My last two blogs (part one and part two) both highlighted examples of what happens for some people in social care when the different organisations delivering their care fail to communicate properly. Whilst visiting one of our sheltered schemes last week I saw and heard first hand the impact of this. One of the recurring themes running through the stories was that the contribution of the housing provider went unheard or ignored.
Part of me thinks that this is because all too often we can be seen as "just the landlord" who is only interested in carrying out repairs and ensuring people pay the rent. I suspect it’s this “bricks and mortar” stereotyping that means fellow professionals can miss what we can offer. Consequently, this week I thought I would let you know about some the things that housing associations do that make me believe that we have something tangible to offer in the realm of social care.
We are developing our independent living offer in Trafford. Though a range of services we can help meet a real diversity of needs for our customers. Our sheltered scheme managers are the eyes and ears of the organisation. Several of them have care or nursing backgrounds and the majority have lived and worked in the local community for many years. Through day-to-day long-term contact with older people, and with the benefit of well-developed observational skills they are ideally placed to spot changes in their residents and prompt them to contact health and care professionals when appropriate.
They play an active part in supporting residents when they experience a change in their circumstances and, subsequently, their needs change. They can help people settle into the scheme and local community. Scheme managers can be a conduit to connect residents with the local community and vice versa. The diversity of activities and events provide a range of benefits for those that take part and can help combat isolation, depression as well as building skills in the local community. There is a popular misconception that activities in sheltered schemes are all about cake and bingo, however the reality is somewhat different. With our links to Trafford Leisure Trust we run exercise classes, we promote inter-generational activities though links to schools – for instance, one of our schemes hosts a weekly youth club.
One service we provide that really makes a tangible difference to people's lives is TrustCall. We are the main provider of telecare in Trafford. Staff at TrustCall are often the first person someone contacts in an emergency. We answer over 11,000 calls and send out an emergency response to 100 people each month. Very often telecare is used to facilitate a discharge from hospital and the monitoring and responses we provide help maintain the independence of people with dementia, stroke victims, diabetes and a range of other disabilities. Every day my staff are out in our neighbourhoods responding to a variety of needs of older and vulnerable people.
What else do we do that brings us into the world of health and social care? Well, we also employ a qualified occupational therapist. Not only can she assess what adaptations our residents might need she is a great help when we are looking to develop new or existing buildings and can ensure that we address the needs of people with disabilities. The assessments she carries out are used by our asset team to install adaptations that help to keep people independent. Put this together with our contract to fit minor adaptations such a grab rails, lever taps and you get the picture of an organisation at the front line delivering low-level preventative and responsive services for vulnerable people that help keep them independent. And this is before I've even talked about some of the health promotion work of our youth team or the work supported though community panels.
Despite protesting that we're not just about bricks and mortar, it’s not surprising that as a landlord our contribution is also about the buildings that people call home. The positive impact on someone’s wellbeing of a warm, accessible, secure and well-maintained home cannot be overstated. However our buildings have the scope to offer more. With a range of communal facilities including lounges, kitchens, offices and laundries there is scope for us to work more closely to develop real community-based services such as mini GP surgeries, a base for community matrons, a meeting point for local carers, treatment rooms for chiropody, physiotherapy, hairdressing and beauty treatments. All of our schemes provide access to the internet to help combat digital exclusion amongst older people.
This isn't supposed to read like a list of achievements - although I am proud of the work that we do - it's more to show that these are just some of the examples from a housing association that qualifies us to be an equal partner in conversations about health and social care in our neighbourhoods. Our services are not immune to the current crisis affecting social care funding, however the opportunity to create a hub for neighbourhood-based care for a range of partners is still there. I'd love to hear about other ways that housing associations are getting involved in social care and in my next blog I will offer some thoughts on how we might jointly respond to the challenges we are all facing.
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| TrustCall is one way we make a positive contribition to social care |
We are developing our independent living offer in Trafford. Though a range of services we can help meet a real diversity of needs for our customers. Our sheltered scheme managers are the eyes and ears of the organisation. Several of them have care or nursing backgrounds and the majority have lived and worked in the local community for many years. Through day-to-day long-term contact with older people, and with the benefit of well-developed observational skills they are ideally placed to spot changes in their residents and prompt them to contact health and care professionals when appropriate.
They play an active part in supporting residents when they experience a change in their circumstances and, subsequently, their needs change. They can help people settle into the scheme and local community. Scheme managers can be a conduit to connect residents with the local community and vice versa. The diversity of activities and events provide a range of benefits for those that take part and can help combat isolation, depression as well as building skills in the local community. There is a popular misconception that activities in sheltered schemes are all about cake and bingo, however the reality is somewhat different. With our links to Trafford Leisure Trust we run exercise classes, we promote inter-generational activities though links to schools – for instance, one of our schemes hosts a weekly youth club.
One service we provide that really makes a tangible difference to people's lives is TrustCall. We are the main provider of telecare in Trafford. Staff at TrustCall are often the first person someone contacts in an emergency. We answer over 11,000 calls and send out an emergency response to 100 people each month. Very often telecare is used to facilitate a discharge from hospital and the monitoring and responses we provide help maintain the independence of people with dementia, stroke victims, diabetes and a range of other disabilities. Every day my staff are out in our neighbourhoods responding to a variety of needs of older and vulnerable people.
What else do we do that brings us into the world of health and social care? Well, we also employ a qualified occupational therapist. Not only can she assess what adaptations our residents might need she is a great help when we are looking to develop new or existing buildings and can ensure that we address the needs of people with disabilities. The assessments she carries out are used by our asset team to install adaptations that help to keep people independent. Put this together with our contract to fit minor adaptations such a grab rails, lever taps and you get the picture of an organisation at the front line delivering low-level preventative and responsive services for vulnerable people that help keep them independent. And this is before I've even talked about some of the health promotion work of our youth team or the work supported though community panels.
Despite protesting that we're not just about bricks and mortar, it’s not surprising that as a landlord our contribution is also about the buildings that people call home. The positive impact on someone’s wellbeing of a warm, accessible, secure and well-maintained home cannot be overstated. However our buildings have the scope to offer more. With a range of communal facilities including lounges, kitchens, offices and laundries there is scope for us to work more closely to develop real community-based services such as mini GP surgeries, a base for community matrons, a meeting point for local carers, treatment rooms for chiropody, physiotherapy, hairdressing and beauty treatments. All of our schemes provide access to the internet to help combat digital exclusion amongst older people.
This isn't supposed to read like a list of achievements - although I am proud of the work that we do - it's more to show that these are just some of the examples from a housing association that qualifies us to be an equal partner in conversations about health and social care in our neighbourhoods. Our services are not immune to the current crisis affecting social care funding, however the opportunity to create a hub for neighbourhood-based care for a range of partners is still there. I'd love to hear about other ways that housing associations are getting involved in social care and in my next blog I will offer some thoughts on how we might jointly respond to the challenges we are all facing.
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