People living with dementia and their unpaid carers at the heart of new National Policy and Practice Forum

For many people in Scotland living with dementia and their unpaid carers, a one-size-fits-all approach to their care does not always take into account the vital aspects of their everyday life and well-being.

This needs to change.

Thanks to a ground-breaking investment of £2.5 million from the Life Changes Trust, Age Scotland, the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University to deliver two bold new initiatives; a National Forum for Dementia Policy and Practice and a School of Leadership in Dementia.  Both projects will support people with dementia and carers to become experts, leaders and influencers in Scotland.

Our joint mission is a Scotland where having dementia doesn’t matter to who someone is or how they live their life.

People affected by dementia and their unpaid carers will be at the heart of this work. They are the real experts and are on every street in Scotland. Together we will identify and demonstrate what works in terms of human rights, peer support, early intervention, prevention and a relationship-centred approach to care.

We will listen to them and respect their experience so they know they are valued.

Scotland has already led the way with its three National Dementia Strategies. The creation of the National Forum will bring together people with experience and expertise in dementia, locally and nationally, with the aim of evidencing what will create better lives for people with dementia and unpaid carers. The Forum will provide space to scrutinise policy and practice in many areas, including housing and dementia, sport and dementia, the arts and dementia, and human rights and dementia.

We are incredibly proud that so many wonderful organisations are partnering with us to deliver this ground-breaking Policy and Practice Forum.

We will promote evidence of what works well so that national and local policy and practice can be reviewed and, where necessary, adjusted. This is so that Scotland can become an exemplar of how, in all aspects of life, people with dementia can find meaning, be fully supported and involved.

The Forum will work hard to ensure that policy makers, service providers and the public know what matters to people affected by dementia and use the evidence we produce to show how to make Scotland a better place to live.

We’re hugely proud and excited about what can be achieved for people affected by dementia and their unpaid carers.

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The founding partners of the National Forum for Dementia Policy and Practice are: Go Upstream, Luminate, Deaf Scotland, Ash Scotland, Paths for All, Heriot Watt University, Tide, Reach Community Health Project, Solicitors for Older People Scotland, Kirrie Connections, Faith in Older People Scotland, Eric Liddell Centre, Care and Repair Scotland, Age Scotland Orkney and the Mental Health Foundation.

Help Age Scotland become Edinburgh Airport’s chosen Charity for 2019!

We have some very exciting news – Age Scotland has been shortlisted to be Edinburgh Airport’s chosen charity for 2019!

If Age Scotland wins this partnership, funds raised by Edinburgh Airport will enable us to significantly develop our Community Connecting service, which works to draw older people from the isolation of their homes.  The service typically offers support and encouragement to older people who’ve lost a sense of purpose and social interaction since retiring, or through bereavement – helping them to take small steps initially to re-engage with others in their community, improving wellbeing.  We match individuals to activities based on their needs and preferences, facilitate introductions, and provide encouragement until their confidence grows. This important service helps individuals integrate back into their local community which significantly reduces feelings of loneliness and social isolation.

The partnership would also help us to raise awareness of Age Scotland as an organisation and the range of support we offer over 50s across Scotland. Our mission is to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow older. From our Independent Living Programme to the Age Scotland Helpline, from dedicated Early Stage Dementia and Older Veterans projects to our work with employers to create Age Inclusive Workplaces, we are doing a lot but with this partnership, we can do so much more.

Between now and the 10^th of December Edinburgh Airport staff are being asked to vote for the charity they want to support during 2019 – and the charity with the most votes wins. This is a fantastic opportunity for Age Scotland as an organisation and we need your help to win.

It’s really easy.

Work for Edinburgh Airport? Please consider voting for Age Scotland.

Know someone who works for Edinburgh Airport? Encourage them to vote for Age Scotland.

No connection to the airport? You can still help! By sharing our social media posts across your network you can help spread the word about this fantastic opportunity. We’ll be working to gather support across Twitter, Facebook and Linkedinso please keep a look out.

Thank you for your support!

Banks should think again about closing branches

The theme from Sandra White MSP’s debate yesterday in the Scottish Parliament about the latest round of closures, this time from the Bank of Scotland was clear. MSPs, and the public, are getting fed up of closures and feel that banks don’t really care about the needs of all their customers.

Bank branches across Scotland have been closing at an alarming rate. In the last seven years, the number of bank branches in Scotland has reduced by a third. While many people now do their banking online, it’s too easy for banks to forget that not everyone uses the internet or feels confident banking online.

Indeed, 37% of people over the age of 60 in Scotland do not use the internet – the equivalent to the size of Edinburgh’s population at 500,000. This is hardly an insubstantial number of people.

