Transcript Merlin HS - Housing LIN

The Peer Review Programme
Agenda
Introductions
Background to the project
Project Set Up
Activities / Outcomes to date
Questions / Discussion
About Us
A housing and research consultancy
Set up in January 2000
Ridgeway specialises in older and vulnerable people’s housing and
services
Ridgeway has a number of Associate Consultants who contribute their
own specialisms to projects
The Peer Review Brief
Commissioned in 2010 to undertake a short term peer review project
Broad aims set out in the brief were to facilitate:
Recruit forums to participate in a peer review
To facilitate a review of housing information by forums
Development of a peer review of housing to help raise the quality of services
Investigate Training needs / options for older people to give information and
advice on housing options to their peers
Review of housing & care advice through a survey of members
In response to these objectives and following discussions with the
project sponsors Ridgeway developed the following methodology:
Outline Methodology
Recruiting groups
The aim was to recruit groups from as many as possible of the nine
Government Office Regions in England
We approached recruitment by first making telephone contact with key
forum members
Followed up with meetings to encourage engagement and identify /explain the tasks to be
undertaken
Recruitment proved challenging to some extent due to:
The specific cultures of the groups contacted
Limited frequency of executive meetings to approve engagement
Those skilled to undertake the work are retired and volunteers – often have significant
work loads
Poor weather conditions at the end of 2010 lead to meeting postponements
However, by early 2011 eight groups were fully engaged in the programme
as shown in the following map:
Participating Groups
Wirral Older
People’s Parliament
Newcastle Elders
Council
Tewkesbury Seniors’
Network
Leeds Older
People’s Forum
Forest of Dean
Seniors’ Network
Haringey Forum for
Older People
Dorset POPPs &
Wayfarers
TOFF-Thurrock Over
Fifties Forum
Core Activities
Core activities condensed into four areas:
Database Update
Harnessing the knowledge of local forums to contribute to an ongoing update
and improvement of EAC’s database of sheltered and extra care housing.
Services List
Provide assistance for forum members so that they can map local services and
identify their effectiveness from a user point of view.
Survey
Work with selected forums to devise a suitable satisfaction survey which could
be used to test the satisfaction of older people in relation to the housing
services they receive.
Training Needs
The aim here is the promotion of courses for training older people in the
provision of housing advice for other older people or their representatives.
Engagement
Forum Name
Newcastle Elders
Council
Wirral Older Peoples
Parliament
Leeds Older People’s
Forum
TOFF-Thurrock Over
Fifties Forum
Dorset POPP
Wayfinders
Haringey Forum for
Older People
Forest Seniors
Network
Tewkesbury Seniors
Network
1. EAC
Update
2. Service
List
x
Already


