• The meetings are completely flexible and you can attend in person or online
• All your travel expenses will be covered
• Have the chance to share your lived experience to improve services for thousands of people in West Sussex.

The Adults Services team at West Sussex County Council is currently developing an online chatbot that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to answer questions that service users have. 

They've designed the chatbot so it's really easy to use and its purpose is to provide relevant information, quickly, at any time. The team has created standard answers to the questions they get asked the most based on calls to their contact centre, Adults CarePoint. 

In order to ensure that it is fit for purpose and gain some feedback on how easy to use and helpful it is, the Adults Services team are inviting people to take part in testing the chatbot.

The testing process will be really simple and will take between 30-60 minutes. All you will need to do is answer a short survey once you have finished the testing and share your thoughts on the experience. 

Anyone who takes part will be paid an hourly rate of £11.44, and will be paid a minimum of one hour.  Testing will take place over two weeks between Monday 30 September and Friday 11 October.

If you are interested in taking part, please call Kiri Clevett on 0330 222 2731 or email her by clicking the link below.

If you are over the age of 65, you can start booking your COVID-19 and flu vaccinations from Monday 23 September, with appointments available until Friday 20 December.

Vaccinations are an important part of protecting yourself, especially if you are at increased risk of getting seriously ill from either COVID-19 or flu. Vaccines are offered because viruses change and protection fades over time. It is important to top up your protection if you are eligible. 

You may be offered a COVID-19 vaccine if you:

• are aged 65 or over
• are pregnant
• are aged 6 months to 64 years and have an increased risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 because of a health condition or treatment
• live in a care home for older adults.

Researchers at the University of Essex are looking to explore the experiences of people with physical disabilities who have received care from crisis or inpatient mental health services.

To take part in the study, you need to meet the following criteria:

• Identify as having a physical disability or a chronic health condition
• Be aged 18 or over
• Have experienced care within mental health crisis or inpatient mental health services and/or have an interested in advocating for disabled people’s mental health
• Not be experiencing a mental health crisis or receiving care in inpatient services

The study consists of the following:

• An audio recorded interview that will take around 60 minutes. This can take place over the phone or via Microsoft Teams
• You will be asked some demographic information, but your participation will be anonymous
• No identifiable information will be included in the recording, transcript of the recording, or the final report.

If you’re interested in taking part, please email the lead researcher, Jamie Melvin-Freed by clicking the link below.