DementiaRoadmap

This report published by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation provides an overview of how befriending can contribute to improving the health and well-being outcomes of vulnerable people at risk of social isolation or exclusion from mainstream society.

It aims to inform commissioners, practitioners and clinicians about how befriending is being delivered in local communities to improve health outcomes, reduce social isolation and contribute to wider local priorities.

Download Befriending works: building resilience in local communities

Key messages from the report

• Befriending can be used as an effective intervention to support people with complex health and social care needs, challenging the misconception that befriending is simply a low-level intervention.
• Befriending can help improve health and well-being outcomes if used as an early intervention to aid re-ablement and build resilience, which in turn may help reduce future dependency on more costly health and social care services.
• Befriending can play a significant role in helping to create a social care environment that can help local authorities and their partners achieve the total transformation of adult social care within localities.
• Commissioners have the planning and quality assurance tools to build befriending provision into an integrated package of health and social care support that can contribute to the future health needs of local communities

More information

The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation is a national charity that encourages the growth and development of mentoring and befriending programmes throughout England. It provides a source of expert guidance, inspiring excellence and creating a force for change.