health and social care – Age UK Communications for Partners

Live Longer Better Event – Venue and registration link published

All Age UKs are invited to join the first in-person Live Longer Better national event where the programme will reaffirm its collective mission. The event will take place on Wednesday 19^th October 2022 from 11.00 to 16.00. Live Longer Better have now shared details of the venue and registration link for this event. Please click here for full details.

Live Longer Better shared the following update:

Join us for our first IN-PERSON Live Longer Better national event where we will reaffirm our collective mission and how we describe it.

The Four Rs:

Reconditioning: restoring ability lost not only during lockdown but with decades of existing in the modern environment, dominated by the car, the sofa, the TV, the computer and the desk job.

Rejuvenation: aiming to get as able as one was five or even ten years before – Drop a Decade!

Risk reduction: preventing, delaying, slowing down and even reversing the risk of dementia, and frailty.

Revolution: the continuing need to move from fear of population ageing to the celebration of healthy longevity and this requires a cultural revolution, which means we need to rewire the brains of not only older people but also…

Friends and relatives
Health and social care professionals
The general public
The press

What does this mean?

This means we have to start where each of these groups are at present and then create new ways of thinking (e.g. health and social care need to see our work not only as good for older people, but good for them as a means of reducing the need and demand for health and social care.) This is an opportunity to come together in person to challenge, discuss and explore what we can and must do, to really address the Four Rs. This event will include visionary insights, case spotlights and the compelling evidence, sharing some excellent presentations from expert speakers including of course Sir Muir Gray, whilst also enabling the much missed truly interactive and networking sessions.

An event with a difference – time for a cultural change!

Our virtual LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – over 2,000 delegates have attended our last 8 events with cross sector representation including local authorities, Age UK, NHS, Care Homes, Leisure Trusts and various voluntary and community sector partners. Feedback given by delegates confirmed that the events fully met their expectations.

Book your place!

This first in-person Live Longer Better event will take place at Burton Albion Football Club, Princess Way, Burton upon Trent, DE13 0AR.

CLick here for full details of the event including the registration link!

This Live Longer Better collaboration between Sir Muir Gray, Optimal Ageing Associates and Active Partnerships provides a unique combination of skills and resources, bringing together the cultures of coaching and health. We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations and speakers around the Live Longer Better work.

Older People’s Health and Care Survey – October 2022

Age UK’s Health Influencing Team are once again conducting the “Older People’s Health and Care Survey” and would be grateful if you could share the survey across your networks.

Age UK’s latest Older People’s Health and Care Survey is now live! As with our previous surveys in 2020 and 2021, our aim is to understand more about the current health and care needs of older people. We are looking to hear from older people and those that support them, including local Age UKs. Over 15,000 people responded to last year’s survey, which gave us a powerful position from which to influence the Government and the NHS.

Your responses helped us put pressure on the Government on a number of issues, particularly help during the cost of living crisis and access to NHS services.

We would be really grateful if you could once again share this survey across your networks so that we can hear as many voices as possible. Thank you!

The survey closes on Wednesday 19th October.

Upcoming Live Longer Better Event – Save the date: 19th October 2022

Save the date for the first in-person Live Longer Better national event on Wednesday 19th October from 11:00-16:00!

All Age UKs are invited to join the first in-person Live Longer Better national event where the programme will reaffirm its collective mission. The event will take place on Wednesday 19^th October 2022 from 11.00 to 16.00. Please save the date and Live Longer Better will be in touch soon to announce the location, full schedule, and registration link.

Live Longer Better shared the following update:

Join us for our first IN-PERSON Live Longer Better national event where we will reaffirm our collective mission and how we describe it.

The Four Rs:

Reconditioning: restoring ability lost not only during lockdown but with decades of existing in the modern environment, dominated by the car, the sofa, the TV, the computer and the desk job.

Rejuvenation: aiming to get as able as one was five or even ten years before – Drop a Decade!

Risk reduction: preventing, delaying, slowing down and even reversing the risk of dementia, and frailty.

Friends and relatives
Health and social care professionals
The general public
The press

What does this mean?

An event with a difference – time for a cultural change!

Please hold the Date until Registration is open – we will be in touch soon when the registration link is live.

Event location and further programme details will be circulated nearer the event.

Upcoming Live Longer Better Event – 8th June 2022

All Age UKs are invited to attend the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event on Wednesday 8th June from 10:00-11:30.

All Age UKs are invited to join the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership Event which will focus on the Health and Care Bill. The webinar takes place on Wednesday 8th June from 10:00 – 11:30. Read on to find out more, or click here to book your place.

The NHS was set up as a single organisation in 1948 – numerous bureaucracies, but one organisation, one family. From 1990, collaboration was stopped and competition began.

