of musculoskeletal health, with some people waiting over 2 years for surgery, experiencing worsening pain, reduced mobility, increased anxiety, isolation and deteriorating health.

Working in partnership with NHS South West, Coventry University, Cardiff University, Coventry University Online, Magic Square Systems Ltd and Make An Impact CIC, HoPES aims to keep people socially connected, in better mental health, and physically active as they wait for knee and hip surgery.

"We are thrilled that this funding competition focussed specifically on social enterprises and that we were successful in securing the contract for HoPES," said Gabriela Matouskova, CEO of H4C. "It will allow us to take H4C to the next level and have an even wider impact by giving people more control to prepare and wait well."

UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge Director, George MacGinnis, said:

“H4C is offering much needed support to people who find themselves enduring long waits for hip and knee surgery. Their services help people prepare for their operation by remaining active and socially connected and this plays a key part in improving outcomes for the NHS. They are an exciting example of a social enterprise aiming to make a real difference to people’s lives. We are delighted to be able to support them to take their service to scale and reach many more communities across the country.”

Paul Spencer, Senior Programme Manager for Personalised Care, NHS England – South West said:

“This project builds on our successful partnership with H4C providing digital, virtual and face-to-face supported self-management with positive results for people in the South West. We are excited to be involved and to support people to prepare for elective surgery in a way that works best for them. In the long term, this project will demonstrate that providing holistic support while waiting for surgery can make a positive difference in individual outcomes and change the way people access health and care services in their community”.

The project runs over 12 months with a product launch scheduled for the end of the year.

Project updates

MARCH - APRIL 2023

Project set-up and links with referral sites.

MAY 2023

Pilot findings evaluated with Coventry University

Story of Dee, one of the Hope Programme participants who completed the pilot programme

We held a co-design workshop on 31st May 2023 with previous Hope participants to gather feedback and change suggestions.

JUNE 2023

We ran a workshop with healthcare professionals working with people referred onto hip and knee replacements lists on 16th June 2023 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams to understand how this programme meets their needs and fits withing the pathway.

JULY 2023

Further workshop with healthcare professionals working with people referred onto hip and knee replacements lists was held on 4th July 2023 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams. Interviews with commissioners were held to understand the strategic priorities and procurement processes better.

Creative team at Coventry University Online supported by clinician academics Prof Shea Palmer and Dr Elizabeth Horton have been busy with filming new videos for the home exercise programme, preview available below.

Our developers built new features in our platform, including:

fast track option to progress through sessions to improve engagement
home exercise builder to enable participants to create their own programme based on their confidence, ability and resources
post Hope community for continuous access and sustained activity tracking

JULY - SEPTEMBER 2023

From 13th July 2023 and 27th July 2023 two courses were delivered with 100 participants over 8 weeks.

SEPTEMBER 2023 - JANUARY 2024

Data collection (pre, post and 6 months follow-up) and analysis.

Preliminary findings presented at UKRI Healthy Ageing Conference - poster submission - in London 13-14th November 2023.

JANUARY 2024

The Hope Programme® for hip and knee replacement is now ORCHA and QISMET accredited.

ORCHA is the world’s leading platform for digital health service reviews. The Hope Programme scored 88% for Android and iOS apps, and 86% for WebApp version.

QISMET, an independent not-for-profit body that supports self-management education providers and commissioners to achieve the highest possible quality service for people living with long-term health conditions. QIS 2023 is the “gold standard” for the self-management sector.

FEBRUARY 2024

WEBINAR: Ready for surgery: How can elective care waitlists benefit from digital self-management and peer support?

On 27th February 2024 we hosted a webinar sharing the insights from Hope Programme for hip and knee replacement research study and project funded by UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge.

Dr Anna Lynall – HoPES Project Lead welcomed attendees and chaired the 1.5 hour long webinar.

To begin, Paul Spencer - Senior Programme Manager Personalised Care, South West Integrated Personalised Care, NHS England – South West  discussed the challenge of lengthening waiting lists, especially in musculoskeletal health and the need for innovative solutions.

Louise Moody, Professor of Health Design and Human Factors at Coventry University covered the development of the research design and the intervention, highlighting co-production practices and iterative design methods used. She listed the key findings from the co-design workshops to be embedded within the intervention.

Gabriela Matouskova – CEO and Technical lead, Hope For The Community CIC described how HoPES (Hope and Prepare Effectively for Surgery) project addressed the co-production findings. She demonstrated the technical and content aspects of the Hope Programme intervention to keep people socially connected, mentally robust, and physically active as they await knee and hip surgery.

Prof Shea Palmer - Professor of Physiotherapy, Cardiff University presented the findings from evaluation carried out pre, post and at 6 months follow-up, highlighting the positive impacts and the limitations of the study.

The webinar then concluded with audience questions and impromptu input from Dee, one of the Hope Programme for hip and knee replacement participants who benefitted from the programme.

Watch the full webinar recording below.

Do not hesitate to contact us to find out more about HOPES or how the wide range of ORCHA and QISMET accredited digital Hope Programme courses empower people across the UK to better manage long-term conditions, enhance carers’ wellbeing and get people better prepared for surgery. Email gabriela@h4c.org.uk.

MARCH 2024

Research publication submission, health economics and social value reports due.

Project end.