Opening Doors for Older People Newsletter

Issue 1 - June 2007

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This newsletter has been produced by the Opening Doors for Older People project. We hope you find the newsletter interesting and informative.

Please feel free to feedback any comments about the newsletter to the project team at:

Ryecroft Hall, Manchester Road, Audenshaw, M34 5GJ
0161 370 1179 Send us a Message

Foreword from the Chair of the Older People's Partnership - Ian Munro

Welcome to the first edition of the Opening Doors for Older People project quarterly newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep you in touch with the work of the project. I hope it becomes the way we share with you the good practice and successes which arise from the project.

The main aims of the Older People's Partnership are to respond to what older people have told us, and to bring older people's needs to the attention of agencies that can provide solutions.

Tameside's initiative is funded by the Government under the Partnership for Older People's Projects scheme. It provides a new and exciting opportunity to put these aims into practice. You can get more information about Tameside's Older People's Partnership at www.tameside-strategic-partnership.org.uk

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

So... what is POPPS ?

POPPs - Partnerships for Older People's Projects - is a 2-year, government funded approach to helping older people remain independent and well in their own homes for as long as possible.

Tameside is one of only 29 local authorities across the country that has been successful in obtaining funding.

What is Opening Doors for Older People?

Opening Doors for Older People is the name of the Tameside project, funded by POPPs. The aim of the project is to find ways to reduce or delay admissions of older people to residential care, hospital or intensive care at home by providing them with timely personalised information, advice and support in their own homes.

What is CORA?

CORA (Community Options for Remaining Active) is the questionnaire that is used to provide older people with their Personalised Information Service.

What does the Project involve?

It involves recruiting volunteers who are aged 50 years or above who will be trained to become CORA Advisors. Their role will be to visit older people in the community who feel that they may benefit from the Personalised Information Service. A Partnership Agreement has been drawn up with Age Concern to provide the Personalised Information Service.

Who is the Project aimed at helping?

The project is aimed at older people who do not yet receive social care services, who would like information, advice and support at home to help them retain their independence and well-being.

What happens at a CORA visit?

One of our trained CORA Advisors will visit you at home and will ask you a series of questions about you, your health and well-being, and what your needs might be. You can answer as many of these questions as you want to.

This is a completely free and confidential service.

What happens after I have had a visit?

Your CORA Advisor will arrange a follow up visit with you, where you will be given a range of information and advice which has been personalised for you based on the answers given in the questionnaire.

The information will also signpost you to community based services that you may benefit from.

If you require assistance in accessing these services, this can be arranged on your behalf by the CORA Co-ordinator at Age Concern Tameside.

What sort of services might I be informed about?

Information and advice will be provided about a wide range of services including: Befriending Schemes; access to information about Benefits and Council Tax; access to pendant alarms and fall detectors; home safety and fire prevention initiatives; information about medication management; access to health initiatives through GP Surgeries eg. smoking cessation; activities offered through libraries; access to local social and community groups; falls prevention.

The list goes on... Look out for more in-depth stories in future newsletters of how the project is developing and how the feedback is helping to shape services within communities.

Will I have to pay for the help?

The Personalised Information Service is free of charge and, wherever possible, aims to provide information and advice on other services that are also free of charge, such as Fire Safety Checks; the Fire Service will fit free smoke alarms, and in certain circumstances, will replace chip pans with deep-fat fryers. Similarly, the Council's Community Safety Unit can fit "Identislots" to front doors free of charge. These enable the householder to check the identity of callers to their home.

How do I access the service?

If you would like more information on the Personalised Information Service please complete and return the tear off slip at the end of the newsletter, and the CORA Advisor will contact you. You can also complete an online Questionnaire at www.tamesidecora.info

Volunteers Wanted

Becoming a Volunteer

Are you:

Aged 50 years or over and living in Tameside?

Reasonably fit and active? Honest, trustworthy and get on well with people? Have a few hours a week to spare?

Would you:

Like to help make your community a better place to live? Like to help an older person feel valued and safe and make sure that they are getting the support they need to stay independent?

If yes:

You will be part of a team of people who want to contribute to their local community; you will meet new friends and enjoy yourself; you will learn about support services for older people in Tameside; you will be trained by Age Concern Tameside who will support you in your role and make sure that you have all the guidance and information you need to do a good job and you will make a real difference to someone's life!

Your role will be to visit an older person in their own home to conduct a Personalised Information Service. Full training will be given and expenses will be paid.

