Age Friendly Communities Early Findings report

On 18th November 2008, at the Northern Housing Summit, the Consortium was delighted to launch the Age Friendly Communities Early Findings Report. This is the third report to be published as part of our multi disciplinary research project aimed at building a holistic picture of what an 'Age Friendly Community in the North' might look like in the year 2020 and beyond.

The research project is based on the central theme of 'inclusive design' and is being informed by developments in national policy, research and innovation from around the world and through extensive consultation with older and younger people across the north of England.

The early findings report shows that by 2031 the population of people over 65 in the North will have risen by 143.5% broadly in line with the national average. But there are some startling regional, sub-regional and local variations which the report explores in more detail alongside a host of useful maps and statistics around tenure, health and well-being, income and access to services. The report also includes an analysis of three sub-regions - Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear and North Yorkshire.

An analysis of the qualitative data collected from a series of consultations with over 400 people across the North provides a fascinating insight into what issues older and younger people currently face and their thoughts on what age friendly homes, neighbourhoods and services should look like in the future.

We want these early findings to promote debate on the challenges and opportunities presented by population ageing and to raise questions on 'what we need to do differently'. We have already begun to talk to members and their stakeholders on their approaches, but now want to begin more intensive consultation. We are keen to come to your organisation and talk to you. This can take any form you wish, whether it's an informal 1-1 discussion, a presentation to your management team, board or sub-region or something in between - the choice is yours.

Please contact Jacqui Grimes on 0191 5661000 if you wish to make arrangements for a meeting or if you would like a copy of the first two reports on Inclusive Design and International Approaches to Age Friendly Communities.

Integrated Living Network - Action Learning Group Update

The Integrated Living Network, delivered by the Northern Housing Consortium, supports the housing sector to improve the well-being of the tenants and the communities in which they live by working in more effective partnerships with health and social care and at present has approximately 300 members.

The ILN provides practical supportthrough a variety of projects including the Northern Housing Consortium work around Age Friendly Communities in the North, the production of a Sheltered Housing Toolkit, input into the National Dementia Strategy and a variety of mental health & housing research. Useful and informative key outputs include policy analysis, briefing papers, toolkits, conferences, networking opportunities and procurement solutions delivered through four key workstreams -reshaping service delivery, preventative services, measuring outcomes and resources.

A further key ILN Project is the Action Learning Group. Established in October 2007, the group meets quarterly and is made up of 40+ senior staff members from Local Authorities and Registered Providers looking to learn from one another and improve their performance around the housing, health and care agenda.

The ALG group have dedicated themselves to focussing thought and debate on this agenda and have identified 4 key areas of interest:

1. Building the evidence base & using data to prioritise interventions and highlight the role of housing in improving health & well-being;
2. Influencing the LSP/LAA/PCT to understand how housing can contribute to health and well-being priorities;
3. Establishing effective partnerships, jointly prioritising/commissioning, engaging with communities and ensuring staff have the skills to operate in this changing world; and
4. Measuring the impact of our interventions.

Group Refresh for 2009

2009 will see a fresh new focus for the group, alongside new leadership by Rachel Collings, Policy Manager here at the Northern Housing Consortium who has taken on the role from her ALG predecessor Sarah Taylor who has been key to its success to date. Rachel looks forward to working with ALG members in delivering on additional outputs, responding to change and addressing some of the key future challenges currently facing our members.

Next ALG Meeting

The next Action Learning Group meeting is to be held on 28 January 2009, 10.00am - 3.30pm at Erimus Housing, Middlesbrough and will provide a great starting point for the New Year in steering our direction for positive future working, and ideas for some very interesting and exciting projects! The meeting includes sessions on:

· The Personalisation agenda, including presentation and discussion session

· Policy analysis & group discussion covering a contextual overview of some of the most pertinent areas of policy development, and their impact on the housing and health sectors

· Forward planning for the Action Learning Group, considering a draft two year forward plan including project ideas and areas of focus for the group based on previous ideas for action and areas set to be high on the government agenda over coming years such as the personalisation and choice agendas, world class commissioning, older people and dementia, and aids and adaptations. In addition further discussion and planning on the development of a toolkit on the measurement of the impact of housing interventions on health, and the promotion and launch of the now fully developed web based discussion forum for ALG members which will enable ongoing dialogue between ALG meetings and facilitate the sharing of information and good practise.

Please contact Rachel Collings if you feel that the Action Learning Group could benefit you and your organisation in delivering services, and would like to attend the next meeting on 28 January 2009.

Forthcoming Events and Projects

Putting People First Event

In addition to the Action Learning Group focus for 2009, Northern Housing Consortium are involved in the development of an event which will focus on the Putting People First agenda, with an additional angle on housing health and social care from a policy perspective. The event will be delivered in partnership with North East ADASS and the Department of Health and aims to run in the spring. Look out for further promotion of this event in the near future!

7^th Annual Supporting People Conference

The success of the NHC annual Supporting People Conference, now in its 7^th year, will continue in 2009 with a change in emphasis (and potentially name!) to reflect the major policy shift in the area of provision of support to vulnerable people to have greater choice and independence. Since this conference is programmed towards the end of the NHC events programme on 22^nd and 23^rd September, further information will be available later in the year, so watch this space for the conference flyer and programme. Please feel free to contact Rachel Collings if you have any early thoughts on what you would like to see at this conference, or would like to share you organisation's experience/expertise - the NHC are always keen to hear from members and share good practice examples!

Measuring the Impact of Interventions Project

NHC is in early developmental stages of a project that will measure the impact of telecare solution interventions using a model developed by Tunstall, the world's leading provider of telehealthcare solutions. Tunstall quote that "The UK is leading the world in the transformation of health and social care systems and as a result, telecare and telehealth have been accepted by the Government as playing a key role in enabling new methods and patterns of care delivery, leading not only to increased efficiency but to increased choice and independence for the service user". With this in mind, the project which will involve 6 NHC member organisations currently using telecare solutions, to pilot an impact measurement tool that builds a business case to demonstrate the cost efficiency savings of telecare interventions in the home on health services. More details on this project will be publicised in the near future.

To find out further information on any of the topics covered in this issue of the Quarterly Digest please contact Policy and Practice on 0191 566 1000.

- Next Issue: March 2009 -

© Northern Housing Consortium, December 2008