In pushing ahead with branch closures and the relentless push to digital services, banks are at risk of alienating a huge chunk of the Scottish population – not just older people.

Older people tell us that bank branches are important to them. It came through loud and clear at a town hall event Age Scotland ran with the Bank of England earlier in the year.

They tell us that they prefer having a face-to-face conversation about their finances with a real person. And as older people are more likely to be targeted for scams, they feel that having the ability to speak to someone and show them what their concerns are is important. It’s also a way to ensure that banks are fully aware of all attempts of fraud and scams affecting their customers.

People shouldn’t be disadvantaged for making the choice to bank offline.

One caller to the Age Scotland Helpline told us that after forgetting her account password, a telephone advisor told her she would have to “pop in” to her nearest branch. The only problem was that she lived in rural Perthshire and the closest one involved a journey of almost two hours on two different buses

Not only do we have a rapidly ageing population in Scotland, the number of people living with dementia is also predicted to rise by 50% in the next 20 years. It can be hard for those living with dementia, and have control of their own financial affairs, to use tele and digital services, remember passwords and follow these conversations on the phone. Moreover, for those with hearing or sight loss a lack of access to a branch can be very difficult indeed.

Creating age-friendly banking support is vital to future-proofing Scotland. You can read more about age-friendly banking here – Age UK’s Age Friendly Banking Report

It’s important for banks to look for innovative solutions and not just take the easy route of closures. Crucially, when making decisions impacting the access to services, banks should ask their customers what they need and about the challenges they face.

We believe that banks should be bolder and think differently about how they offer face to face services to customers when they are considering closing branches. Shared banking hubs for smaller communities, suburbs and rural areas is gathering support from older people and politicians across Scotland. This also includes shared brand mobile branches that have reliable telecommunications, are designed appropriately for all customers including those with disabilities and all weathers and are open for a sufficient amount of time at each location to support people with limit mobility.

The Bank of Scotland could prove people wrong and think again before pressing ahead with these closures.

The Veterans’ Guide to Later Life in Scotland – out now

As we near UK Armed Forces Day (30 June) Age Scotland has launched a free advice guide for older veterans.

The Veterans’ Guide to Later Life in Scotland offers veterans a route map to embracing opportunities and overcoming challenges that later life can bring.  It’s available to download, and postal copies can be requested from the Age Scotland Helpline 0800 12 44 222 or by emailing publications@agescotland.org.uk.  Here’s a flavour of what it offers older veterans, their families and professionals working with and for them.

Being treated fairly

Did you know that each council and health board in Scotland has signed a promise to every veteran?  Known as the Armed Forces Covenant this says you “should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens” and that “special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and bereaved.”

Keeping well

Did you know that veterans are entitled to priority NHS treatment for health problems caused or made worse by military service? That means they should be seen more quickly than someone on the same waiting list who has the same level of clinical need.  There are NHS Veterans Champions you can speak to if you feel this hasn’t happened.

Care

When someone needs to move to a care home their social work department can carry out a financial assessment to see how much financial help they qualify for.  Did you know that if they are a veteran receiving War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments, these payments won’t be counted as income in the financial assessment?  This means they may be eligible for more funding.

Housing

Did you know that specialist housing for veterans is provided by a number of charitable organisations in Scotland – from single rooms to adapted family homes?  The guide includes a list of providers you can apply for housing with.

Money matters

The guide introduces the main benefits relevant to older veterans.  Benefits rules are complex and the guide will not give you all the answers.  It will however help you to ask the right questions, which you can then put to the Age Scotland Helpline 0800 12 44 222.  In the first half of 2018, the helpline identified around £25,000 of unclaimed benefits for our veteran callers and their dependents.

Out and about

Did you know that veterans and their families can get discounts for many goods and services through the Defence Discount Service, the official MOD discount service for the UK’s armed forces and veterans?

Download the guide here or get a copy posted out for free by calling the Age Scotland Helpline 0800 12 44 222 or by emailing publications@agescotland.org.uk.

Haud the bus!

Age Scotland’s Policy Engagement and Campaigns Officer, Simon Ritchie, is working with Transport Scotland to gather the views of older people on all things transport. This research is taking place via a series of Age Scotland Network Meetings right across Scotland in two phases – Spring and Autumn 2018.  Transport Scotland is reviewing the National Transport Strategy, first published in 2006, to ensure it meets the needs of society now and for the next twenty years.  

On Saturday 24th March I travelled across the country to Helensburgh on the Eastern shore of the sparkling Gare Loch. I was on my way to a meeting of Grey Matters, a local Age Scotland Member group for older people which works to connect them with their community and ensure they have an enjoyable and fulfilling life. I was joined by my Community Development Team colleague, Charlie Murphy, as well as Daniel Lafferty and Jonathan Inglis from Transport Scotland.  They wanted to hear from the group members about their experiences and perspectives on public transport – feedback which will directly shape the revised National Transport Strategy for the next twenty years.

