Older people's steering group

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Transcript

[Jane:] Hi everybody and welcome to the Older People's Steering Group. My name's Jane Senior and I'm the director of commissioning. We're very proud to have an Older People's Strategy and within that we have eight key priorities.

[Voiceover:] These include:

• [Kevin:] social isolation and loneliness
• [Tagreed:] living within intergenerational families
• [Dolly:] end of life care.

[Jane:] And the strategy is taken forward by the Older People's Steering Group, which is made up of officers, older people, partners, the voluntary sector and so on.

[Dolly:] My name is Dolly Bhaskaran and I am one of the volunteers for Slough Older People Steering Group. And I am also a Slough resident and I'm founder of a community group called Living in Harmony.

[Vanessa:] I'm Vanessa Pugh, Older people's commissioner here in Slough.

[Marjorie:] Hi, I am Marjorie Rae. I'm a resident of Slough. I participate in the steering group alongside caring for my elderly mother.

[Kevin:] Hello, I'm Kevin. I'm with Healthwatch Slough.

[William:] I'm William Ayella, one of the Public Health programme officer.

[Tagreed:] My name is Tagreed Ismail. I am the volunteer manager at Slough Council for Voluntary Service.

[Rob:] Hello. I'm Rob Miles. I'm a long-term resident of Slough. Turned 70 recently. I'm a trustee for Crossroads Care, a local charity that provides respite support and care support for both children and the elderly in the Slough area.

[Mike:] Hi, I'm Mike Woolridge. I work for the NHS Frimley ICB locally in Slough.

What is your experience of the group?

[Dolly:] Collaboratively working with other groups, because some of the agendas which I hear and I can take that into the community and then talk to the community actively listening to the members of the community and then bring back that into the Older People's Steering group.

[William:] I have actually been able to notice within the group that Slough Borough Council actually value the older people as one of the most important part of the diverse population in Slough.

[Rob:] In my own case it's been unusual to be both involved as someone who's interested in the organisation and the strategic issues but also a service user. And so I'm experiencing these things from both sides.

[Jane:] So for me, I'm really proud to be a member of the Older People's Steering Group.

[Tagreed:] It's just been great in terms of allowing people to voice their thoughts and opinions and share their thoughts and opinions with like-minded people and brainstorm together collectively to try and come up with solutions for the future.

[Mike:] I really enjoyed being part of that group as it's really important for us as a health service to making sure that we are investing in the right things for older people.

I found it encouraging that the group brings together people from different backgrounds all committed to making a real difference.

What does it involve?

The Older People's Steering Group meets once a quarter and also has other meetings and events during the year.

[Vanessa:] I co-chair the Older People's Steering Group in Slough with Dolly Bhaskaran who has extensive experience as a nurse as working across the health and social care system. Dolly participates as a volunteer in a huge number of groups and her input is absolutely invaluable.

[Rob:] The right people are in the room. So when we do reach a difficult issue and there is an answer, we're confident that someone's going to go away and work on it and that an answer will be brought back at the next committee. And so it makes it... makes you feel that it's worth the time. And the meetings take a good hour to two hours. And I have to say the time goes quickly, which is a pleasant surprise.

[Voice over:] Volunteers and officers work together as equals in the Older People's Steering Group and share chairing each meeting.

[Tagreed:] The Older People's Steering Group has been an invaluable platform bringing together professionals and service users from across the borough to discuss the key issues older people are facing at the moment.

[Marjorie:] The projects are community led, not just people in the community being involved. We definitely have input that is valued, taken on board and are all actually made to feel very appreciated and valued.

[Voiceover:] You can start by joining as a guest before you agree to become a member.

What has the group been working on?

[Jane:] We've set up a number of  key task and finish groups. So that includes things like

[Kevin:] the dementia task and finish group where we have developed an early awareness fact sheet on dementia to help people in Slough spot any changes and secure some support.

[Jane:] And we've had a Public Health Needs Assessment, which has been able to increase awareness around dementia issues in Slough.

[Dolly:] Hospital pathways, another project, which I am involved. So that we know people can go home with assistive technology. They can give live independently at home.

[Marjorie:] Some of the projects that I've been involved in have been very focused on achieving cost savings or improving efficiency. A side actually product of some of those projects, has actually been kind of a sustainable piece.

With some investigation and some looking at processes and improving processes under the principle of reuse, repurpose, recycle,  there has been a system implemented where people can return their equipment.

[Tagreed:] So I've now joined the loneliness and isolation task and finish group. And it's been really great hearing from other people within the borough about their viewpoint. So what they've seen with regards to social isolation amongst older people, what their experiences are of those particular concerns, and just try and come up with some from fresh ideas and pool our collective knowledge and experience to put together some kind of plan.

[Jane:] And we're gathering information at the moment about a loneliness map in Slough.

[Mike:] It's fantastic event, question time for older people. Older people could put their questions forward to the panel of experts. And we had a range of people there including the leader of the council was present. And a really good opportunity for people to put their questions on a whole range of things, not just about health and social care matters. But I know there were questions around transport and parking and such like. So loads of really, really good stuff which is taking place.

How will the group grow and develop?

[Mike:] So I think we've already got a plan of the things that we want to tackle in this next year, year two of the strategy. And there'll be more working groups that set up to take those things forward.

[William:] I think also another thing that I could think of  is for actually also to try and see that we have the mechanism in place to be able to collect some of the datas. So that we know that what is exactly affecting our older population and what is missing and any gaps that can...that is identified should be able to address easy and timely.

[Marjorie:] Use all the communication channels that are available. So, I think that the website still needs to actually be a little bit more user friendly. Acknowledging that not everybody in the older person's space is au fait with tech, is to actually look at how you address maybe that with some training or also catering for those that just are not capable to be able to access information through other means.

[Kevin:] More engagement with grassroots community groups. Better communication channels and stronger partnerships with local service providers would help us grow.

[Vanessa:] I'm also very keen to include, to increase the makeup of the Older People Steering Group, so it's much more diverse and allows as many people, older people in Slough, to have a really big say about their futures.

[Tagreed:] It'd be great to have more volunteers involved who have lived experience of social isolation or loneliness or living within intergenerational families.

[Dolly:] If the group grows, then we can get a vibrant, resilient community in Slough. So that is my outcome.

[Get involved]

[Voiceover:] If you want to get involved in the steering group, email beinvolved@slough.gov.uk No spaces between "be" and "involved".

Or telephone 07 873 703 435.