Michelle Dawson, ABM's Programme Manager will be in attendance at the meeting to provide an update regarding work undertaken to date, impact of Covid 19, together with plans for the future
Minutes:
The
Chair welcome Michelle Dawson, Manager of Aging Better Middlesbrough to provide
an update regarding work undertaken to date, impact of Covid
19, together with plans for the future.
The Manager outlined that she worked for Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind and
had worked there for the past 10 years. Aging Better Middlesbrough (ABM) was
originally a 6 year funded programme of £6million over 6 years (April 2015-
March 2021) to reduce loneliness and isolation for older people. The programme
is a test and learn project co-designed with older people. The project gained
evidence as at the time there was very little information about what worked.
The project has gathered loads of Loads and loads of learning about loneliness,
older people, communities, commissioning and partnerships, they have worked with
thousands of older people.
The Panel learnt that the ABM website had a dedicated learning page, which
contains information, not only from Middlesbrough but also from the 7 ABM
projects across the Country to understand what works to reduce loneliness.
Middlesbrough speciality, is around working with older people with complexity,
mental health and chronic loneliness. The Manager outlined that chronic
loneliness was different to transitional loneliness e.g. an impact from Covid, whereby older people find themselves lonely in a
transition of time.
Over the past 5 years, ABM has delivered a whole host of projects with older
people; which has included long term intervention, asset based development,
peer and befriending projects , projects within the BME community, digital
support for older people, , projects with older woman from Pakistan, projects
with asylum seekers and refugees, small grants projects and projects around
dance and exercise. The Manager outlined that most projects which you could
think of to engage with older people and reduce loneliness and isolation have
been tried.
In March 2020 at the start of the Covid- 19 pandemic,
like most, the way working for ABM had to change. The Director of Adult Social
Care and Health Integration contacted the Manager due to the number of older
people coming through Help BORO and the shielding HUB.
In response to a request from the council, Middlebrough
and Stockton Mind became a ‘destination’ point for people who were lonely or
needed emotional support.
They undertook the following projects:
• Ageing Better formed a telephone support project for older people, bringing
together staff from four different organisations. ABM also telephoned over 600
older people who they were in regular contact to check on their well being and to engage them in supplementary telephone
support where they had additional need.
• ABM delivered wellbeing packs, activity packs to older people.
• They provided digital support and bought digital devices and data for older
people to enable older people to use their devises and make the most of digital
technology. They were also linked to a digital befriender.
• Middlesbrough and Stockton MIND carry out Social Prescribing, however ABM
launched social prescribing on 1 April 2020 to support GP's who needed
additional support to link them into social prescribing link workers.
• Age Friendly Middlesbrough connected people together, to enable the community
groups to connect and find ways not to duplicate and share resources.
The Manager outlined that thankfully the lottery announced that they would not
be ended funding in 2021, as they recognised that aging better played a crucial
role in the recovery of covid. The County is not
talking recovery now however still funding has been supplied for aging better
Middlesbrough until March 2022. Funding for the year has been halved compared
to the £1million originally received for the project on a year basis so the
programme is currently prioritising what services they will deliver.
The services that they will be focusing on in the next 15- 18 months will be as
follows:
• Telephone support plus- holistic support for lonely and isolated support. It
has a link to improving physical activity for older people, so we are hoping to
link them more robustly into programmes such as Falls
prevention and physical activity.
• Digital support with expansion into BAME communities- providing Investing
people and culture (IPC) digital support for BAME communities, as we are
conscious the programme is not very diverse in its engagement.
• Funding the falls prevention strategy- aging better Middlesbrough funds an
occupational therapist into the Falls Prevention Team in order to free up the
Falls Prevention team to work on the Falls Prevention Strategy.
• Age Friendly Middlesbrough- we will continue to fund the officer to conduct
the mapping, connection and capacity building work
• Mental health therapy- this service will be expanded as ABM currently has a
waiting list.
• Development support to social prescribing
The Manager further outlined that the partnerships especially with the Health
sector have improved over the past few years.
• The Manager advised that she chairs the Digital development steering group,
which looks to conquer the digital divide. It is something she feels everyone
should be investing in, but unfortunately this was not the case. They therefore
created this partnership and attracted £20,000 funding to develop an online
platform whereby businesses can donate devises, which will be upgraded by the
private sector and they will keep 50% of these devises and donate 50% back into
the platform. Organisations will then have an online login to apply for devises
for service users and community groups. The group is also looking at online
support for all an all age digital support group. This is being run with the
Teesside combined authority to try and address what the connectivity issues
will be in the future and what we might need to do to bridge the gap until this
occurs.
• Falls prevention strategy - The Manager co- Chairs the Falls Prevention
steering group which has put Middlesbrough and Stockton MIND and ABG in touch
with health professionals.
• Supporting Older People through the winter (with You’ve Got This)- informal partnership and how we can share our resources
to support older people.
The Manager further discussed the gaps in the system:
• There is a requirement for a single point of access for all the support
available to older people. There is currently 100's of telephone numbers to
access services and there needs to be a strategy to join services up, across
public health, CCG and the Council.
• Better joining up between everyone - 72% of older people at the start of lock
down had no access to the internet. Local GP services and Public health are
trying to digital health support , whilst not
investing in the required amount of support to get people onto the internet.
• Long term investment in digital development (72%) and telephone support- ABM
are already in demand
• The gap that will be left when ABM has gone.
Whilst the Manager recognises that at the moment when support it required it
defaults to ABM, there is that apprehension of what will be done to the work
and partnerships when ABM has gone.
A member queried how ABM support older people online? In response, the Manager
outlined that they were there to help and reassure older people to protect
themselves against online scammers and the police deliver training as well as
google providing online support. The HOPE foundation support older people to
get online under their own motivations, for example a zoom account.
Another member also queried whether addition resources would assist the work,
and in response, the Manager advised that yes it does assist, however it is
more looking at a ore joint up approach with the Council, Health, Public health
and looking at ways of delivery. The befriending service has evidence to say
that this is a fundamental part to reducing loneliness. This provides a voice,
a friendly support. The Manager did however advise that they have been seeing
older people face to face where possible, for example delivering activity packs
and birthday cakes!
The Manager also stressed that providing information on activities whilst does
help some older people engage, those who are lonely and isolated will not
attend community events and without these bridging people are essential get
getting people to events.
**11am** the panel paused for the 2 minute silence.
The Director of Social Care and Health Integration praised the work of Aging
Better and advised that what they report is evidence based and the truth. He
advised that there is discussion of a 5 year recover of covid,
in terms of mental health, trauma which in turn may develop to isolation for
some people. There is an additional legacy of ill health and therefore the role
of Aging better is fundamental in this. The Director advised that the support
of the panel on moving forward would be greatly appreciated.
Following a discussion, the panel agreed that they would like to receive an
update in 9 months -time and from there look at putting forward recommendation
of how further joint work could be undertaken to support some of the key
services to continue past 2022.
AGREED-
That the information be
noted
That the panel receive a further update on
Aging Better Middlesbrough in 9 months time.