Age, Home and Community strategy: progress report

04 Preventative Support Services

We said: we will look at options for extending the role of Care and Repair and businesses operating as social enterprises.

Care and Repair organisations are run by a number of different organisations depending on location. Some are independent and run as social enterprises, others are within local councils and other are based within housing associations. They are involved in a number of projects such as digital participation, a 20 month project designed to identify, plan and implement small scale pilots to assess how digital technologies can enable people to live in their homes for longer. They are also working with Life Changes Trust to provide customised support services for people affected by dementia. We will continue to look at the scope and range of services provided by Care and Repair and the wider interaction with older people. In progress

We said: we will publicise and extend understanding of the role, contribution and benefits of housing support services.

We gathered a collection of best practice examples and a case study website was established in 2012. √

We said: we will continue to develop telecare and telehealth care.

In 2012 we published A National Telehealth and Telecare Delivery Plan for Scotland to 2016, followed in 2014 by the launch of the Technology Enabled Care Programme. In 2016, £200,000 was made available to SFHA to host a housing engagement programme as part of TEC Programme. Supporting and Empowering Scotland’s Citizens: A National Action Plan for Technology Enabled Care was published in October 2016 as well as scoping reports into the shift from analogue telecare to digital telecare. In progress

We said: we will assess the role of social landlords in providing handyperson services as part of their landlord responsibilities.

We took forward the recommendations of the preventative support working group which identified the use of community benefit clauses in handyperson and gardening services which could support people into employment and increase the sustainability of the services. √

We said: we will help enable the role played by housing providers, as community anchor organisations, particularly the social rented sector, in building capacity and supporting social networks for older people.

We provided funding through the People and Communities Fund ( PCF) and this has created a number of opportunities to build social networks and reduce isolation among older people. For example Bield Housing Association Community Dementia Services. Evaluation of the community-led approach, as delivered through PCF was published in September 2017. √

Case Studies

Bield Housing Association Community Dementia Services

This project provides intensive support and services for older people with dementia living across Bield Housing projects in Kirkintilloch, Milngavie and Biggar. The service enables beneficiaries to dine with their family on a weekly basis and have a carer with them if needed. There are twice weekly evening care services to give carers respite. People and Communities Fund grant funded an IT training programme which taught older people how to use new technology such as ipads to access internet, online banking and music downloads. Weekly movement and art classes and a sensory garden promote increased social interaction, health and well-being and community integration.

Technology Enabled Care

The Technology Enabled Care ( TEC) Programme launched in 2014 and is aimed at expanding and embedding already tried and tested technology, such as telecare, telehealth, online self-management platforms and video conferencing, into routine care planning. For example, Mrs M lives in one of Glasgow’s very sheltered housing complexes and had never used technology before but, following support to learn, is now using a tablet with a simple interface to contact family in Australia; to access a range of information on her health conditions and as a method to support her giving up smoking after many years. She is also one of the residents taking part in a small scale daily ‘wellbeing check’ Pilot which means she can video-conference with staff in the office in the morning to let them know that she is up and about.

Self-directed Support – Providing Rural Independent Support

When Mary’s mobility became impaired and her dementia progressed, her nephew and niece looked to find a solution that would allow her to get the support she needed and still remain in the home she loves. The family weren’t sure what the final care plan would look like, but knew they didn’t want Mary going into institutionalised care for the rest of her life.

The Local Authority did not have the capacity to provide the level of step by step support Mary’s family needed to embark on the process of employing Personal Assistants. The solution they proposed was that she should move into a residential care placement over 30 miles away.

The family therefore approached Tagsa Uibhist (supported by the Support in the Right Direction Fund) who provided support to interview and recruit two people to work together to provide at home support for Mary. Tagsa provided the family with crucial support through the process from choosing appropriate interview questions, to seeking references and checking applicants’ qualifications.

Mary has been happy and healthy at home, her family and friends can visit daily and everyone has been satisfied with the support she has received since her care package was implemented in March 2013.

The personalised and flexible solution found for Mary costs approximately the same as living in a middle of the range local care home and is less expensive than the closest care home.