Scotland’s original National Transport Strategy was published in 2006. It had five main objectives:

1. To promote economic growth
2. To promise social inclusion
3. To protect the environment and improve health
4. Make journeys safer
5. Improve integration in timetables and ticketing.

These objectives were to lead to three strategic outcomes: 1) improved journey times and connections, 2) reduced emissions and 3) improved quality, accessibility and affordability of public transport.

While its objectives remain every bit as relevant today as they were in 2006, it’s fair to say the world has changed considerably in twelve years, not least in terms of technology, and Scottish Ministers have decided that the time to shape a new National Transport Strategy is now.

Since 2016, Transport Scotland have been working with stakeholders to produce a loose framework for a revised NTS, or “NTS2” as it is referred to. 2018 will be the year that flesh is put onto the bones and that’s where our Age Scotland Network Meetings come in – we will be facilitating these presentations and collecting feedback from 18 Network Meetings right across Scotland this Spring and Autumn.

Helensburgh was the first of these meetings. Daniel and Jonny kicked the meeting off with a presentation in which they gave an overview of Scotland’s transport system over the past 60 years. This helped to contextualise our current transport system and also showed how rapidly things can change.

Up next were questions for discussion. Group members were asked to share and discuss their views on questions such as “Why do we think transport is a vital issue for older people?” and “what do older people need from our transport system over the next 20 years? 

There was no shortage of constructive opinions and suggestions from the floor. Matters which were discussed included stop-skipping on our railways, limited evening bus service provision, dangerous accelerating and braking on buses, connections to hospitals and disabled access on trains and buses.

Age Scotland is grateful to Transport Scotland for working with us to ensure that the voices of older people are listened to in shaping NTS2. We are also grateful to our Member Groups for allowing us the time in their meetings to discuss NTS2. Our first Meeting on 24th of March was a resounding success and we hope for a great turnout and engagement at forthcoming meetings around the country.

Working with Transport Scotland and most importantly of all, the older people in our Member Groups, we at Age Scotland are looking forward to playing our part in Scotland’s National Transport Strategy is the best it possibly can be for people of all ages – including older people who deserve an enjoyable, mobile and well-connected later life.

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For more information please contact Simon Ritchie – Policy Engagement & Campaigns Officer at Age Scotland on 0131 668 8047 or email communications@agescotland.org.uk

 

A New Future for Social Security – Age Scotland submission

Age Scotland has put forward an wide-ranging submission to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the future for social security in Scotland.

The charity endorses the basic principle that social security should be seen as an investment in the people of Scotland and in strengthening our social fabric.  We propose models which should exhibit trust in people and respect for their dignity.

We advocate an end to rules which are probably discriminatory based on age – such as the lack of a mobility component for attendance allowance, unlike other disability benefits – and we support the principle that universal winter fuel payments are the most effective means of reaching those most in need of support.

The submission is extensive, comprising some 56 pages, although the consultation paper was over 140 pages long and posed over 170 questions.  It is the most detailed policy submission which the charity or its predecessors have ever compiled.

The submission gives the charity’s perspective on a wide range of specific benefits affecting older people which are being devolved (including disability and carer’s benefits, funeral payments, and winter fuel payments).

It also deals with a series of administrative matters on how eligibility should be worked out, how benefits should be paid, and the overarching principles and intended outcomes which should be a focus for the new system.

Another important aspect is ensuring that the new devolved system works well with the other benefits which will remain reserved to the UK Parliament and Government, and administered by the DWP, JobCentres and the Pension Service.  Clearly it is important for there to be no disruption to payments on which vulnerable people depend, either as the responsibility is transferred or as changes the Scottish Government intends to make are implemented.

The response was informed by the views and experiences of older people themselves, which we gathered at eight distinct consultation events around the country, and also the expertise of our policy staff and helpline advisors, who regularly support older people with benefits concerns and queries.  We aim to use this invaluable information in our further discussions with Government Ministers and officials as the policies take shape and legislation is prepared to give effect to them.

Download our submission

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Please feel free to share any views you have by emailing policycomms@agescotland.org.uk

Quality of Life on the Isle of Shapinsay

Toni Giugliano, Age Scotland’s Policy Engagement & Campaign Officer, recently headed to Orkney as part of his work around quality of life in later life in partnership with Stirling University. 

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Earlier this month the Quality of Life Project took me to Shapinsay in Orkney. It was a unique opportunity to gather the views of older people about what makes a good life in later years in a rural and remote part of the country.