The Volunteer Experience

To date, we have recruited and trained 22 volunteer CORA Advisors who in the main are existing Age Concern volunteers. However we are still looking for more volunteers!

This first cohort of volunteers has been inducted and trained by Age Concern Tameside and the Opening Doors for Older People project. Some CORA Advisors have already carried out their first home visits, as well as visits to day centres, GP Surgeries, Libraries and Community Groups.

One of the volunteer CORA Advisors who has completed his first visit has told the project "The interview was really positive and pleasant and proved to be a really satisfying experience, and I'm looking forward to meeting more people."

To become a volunteer CORA Advisor please complete the tear off slip on the back page or contact the CORA Co-ordinator on 0161 308 5007 or e-mail: cora@ageconcerntameside.com

The Story So Far

"Making the Links" Event 26th and 27th April 2007

The Opening Doors for Older People project had its official launch in April, with a half-day event for senior officers and staff across the Council and partner agencies on Thursday 26th April, followed by an open day for community groups and members of the public on Friday 27th April. Both events were extremely successful, with more than 250 people attending over the 2 days. "Making the Links" at Ashton Town Hall

Tameside Older People's Advisory Group (TOPAG) Conference Tameside's Opening Doors for Older

People project was the focus of this year's annual TOPAG conference in April.

The conference was organised through Tameside Third Sector Coalition (T3SC) and was chaired by Stuart Eyres, Chair of TOPAG. The event was well attended by over 180 older people and a wide range of independent and voluntary sector organisations. Martin Garnett (Service Unit Manager for Older People, and Programme Director for the Opening Doors for Older People project) opened the conference with a key note speech.

Several workshops specific to the Opening Doors for Older People project were also run during the afternoon session covering topics such as Community Transport, Welfare Benefits, Funding and Volunteering.

Feedback from the conference has been very positive, and it is intended, in due course, to provide a report for all those who attended. The report will include answers to a number of questions put to Martin which he was not able answer in the time available.

TOPAG will continue to have an active role in representing the views of older people in the Borough to the Opening Doors for Older People project.

Age Concern Tameside

Age Concern Tameside coordinates and administers a range of services e.g. luncheon clubs, day centres, benefits advice, transport, a handyman scheme, sitting and support services, hospital after care, bereavement counselling and other projects to make life easier for older people.

The social and educational activities at the Centre in Ashton are well known and well used.

One of it's strengths is that many of the services provided are run by older people themselves, often as willing and committed volunteers. Age Concern Tameside has a well tried and trusted "brand" to offer older people.

Age Concern Tameside's involvement as a key partner in the Opening Doors for Older People project continues that tradition. Tameside Older People's Partnership has commissioned it to run the Personalised Information Service strand of the overall scheme.

Age Concern Tameside is recruiting and training up to a hundred older people to act as volunteer CORA Advisors, and expects to visit many people in their own homes during the life of this project.

The right attitude and manner are important. Volunteer CORA Advisors will need to be sensitive, trustworthy, and to understand issues of privacy and confidentiality. They will need to be able to be friendly and supportive, but able to put boundaries to their involvement.

All these issues will be covered in the training. Denise Bates, Chief Executive of Age Concern Tameside said "It is asking a lot of volunteers, but my experience tells me that many older people in Tameside have the qualities we are looking for and that they will rise to the challenge. We at Age Concern Tameside are looking forward to working with them to ensure the Age Concern Tameside and the Opening Doors for Older People brand are synonymous with good quality support and help".

Contact Age Concern Tameside on 0161 308 5000 to find out more about it's services.

Volunteer Centre Tameside

Volunteer Centre Tameside (VCT) has a primary role in the recruitment of volunteers for a whole range of activities.

Sue Vickers, Manager at VCT is working closely with the Opening Doors for Older People project and Age Concern Tameside in directing potential volunteers to the project.

Sue, and Ben Granger (Development Worker) have been active in promoting the project at Volunteer Week 1st - 7th June 2007 and through their attendance at various events taking place within the Borough such as the Health is for Life Festival on 2/3rd June 2007.

For more information contact Sue Vickers at the Volunteer Centre on 0161 339 2345.

Opening Doors in Haughton Green

The Opening Doors for Older People project launched in Haughton Green at the beginning of May.

The Volunteer Co-ordinators have been busy distributing publicity material in the area, as well as providing information about the project to visitors to the Library, the Neighbourhood Centre and Haughton Vale Surgery.

