New Preventative Services For Highland's Elderly

18th October 2012

The Highland Council has published proposals, which will be considered on Thursday (25 October), to fulfil one of the key commitments in its programme - to invest an additional £1million in new preventative services for Highland's elderly.

Preventative services involve early intervention, to promote the long-term physical, social, and emotional well-being of people and communities. Preventative services for older people, are designed to support them to be fit and healthy, living in their own homes and communities.

This preventative approach is critical, as the number of older people in Highland is due to double over the next twenty years. It will ensure that public resources provide value for money, and also deliver care that better meets the needs of our growing, older population.

The proposals are a result of the new integrated partnership with NHS Highland, who will deliver many of these new services. They involve:

Integrated early intervention posts in fieldwork teams
Eight new staff in NHS Highland's integrated service for adults, to support early intervention with older people, when they first experience difficulties.

Falls prevention
Falls by older people lead to significant numbers being received into hospital via accident and emergency services. Many of the most vulnerable older people, likely to be prone to falls, live in care homes or receive care at home, and there will be additional support for this group of people.

Community 'wellbeing' services
An increasing number of community-run services, are providing important hubs for social interaction and personal support in towns and villages across Highland. Four Community Development Officers will support community groups to develop more of these services.

Reablement care at home
Evidence shows that timely interventions of care at home care re-ablement, focusing on skills for daily living, can enable people to live more independently and reduce their dependence on formal services.

Leisure and learning for older people
Leisure and learning activities can have a major positive impact for older people, improving their health, keeping minds active, and providing opportunities to meet new people. These will include: sports, exercise programmes, aerobics and dance, outdoor activities and adult learning classes - all tailored to be suitable for older people.

It is intended that these new services will achieve a number of positive outcomes for older people, including:

• On average, people who are received into residential or nursing care, will be older.
• There will be a reduction in the number of A&E admissions as a result of falls.
• If older people need to be in hospital, it will be for shorter periods of time.
• There will be increasing number of people receiving care at home reablement services, including in the evenings and at weekends.
• There will be an increased number of activities for older people in local communities.

Councillor Alasdair Christie, Chair of the Adult & Children's Services Committee, said: "As made clear in national and local policy, there must be a shift towards services which offer real opportunities to help people become more independent, both in the way they live their lives and how flexibly they can use services. Highland is in the forefront of this activity, by committing significant new funding to these important activities."

Councillor Drew Hendry, Leader of the Council, said: "This is the approach that older people tell us they want, in all of our consultation exercises. They say they want to be supported to stay in their own homes, for as long as possible. They want to have services that help them stay fit, healthy and safe in their own communities.

"This also makes good professional and financial sense, as it allows us to support more people for longer. It enables us to delay or - for some people - prevent the need for admission to more costly residential care."

The meeting of The Highland Council on 13 December will consider further proposals for £2m preventative spend in early years services and for those struggling with deprivation.