How LINC Embedded Active Social Care

For many people, maintaining independence is about more than receiving support. It's about continuing to do the things that matter most, staying connected to their community, and feeling confident in everyday life.

That's why the LINC team embraced the Active Social Care approach, helping people see movement not simply as exercise, but as a powerful tool for achieving personal goals, improving wellbeing, and maintaining independence.

Bringing Active Social Care into Everyday Practice

The LINC team supports people who do not currently have formal social care services in place. Working with individuals on a short-term basis, the team helps people identify what matters most to them and find practical ways to achieve their goals.

As the first social care team to become involved in the Active Social Care project, LINC was ideally placed to champion this approach. Their emphasis on prevention, building on people’s strengths, promoting independence, and strengthening community connections aligned perfectly with the project's aim of embedding meaningful conversations about movement into daily practice.

Working with approximately 18 staff members and four Team Leaders, the project combined training, process improvements and ongoing implementation support. Staff attended workshops exploring what it means to be active, why movement matters, and how they could support people to incorporate more activity into their daily lives.

Importantly, these conversations went far beyond traditional exercise. Being active could mean attending a community group, making a cup of tea independently, continuing to use the stairs instead of a stairlift, or finding new ways to stay connected and engaged with everyday life.

Creating Meaningful Change

The project encouraged staff to view movement as a solution that can support a wide range of outcomes, including:

• Maintaining independence

• Improving mental wellbeing

• Building confidence

• Strengthening social connections

• Achieving personal goals

• Enhancing overall quality of life

Rather than focusing on activity for activity's sake, staff began exploring how movement could help people achieve what mattered most to them.

One member of staff reflected:

"It's made me more mindful, and my conversations about physical activity are more meaningful and more effective."

Another described the project simply as a:

"Mind-opener."

Embedding a New Way of Working

The impact of the project was seen not only during implementation but also six months later, with evaluation demonstrating sustained improvements in confidence, behaviours and practice.

Physical activity promotion became firmly embedded within the team's day-to-day work, helping ensure active conversations are now a routine part of the support people receive.

Key Achievements

• Staff increasingly view movement as a tool for promoting independence, wellbeing and quality of life.

• An average of 86% of people supported by LINC had an active conversation during their engagement with the service.

• 100% of staff agreed or strongly agreed that they had the knowledge needed to promote physical activity.

• Positive capability, opportunity and motivation scores increased from 30% at the start of the project to 74%, a rise of 44 percentage points.

• 77% of staff reported regularly promoting physical activity in their practice, an increase of 54 percentage points from baseline.

The project's impact also extended beyond professional practice, with one staff member reporting that it had positively influenced her own wellbeing and approach to staying active.

Small Changes, Big Outcomes

Perhaps the most powerful examples of the project's success can be seen in the everyday moments where people have been supported to remain active and independent.

The LINC team has:

• Supported carers to encourage people to answer their own front door rather than letting themselves in, helping maintain independence and mobility.

• Arranged a sitting service to enable one carer to attend Tai Chi classes, supporting both physical and mental wellbeing.

• Supported a woman and her family to understand the benefits of continuing to use the stairs rather than having a stair lift. By discussing the benefits of maintaining movement, the team helped the family consider alternatives and also arranged a perching stool to support her while preparing meals independently. 

• Encouraged people to use activities such as yoga to help manage distress and improve emotional wellbeing.

  
  

These may seem like small changes, but collectively they help people retain skills, build confidence and continue doing the things that matter to them for longer.

Looking Ahead

The success of the Active LINC project demonstrates how meaningful conversations about movement can become a natural part of social care practice.

By focusing on strengths, independence and personal goals, the LINC team has shown that supporting people to move more does not always mean structured exercise. Sometimes it means helping someone answer their own door, prepare a meal, attend a class, or continue doing the everyday activities that bring purpose and fulfilment to life.

Most importantly, it has helped create a culture where movement is recognised as a valuable tool for improving wellbeing, maintaining independence and supporting better outcomes for the people LINC works with every day.