I was humbled by the extremely warm welcome I received by the organisers and participants. I was picked up from the ferry terminal in the community electric car and whisked along to the “Boathouse” – a fantastic community space where we were protected from the ultra-strong winds (which locals told me were not, in fact, that strong at all!).

In total, eight residents took part in the discussions, which explored several themes, including health and wellbeing, the importance of a close-knit community, relationships, care, transport, personal independence and the role of older people in society.

Below are some statements that came out of the discussions:

“Befriending services are a lifeline – even if you have a close family, often you feel like you don’t want to impose on them. You want to be independent, and a befriender won’t pass judgement.”

“Pass times are so important once you reach a certain age – they give you a focus, a purpose in life, a reason to be on this world.”

“As you become older, you enter a different category. You are likely to become slightly invisible.”

“Many people who once had a social status during their working life tend to lose it once they reach a certain age.”

“Older people still have a lot to contribute to society.”

“There should be incentives for volunteers to take on home care visits and spend some time chatting to people. The home visits you get only last 15 minutes – it’s just not enough. You want to get to know a person and have a chat with them. With the current system they just don’t have enough time to do that.”

“The cost of the ferry is too much; it’s not affordable. Other islands (local authorities) get a better deal”.

“We’ve had to fight hard on this island for the services we have. We need to stay on the ball and continue to do that if we want to keep them.”

It was particularly interesting to hear about the work of the Shapinsay Development Trust and the activities and services it runs to improve the lives of people on the island, including social activities to combat loneliness and isolation. The Sew Shapinsay project, for example, is a great social activity bringing many people together.

The Shapinsay focus group discussion, like all other focus groups that have taken place across the country, will soon be analysed by our researcher teams (who themselves are older people). The project seeks to: (i) explore what older people believe the essence of a good life is; and (ii) lobby decision makers to improve policies that support older people as they age.

Whilst in Orkney I took the opportunity to visit the Age Scotland office in Kirkwall to discuss the Scottish Government’s Social Security Consultation and how the proposed changes are likely to impact older people. We received a number of responses which helped shape our submission. For more information on this, see the relevant pages of our website.

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The Quality of Life Project is funded by the Life Changes Trust. To find out more about the project, visit our website.

Scottish Walking Football Network kick offs

Walking football is a variant of traditional football aimed at keeping people aged 50+ involved with the sport if, due to a lack of mobility or for other reason, they are not able to play the traditional game. Yesterday saw the launch of Scotland’s first national Walking Football Network.

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What is Walking Football?

Although it might not sound too energetic, Walking Football is an action packed game of football – just with no running or slide tackles. And if you run, you concede a free kick to the other side!

Walking Football is taking off with clubs across Scotland and is proving to be a popular way of staying involved with the sport. As well as allowing people to keep playing a sport they love, Walking Football is a great way to keep fit and active, socialise and has been shown to improve mental health and wellbeing.

The launch of the Walking Football Network

Age Scotland are working with Paths for All, Scottish Association for Mental Health, Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League Trust to form the Walking Football Network in Scotland. Our role, alongside our partner organisations, will be to support and enable the development of the game across Scotland.

The Walking Football Network was officially launched yesterday at the Toryglen Regional Football Centre in Glasgow. The event, was attended by well known faces such as Chick Young (BBC Scotland), Jamie Hepburn (MSP), Humza Yousaf (MSP) and Ken Macintosh (MSP). It was kicked off by Archie MacPherson, the ‘voice’ of Scottish football and former Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith.

Chic Charnley, Gordon Smith, Archie MacPherson and Ally Dawson at the launch of the Walking Football Network (Photo credit: Sky sports)

Age Scotland’s Chief Executive Brian Sloan said “Age Scotland are delighted to be a partner of the Walking Football Network and the launch yesterday was really enjoyable. Walking Football is a great way for people to keep involved in or rediscover the sport, but it really is more than just playing football.

Beyond being more physically active those taking part are able to socialise and make new friends, which helps to reduce social isolation and improve mental health and wellbeing. It’s a wonderful initiative to be a part of and we look forward to seeing more clubs developing across Scotland.”

Age Scotland’s Chief Exec Brian Sloan and Veteran Scottish football commentator Archie MacPherson on the field. Photo credit: Sky Sports

Craig Brown, former Scotland manager encouraged everyone to give it a try “And for those who haven’t played for a number of years, what are you waiting for? Get those boots on and start scoring a few goals!” (read the full story about the launch at Sky Sports News.)

Interested?

If you would like to get involved in Walking Football, just search for your local club or contact Billy Singh, Walking Football Development Officer by email or call 01259 218888.