The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health is expanding their "Lonely No More" program.
Introduced in 2018, the "Lonely No More" program is aimed at providing a free weekly phone-based program for isolated rural seniors. The calls are handled by trained community members. Older adults who are a part of the program report increased social connection as well as strengthening and expanding their support networks. Now, Gateway is partnering with the Municipality of North Perth to expand the program. Gateway will be recruiting additional community members as volunteers from both Huron County and the Municipality of North Perth, and providing free educational e-learning courses and webinars to community members who are interested in learning more about peer support, coaching conversations and system navigation.
Workshop dates for Huron residents are February 11, 2021 and February 17, 2021 and a session for North Perth residents will be held on February 24, 2021. For more information on Connected Coaching and Lonely No More please visit https://www.gatewayruralhealth.ca/connectedness-coaching.html or https://www.gatewayruralhealth.ca/lonely-no-more.html.
“Since the pandemic began, we have received numerous requests to share our program model – some from as far as the U.S.”, shares Sheila Schuehlein (Lonely No More Project Lead), “We are very happy to have secured funding from the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and Community Foundations of Canada to support our regional neighbour, the Municipality of North Perth. This collaboration initiates our first official inter-Municipality collaboration of the Lonely No More Program. We’re excited to be able to offer our experience and resources and share an evidence-based outreach model to reduce the social isolation faced by rural older adults, especially now with COVID-19 restrictions.”
Sarah Versteeg, Lonely No More's Program Coordinator, adds, “I've seen first-hand the toll COVID-19 has made in our community, especially in our older adult neighbours. Through these difficult times I saw the empowering benefits that our peer support program can make in our community. I am very excited to offer our new foundational Lonely No More training (Connectedness Coaching) to Huron County and the Municipality of North Perth residents to help empower their resilience and foster community connections."
