The power of collaboration in getting the self management message out there

• Written by: Joanne McCoy — MySelf Management — Manager
• Published: 12th November 2024

As the Self Management Network Scotland reaches 1,000 members, Joanne McCoy, Manager at MySelf-Management reflects on the network's value.

It’s fantastic to hear that the Self Management Network Scotland (SMNS) has welcomed its 1,000^th member.

Self management is very much a collaborative process, and the network allows members to come together to share best practice, work together on projects, celebrate achievements and look at ways to create better outcomes for people in the future. The more organisations we have working together, the greater chance we will have of reaching and supporting as many people as possible.

The “Gaun Yersel!” self management strategy, published sixteen years ago by the Scottish Government and the ALLIANCE, defined self management as “the successful outcome of the person and all appropriate individuals and services working together to support him or her to deal with the very real implications of living the rest of their life with one or more long term condition.”

The self management journey has changed over the last sixteen years and is more applicable to everyone post-pandemic and as a network we have definitely made inroads to making the “Gaun Yersel!” strategy and vision a reality, but we haven’t realised its full potential yet. The self management message has still not reached every part of the health system and every individual. As a network, we need to ask ourselves, how do we resonate with health professionals to ensure that self management is everywhere? How can we make it so that everybody knows about self management and not just come across it when there is a diagnosis or a crisis?

To get there, we need a change in culture. In order to self manage, people need to want to do it. We have been chipping away at this for the last sixteen years, but prevention is going to be key in moving forward. If prevention became a way of being, then what would the picture look like in ten years’ time?

An ageing population means there will be a significant increase in numbers of people living with long term conditions by 2030. In reality, that isn’t very far away. What can we do as a self management collaborative to have a broader impact on that? How can we ensure that the funding will still be there to support us? The network gives us a collective voice for lobbying. As a collective network, we will need to come up with a strong voice to speak to the Government and funders about the value of our services.

MySelf-Management has been part of the network since it started (originally under our previous name LGOWIT) and we have found the support it provides invaluable. It can be daunting for new organisations starting out. Larger, national organisations have more staffing, capacity and backup to support delivery, yet the network has proved that you can be small but make an impact. We are a really small organisation but have been able to build our reputation nationally and the network has had a big role to play in that.

Small organisations can benefit greatly from the network by gaining knowledge and building connections. It links members to various projects and initiatives while sharing perspectives from across both rural and urban areas of Scotland.

The opportunities to share and learn, build connections, network, engage in peer support and have meaningful conversations with others working on similar initiatives are invaluable.  The network is a place where we can have discussions, voice opinions, collaborate, have thinking around ideas. It is a place where we can ask whether someone else in the country is already doing something and consider if that project would work in our area. If it’s an urban project, for example, how would that translate to a rural area? Let us not forget that the reason the network exists is because of the people we are supporting. It’s all about better outcomes for people. If you dedicate time to the network, be willing to participate and to be present then what you and the people we are all supporting get out of it is very rewarding.

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