Well Connected’s 2023 advent calendar highlights!
Public & Patient Involvement
We are always pleased to take part in research projects and initiatives, this year it has included facilitating stakeholder groups and meetings for colleagues within the University of Plymouth, Faculty of Health.
The first was all about maternal health and its link to oral health and dental wellbeing; and then we were excited to host a couple of focus groups to explore robotics in dentistry.
15 years anniversary
It has been brilliant to enjoy the 15 year community engagement celebrations, reflecting on the impact and success of the Well Connected journey. We are proud of all of our community initiatives, projects and programmes; take a look at our celebrations on our social media platforms @wellconnectedsw.
Peninsula Dental School
Our history and heritage is based with the Peninsula Dental School and we are super proud to continue this by delivering the Connecting Through the Curriculum programme which encompasses workshops and plenaries for students across the year groups. Take a look at the range of initiatives here:
Collaborating, Connecting and Caring Workshop.
Team
Well Connected is all about people; we are so proud of our members of staff, a small but truly committed team who work together to deliver high quality programmes and initiatives. They have been telling us about their year here:
Andrew Dean said: “2023 has been a time for new opportunities, igniting conversations, and thinking to the future.”
Wendy Smith MBE said “2023 has been a time for celebrating, creating new connections, and continuing our commitment to authentic partnerships and collaborations.”
Holly Bell said: “2023 has been a time to reflect on our positive partnerships and look forward to the delivery of new projects and programmes.”
We were thrilled to be approached by the Luton Public Health team to curate Teeth on Tour boxes which were distributed in early years settings across the Luton area. We are delighted that the Teeth on Tour boxes are being used in Luton to encourage children and their families to discover more about healthy and happy smiles. It was fantastic that the boxes were so well received the Public Health team have ordered lots more since!
Supervised Toothbrushing Programme
Our participation with the Supervised Toothbrushing Programme has come to an end after 4 brilliant years of working on this project. We are so proud of our involvement in this project and all of the children we have helped to brush their teeth and be proud of their happy healthy smiles!
Our thanks go to our wonderful Trustees who have helped steer Well Connected and supported the team. We thank them for their time, dedication and input; it has been invaluable.
We are delighted to have continued working with our partners at the University of Plymouth, Plymouth Integrative Health and Social Care Education Centre (PIHC), to promote collaborative working between students across the Faculty of Health. We look forward to many more opportunities working together during 2024.
Our Experts by Experience, people with a range of clinical conditions, have again played a vital role in supporting many of our initiatives, including with our colleagues at the University of Plymouth. We thank them for their contribution and dedication to working with Well Connected.
Consultancy Work
We are thrilled to have continued our community consultancy work with various partners across the UK, providing community insights. Stay tuned for more exciting information in the New Year about this.
Blogs
This year we have written more regular blogs and news pieces covering a variety of topics. Keep an eye on our ‘Updates’ page in 2024 for lots of exciting blog content to come!
Newsletters
We launched our newsletter this year and encourage friends, family, colleagues and supporters to please sign up to stay connected with all things Well Connected.