3. Survey 4. Training
OTHER
Already
Already
Ambassadors /
'Just what I need'

TBC
TBC



TBC
TBC



TBC
TBC



TBC
TBC




TBC


x
TBC
TBC




TBC
Emerging Themes - General
The project is ongoing
However, most have completed parts 1 and 2 and are in the process of
devising / conducting surveys
In terms of general themes that have emerged:
Considerable diversity across the groups
In terms of structure and membership
Levels of resources available varied considerably - this had some impact on timescales,
e.g. In one forum a key member became ill causing a pause in activity
Strong willingness to participate and support the project aims
The availability of FirstStop funding is greatly appreciated by forums
Contacts are generally volunteers and are not used to responding to tight deadlines
The four activities have in some cases supported the desire amongst forums to
develop their approach, resources and increased independence
Running with the ball...
Branching out
Emerging Themes - General
‘This project is feeding constructively into work that our forum is intending to
carry out in the near future on housing related information and practical
support for older people. We’re hoping to link this to a ‘pilot under-occupancy
scheme’ proposed by the council in its new draft housing strategy.’
‘We have recently carried out some background research on 439 mainly older
people attending a large local event that focused on wellbeing in the area.
Findings on where people would access information has given plenty of food for
thought, given that social services and other council staff, including those
working in housing, have been found to be lacking.’
Emerging Themes – EAC Update
All except one forum (that had already done work in this regard) have
worked on encouraging local providers to update their profiles on the EAC
database
The situation varied significantly - in one area there is only one sheltered
provider (Council) in another there are three ALMO’s and a large numbers of
other providers (Local and National players)
It appears that many providers understand the benefits of having an up to
date profile on the database but their good intentions are sometimes
deflected by the pressures of operational work
This said forum members have worked hard to chase and are continuing to
encourage providers to update
In only one case did a major local provider decline
They preferred to manage their own database on their website
Emerging Themes – EAC Update
Example
All the providers were contacted by either telephone or email
Most were contacted more than once by phone:
‘ We had to try a second or third time before reaching someone who was prepared to
take responsibility’
‘A few people said that they would update within a few days but most said that they
would look at it when they had time and gave the impression that it was low priority’
Perceived outcomes:
‘When the update is complete, people seeking accommodation in this area will have
more confidence that the information is current and relevant. The inclusion of a picture
of the property is more inviting and the lack of one gives the impression that the provider
is not prepared to take trouble over things.’
Emerging Themes – Service List
Again all but one of the providers have developed / are developing service lists using
a template provided by Ridgeway comprising 3 parts:
Sheltered
Nursing / Residential / Dom. Care
Other (e.g. Podiatrists, walking clubs, CAB etc.)
The aim of the service list is to provide information and anecdotal views of the
services
In a several cases forums are keen for the Service List to become a ‘living directory’
for forum members to use
In one of these cases there is an aim to encourage local village agents to use this ‘directory’ in the
provision of advice
One member talked of the benefits of having a paper based list for those who are digitally excluded
‘We appreciate the potential value of the information that this project will give us and already have
made a number of useful contacts. An obstacle for us has been the pressure of time on the small
group of volunteers currently willing to give the necessary priority to the project .’
Emerging Themes – Survey
Of the 8 engaged forums 6 are in the process of conducting surveys with
their members, older people in the community and with members of
affiliated groups.
A core survey was developed in consultation with the forums
Most forums have amended the form (generally by adding questions) but the
majority of questions are common to all 6 survey forms thus allowing for
comparability. Key areas follow:
Where they live now / house type / tenure
Suitability of current accommodation (now & future)
Current access to care and support services / review / how they sourced them
Future aspirations with regards to accommodation and services
Views and preferences with regards to advice
Demographic profile
Varied distribution methods – local network – groups etc.
Emerging Themes – Survey
Initial Findings Thurrock / Dorset
Age / Gender
Accommodation / Tenure
Half live in houses a quarter in bungalows and a quarter in flats.
Three quarters own their home, a fifth are social renters and 5% rent privately.
Social Context
92% - have regular contact with friends and / or family & 78% - have good contacts in the local
community
Health
31% - have a physical disability and 13% - have a sensory disability
Emerging Themes – Survey
Initial Findings Thurrock / Dorset
Suitability of Accommodation
82% - the location of my home gives easy access to local services
90% - my home meets my needs now but only 67% in the future
38% - my home does not have enough space for the use of mobility aids
Access to services currently (mainly those in sheltered housing)
31% - have a community alarm / 14% - have a support service
5% - have a visiting carer / 3% - have meals on wheels
Information
40% - Believe they know where to seek advice if they felt they needed more support / care either delivered to
current home or by moving home. The ranking of the potential sources is shown below:
Emerging Themes – Survey
Initial Findings Thurrock / Dorset
Suitability of Accommodation
Of those who do not know where to seek advice 53% think it would be helpful to
have access to a service:
Where someone would review their specific needs
identify service options in their area (or elsewhere)
So that they could make an informed choice about your housing and/or service
requirements
Overall, 31% feel that in principle they would be prepared to pay for a advice service
as outlined above
Emerging Themes – Training Needs / JWIN
Some of the forums have taken advantage of the training offer made by Care
and Repair England / FirstStop
Upon completion of the survey Ridgeway will moderate focus groups with
selected forums exec. teams / active members to uncover areas where
training input may be beneficial
‘Just what I Need’ (JWIN)
Newcastle Elders Council
Conducted 2 mail outs providing information on services for older people
Followed up with research on the effectiveness of the mail outs
Found that many older people preferred to hear about services in person from other
older people
Trained volunteers to be Ambassadors
Commencing a series of ‘talks’ with local groups
Final Thoughts
Challenges
Volunteers are suspicious of new initiatives and need clarity and simple
messages
The changing environment make this a significant challenge
Hard enough to stay abreast of changes as a professional
Regulatory impediments
CRB / Safe Guarding
Opportunities
Despite:
Slowness to start
Often laborious decision making
The fact that many forums are under resourced
The potential in terms of skills and talent is enormous – to, for example:
Advise and Signpost
Gather information and lobby
Final Thoughts
Opportunities (continued)
Changing agendas give forums a key role to play
Personalisation
Direct Payments
Brokerage
Customer Journey (80% no FACS eligible)
Self Directed care and support planning
Advice is key to prevention
The Peer Review Programme