We now have an Act of Parliament, the Health and Care Bill which has received Royal Assent, enacting the most significant health legislation in a decade into law. Integrated systems were deemed essential, with their four purposes outlined:

Improving population health and healthcare;
Tackling unequal outcomes and access;
Enhancing productivity and value for money; and
Helping the NHS to support broader social and economic development.

This marks a milestone in the recovery and reform of how health and care services work together. The Live Longer Better programme was designed on these principles, recognising that activity: physical, cognitive and emotional, is an essential part of population health management and MUST be integral to improving community health and longevity.

This Live Longer Better National Event takes a consultative approach with National Clinical Directors.

Register for this event to find out their barriers and hurdles, understand how physical activity can help them quantify the benefits of overcoming these problems and support delivery on their key objectives.

Click here to book your place

Our LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – over 2,000 delegates have attended our last 7 events with cross sector representation. Delegates confirmed that the events “fully met their expectations”.

Engage Britain seek ideas to improve conditions for those working in social care

Engage Britain are seeking ideas to make things better for those who work in care. Find out how you can share your ideas below.

Engage Britain, an independent charity, is bringing people together to help improve social care for all. They’re asking for people with experience of social care – whether through working in it, drawing on it, or running services – to share their thoughts on what could be done to make things better for those who work in care. Do you want to help make things better for people who work in social care? Share your Ideas for Change here.

Engage Britain want to make sure as many people as possible with experience and expertise in social care have the chance to get involved and have their say on solutions.

Click here to share your Ideas for Change, as well as provide feedback on what other people have said. The platform is live until 22^nd May.

Older People’s Health and Care Survey – Spring 2022

Age UK’s Health Influencing Team are conducting the Spring 2022 edition of the “Older People’s Health and Care Survey” and would be grateful if you could share the survey across your networks.

Last Autumn, we undertook Wave 3 of our research about older people’s experiences of the pandemic. The response was incredible, with over 17,000 people completing the survey. We received over 75,000 free text responses and we read every one of them. Thank you for taking the time to promote the survey so we could hear older people’s experiences and views. Wave 4 of our “Older People’s Health and Care Survey” is now live and we would be really grateful if you could again complete and share the survey with your clients, colleagues and supporters. Full details can be found below, thank you all for your help.

Following Wave 3 of this research last Autumn, we have been able to use what respondents told us to apply pressure on the Government and NHS England to ensure the right support is in place for older people. We have shared the research findings with local partners across the Age UK Network, as well as NHS organisations, Government departments, other charities and voluntary sector organisations, and with hundreds of people working with and for older people. We’ve had terrific feedback from you and other organisations, telling us just how valuable it’s been to hear about older people’s experiences.

As the country begins to live with Covid, following the Government’s plans, it’s essential that older people are not left behind. That’s why we are launching Wave 4 of the research, so older people can tell us how they are coping now that restrictions have been lifted.

The survey, which can be found here, should take around 15 minutes (potentially more, depending on how much respondents want to tell us) and our colleagues will be using the results to continue to apply pressure on the Government and NHS to support older people to get back on their feet after two years of incredible challenges.

You can also promote the survey online here.

Thank you for supporting our research! We look forward to sharing the findings with you later in the year.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY

New Integrated Care Systems Hub Launched!

Age UK has created a new Integrated Care Systems Hub to help partners to find information on ICSs quickly and easily.

The introduction of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) is changing the way health and care is commissioned and delivered, but what does this mean for Age UKs delivering services at a local level? There’s a lot of information out there and navigating your way through it can be very time consuming and confusing. To help, Age UK has created a new Integrated Care Systems Hub so you can find information quickly and easily.

There you will also find resources which have been specially produced for local Age UKs to help keep you informed about how you might best respond to the challenges and opportunities these new structures could bring in your local area.

We will let you know of any updates to this ICS Hub via Signpost, so please ask any local Age UK colleagues that you think would be interested in this topic to sign up for Signpost here, or to keep an eye on the Hub via the link below.

Click the link below to start exploring what ICSs might mean for your organisation. We will keep the ICS Hub under regular review so if there’s anything you’d like to see included (or if anything isn’t working as it should) then please contact healthinfluencing@ageuk.org.uk.

Click here to visit the ICS HUB!

Upcoming Live Longer Better Thought Leadership Event – 23rd March 2022

All Age UKs are invited to attend the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event on Wednesday 23rd March from 10:00-11:30.

All Age UKs are invited to join the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership Event which is titled “The Longevity Revolution”. The webinar takes place on Wednesday 23rd March from 10:00 – 11:30. Read on to find out more, or click here to book your place.

The number of older people is increasing, both in absolute terms and relative to the numbers of young people. This is often portrayed as a major problem but our understanding of the science of what is happening to us as we live longer is getting clearer, and the evidence about what can be done to prevent, delay, slow or even reverse conditions such as frailty, dementia and dependence is getting stronger.