John Smith, Locality Lead for Health Improvement, has assured his support to the project offering access to the range of community groups for older people using the Neighbourhood Centre.

Health improvement initiatives within Haughton Green include: free Smoking Cessation Clinics, free Chair based exercise groups, Walking Groups, Gardening Groups and Tai Chi.

For further information on any of the above health initiatives, please contact John Smith, Locality Lead for Health Improvement, on 0797 4768860.

If you are aged 40 - 64, smoke, are overweight, suffer stress, undertake little physical activity and eat less than the advised 5 portions of fruit/vegetables per day, you may be eligible for referral on to the Connect for Life Programme. Contact 0161 304 5348 for more information.

The Opening Doors for Older People project would like to thank the people of Haughton Green and the many professionals working in the area for their support.

Libraries offer Assistance

Today, local libraries have more to offer besides a wide range of books, large print titles and talking books! The Opening Doors for Older People project is working with the Library Service, through Mandy Kinder and Judith Hall, to signpost people who have had the Personalised Information Service, into these other services, which include basic computer classes, a free computer buddy scheme giving 1 to 1 tuition, readers' groups, over 60s library clubs, information on self-help groups and leisure groups, to name a few.

Thanks to Judith, the CORA Advisors will soon be taking up residence in libraries across Tameside, on a planned sessional basis, to promote awareness of the Opening Doors for Older People project to older people using the library services and to encourage people to consider becoming a Volunteer CORA Advisor.

Open Doors at Haughton Thornley Medical Centres

Patrick Jordan, Practice Manager of Haughton Thornley Medical Centres has very kindly opened his surgery doors to CORA Advisors at both his Haughton Vale, Denton and Thornley Street, Hyde surgeries.

Patrick invited the CORA Advisors to situate themselves in the surgery waiting room at Thornley Street, to invite patients to take up the Personalised Information Service. This proved very successful, and will be repeated at both practices over the coming weeks.

Of the Opening Doors for Older People project, Patrick said "All of my doctors and my practice nurses will be very pleased to hear about the project. The Personalised Information Service and the support it provides fills the gap between the medical needs and the social needs of the older person".

Support from Local Church

Members of Haughton Green Methodist Church have begun to spread the word about the Opening Doors for Older People project in a number of ways.

On Easter Sunday, following a meeting with CORA Coordinators, the Reverend Margaret Crawshaw talked about the Personalised Information Service from the pulpit. This was followed up by the Reverend including a free postcard for people who wish to use the service to fill in, in the church hymn books.

In addition, the postcards and a range of leaflets were set out in the Church Hall, which was being used as a polling station on election day. Postcards were also put through the letterboxes of older people known to the church who might benefit from the service.

We would like to thank Reverend Crawshaw and the members of the church for their support in promoting the project in the area.

District Assemblies

Councillor Jim Fitzpatrick, Cabinet Deputy, has opened the door for the Opening Doors for Older People project to attend the next cycle of District Assembly meetings across Tameside, to raise the profile of the project in each of the Towns from July to September 2007. Details of District Assembly meeting dates are available on the website:

The Citizen

Look out for our article in the June edition of the Citizen. This publication goes out to over 90,000 addresses in the Borough, so we are really excited about the possible impact this might have in terms of recruiting volunteers and receiving requests from older people who feel we may be able to help them.

Opening Doors on the Web

The first version of the Opening Doors for Older People project's new website (www.tameside.gov.uk/popps) went live on 13th June 2007. The site will be updated throughout the life of the project and we hope it will prove to be a valuable source of information for our range of partners and their staff, older people, their families and carers.

You can also contact us via the website for further information about the project.

Home Fire Safety Checks

The Opening Doors for Older People project is currently in discussion with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service around recruiting and training a group of volunteers to undertake home fire safety checks.

Borough Commander Andy Heywood has pledged a sum of money to train specialist volunteers to do this on behalf of the fire service and in support of the project.

Martin Garnett (Service Unit Manager for Older People) said "This is a perfect example of local partners investing in the development of preventative services for older people, which is part of the whole ethos of the project. We are delighted to accept Borough Commander Heywood's offer".

Tameside and Pension Service Joint Team

The Tameside and Pension Service Joint Team visits over 400 older people a month. It receives referrals for all those people who need a financial assessment for home care or residential care. In addition many cases are referred by social care staff who may come across people who they think may be entitled to extra benefits e.g. Council Tax Benefit, Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance. Another common reason for a referral is to provide assistance to the recently bereaved in claiming pensions and benefits as a single person. In addition to all this, the team is now also providing information on the Opening Doors for Older People project to all those who might benefit from its support.