Live Longer Better aim to:

Refocus the lens on population ageing to healthy longevity
Focus on reconditioning rather than deconditioning
Prescribe activity with, and sometimes instead of, drug prescriptions
Recognise that physical activity professionals are agents of change as catalysts for action within complex systems.

Expert Speakers confirmed to date include:

Sir Muir Gray
Jamie Blackshaw (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities)
Anant Jani (University of Oxford)
Dr Jenni Jones (National University of Ireland)
Dr Marlize de Vivo (Active Medicine)
Lisa Wood (Active Partnership – Wesport)

We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations from speakers around the Live Longer Better work, inspired by Sir Muir Gray in collaboration with Active Partnerships.

The LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – over 1,800 delegates have attended our last five events with cross sector representation including local authorities, Age UK, NHS, Care Homes, Leisure Trusts and various voluntary and community sector partners. Feedback given by delegates confirmed that the events fully met their expectations. Register for this event now to secure your place!

Further programme details will be circulated nearer the event.

Click here to book your place

Updated FAQs: Vaccination and HR considerations raised by Brand Partners

With the proposed consultation on mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers set to be launched, we have updated our FAQ document on vaccination and HR considerations.

Today marks the deadline by which all healthcare workers would need to have received their first vaccination injection in order to be fully vaccinated by the March 31st cut off point, with the proposed mandatory vaccination policy set to come into effect on April 1st. However, on the 31st of January, the Government announced that it will launch a consultation on ending vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and all care settings. Even with the impending cancellation of this legal requirement, we recognise that many Brand Partners continue to grapple with workplace and service issues in connection with vaccination against Covid. With that in mind, we have recently updated our FAQs responding to queries arising from local Age UK employers. Find out full details, including access to the updated FAQs below.

On the 31st of January, the Government announced that it will launch a consultation on ending vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and all care settings. England’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, told MPs that “while vaccination remains our very best line of defence, I believe it is no longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of deployment by statute”. The announcement came just three days before the 3^rd of February deadline given to unvaccinated NHS staff who deal directly with patients to have had their first dose or risk losing their job. Currently, the 2021 (Care Home) Regulations are and remain in place, although these will also be subject to consultation. Even with the impending cancellation of this legal requirement, its anticipated that employers within health and social care sectors may still want to look at the question of mandatory vaccination. Guidance regarding these recent developments has not yet been released, however, we will of course keep you abreast of any updates.

It is recommended that all Brand Partners keep their risk assessments under review as further developments come into play. This is because employers will still need to ensure that they have reasonable measures in place to mitigate the risk of Covid transmission within the workplace.

Recognising that many Brand Partners continue to grapple with workplace and service issues in connection with vaccination against Covid, we have recently updated our FAQs responding to queries arising from local Age UK employers:

FAQs – Vaccination and HR Considerations by Brand Partners Download

Carers Active Project – Hub and Facebook Group

Carers UK have set up the Carers Active project to help make physical activity achievable, accessible, and affordable for unpaid carers. Find out all about the project here.

The Carers Active project from Carers UK has been set up to make physical activity achievable, accessible, and affordable for unpaid carers. A key part of the project is the Carers Active Hub and the Carers Active Facebook group, which are designed to help carers of all ages be more active and overcome some of the barriers to moving more. Find out full details about the Carers Active project and the Hub below.

The importance and positive impact of physical activity on carers’ health was highlighted again recently following the release of Carers UK’s Caring and Physical Activity report. It found that the impact of the increased amount of caring and the stress and anxiety of the pandemic has taken a clear toll on carers.

Now more than ever, finding ways to improve health and wellbeing is crucial. Around three quarters of carers do not feel that they are able to do as much physical exercise as they’d like to do and wanted to know how to build this into their busy lives.

We also know that:

67% of carers said doing a range of physical activities helped them to feel more connected to other people.
58% of carers said being active helped them to learn more about the importance of looking after their health.
Carers were more likely to categorise themselves as rarely or never lonely after finding an opportunity to exercise regularly.
Carers who take part in some form of physical activity say that their mental wellbeing improves as a result.

Based on these findings, the Carers Active project has been set up to make physical activity achievable, accessible, and affordable for unpaid carers. A key part of the project is the Carers Active Hub and the Carers Active Facebook group, which are designed to help carers of all ages be more active and overcome some of the barriers to moving more. The Hub contains a range of advice and information about the options available for building more physical activity into life around a caring role.

The Hub includes the following:

Health information – key recommendations and how to get started
Activity ideas and sessions – inspiration and links to resources to help you find something you enjoy
Carers’ stories – carers share their experiences of getting active while caring
Expert advice – insight from health and social care professionals

You can access the Hub here.

You can join the Carers Active Facebook community here.