If you think that you would benefit from a visit by the Joint Team, please visit www.tameside.gov.uk/pensions. Alternatively, you can phone the Benefits Hotline - Free phone - 0800 0749985
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9.30am - 12.30pm.

Annual Pensioners' Party

Thursday 7th June 2007 saw the Annual Pensioners' Party take place at Dukinfield Town Hall. This annual event is funded by the Dukinfield District Assembly, and is an opportunity for the Dukinfield Councillors, John Taylor, Brian Wilde and Jackie Lane, to bring the older people of Dukinfield together for some fun and entertainment.

This year, Councillors Taylor, Wilde and Lane invited Age Concern Tameside to set up a stall at the party, to promote the services it is able to offer to older people, including the Opening Doors for Older People project. At the welcoming speech, Cllr Taylor invited older people to make use of the service.

The Opening Doors for Older People project would like to thank the Dukinfield Councillors for promoting the project at their event, and is pleased to report that a number of requests for the service were received as a result.

Patrollers get Involved too

Information on the Opening Doors for Older People project has been included as part of the Community Safety Unit's training programme for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Council Patrollers.

The first of these events took place on Tuesday 12th June and provided an opportunity for the Patrollers and PCSOs to learn how to signpost people to the project.

PCSOs and Tameside Patrollers at the Domestic Burglary, Crime Reduction & Fire Awareness Training Day.

Community Groups

As part of promoting the Opening Doors for Older People project, we are looking to talk to as many older people's community groups as possible about the project. We have contacted community groups such as Ryecroft Hall Management Committee and the Time of Your Life Clubs. If you are a leader/member of a group that you feel would benefit from knowing more about the Opening Doors for Older People project, please contact the Project Team on 0161 370 1179. George and Jenny from the Line Dancing Group at Ryecroft Hall, Audenshaw.

One Hundred and Counting

We have already started to visit older people, giving them information about how to get help with Benefits and Council Tax, access to pendant alarms and falls detectors, home safety and fire prevention initiatives, and how to manage their medication, as well as local social and community groups. To date, we have focused on Denton South (Haughton Green). We are now planning on concentrating on Smallshaw, Ashton, although the service is available borough wide. So far, we have received well over 100 requests for the Service, 20% of which are from the Haughton Green area. We expect this figure to continue to grow as the project develops.

"I am very grateful for the attention and for sending the CORA Advisor who is a very kind and caring person, giving me lots of help. She has explained very clearly all the facilities available through Age Concern Tameside and others. I shall be looking forward to using some of them. I have enjoyed the company and hope to see her again soon. Thank you!"
A quote from one of the first customers to use the service.

Community Response Service (CRS)

The Community Response Service (previously the Mobile Warden Service) is now able to offer, thanks to advances in technology, much more than just pendant alarms to help keep Tameside people safe in their own home.

The service now offers a wide range of devices including: fall detectors, pressure pads that activate a bed side light when people step out of bed, alerts if people don't return to bed, smoke detectors and bogus caller panic buttons to name just a few. For a flat rate of £4.70 per week, users can take up any number of the devices on offer.

Estelle Stoddard, Manager of the service has opened up the demonstration room to our CORA Advisors so that they are better informed to talk to older people about what is available to them.

Estelle is also helping to promote the project through the Community Response Workers (Mobile Wardens) delivering information about the project to their customers and their neighbours. For further information visit www.tameside.gov.uk/communityalarm where you will find the relevant links to other services, or ring 0161 342 5111 or Freephone 0800 328 9292

A Final Thank You

A large amount of work has taken place in recent months to provide information and obtain support for the Opening Doors for Older People project.

Martin Garnett, Programme Director for the project, and members of the Project Team have met with a wide range of professionals, both within the Council and with partner agencies, such as the Primary Care Trust (PCT), Fire Service, Police and Victim Support.

At every turn, the project has been met with enthusiasm and pledges of support.

Martin would like to formally record his appreciation and thanks for that, and assure everyone involved of our commitment to continue to work in partnership to ensure the success of the project, and in doing so make a real difference for older people in Tameside. He would also like to thank all our partners in the project, including: Age Concern Tameside, Community and Voluntary organisations in the third sector, user representative groups, including TOPAG, Really Important Questions Forum (RIQ) and the Carers Council, for their efforts. Most importantly, the volunteers who have given up their time to play a vital role within the project.