Context

Older people receiving care and support aspire to more from life than Bingo and help with the basics of living. Like all of us, they need hope, freedom, fun, achievement and a sense of belonging to give their lives substance and meaning.

Social and emotional fulfilment for older people expresses itself in any number of ways – seeing or hearing from grandchildren regularly, learning to use the Internet, making new friends by taking up new hobbies, making a trip in a hot air balloon, etc. It stems from giving older people the chance to describe themselves as a whole person, not as a problem or ailment, and then using this insight and understanding to shape a suggestion, intervention or service.

This practice-orientated conference will set out a new direction for work with older people, making personalisation a reality in sheltered and supported housing, residential care and extra care settings, and providing service managers with motivation and inspiration for:

• Developing a more person-centred environment and culture
• Getting to know residents, their memories, identities and desires
• Identifying new practical ideas for services, improvements and enhancements
• Boosting the morale of front-line staff and seeing them as the source of insight and added value

Join us at this ground-breaking conference; come away with an action plan to enhance the lives of older people receiving care and support and to make your service stand out from the crowd. Booking form here.

Programme Contributors

INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION FOR MANAGERS

• Gerard Lemos, author of Steadying the Ladder: social and emotional aspirations of homeless and vulnerable people presenting a new framework for enhancing the quality of life in care and support settings and identifying key questions to ask older people to find out about their memories, identities and desires
• Henry Stewart, Chief Executive of Happy, voted best in the UK for health and well-being in the 2009 Great Place to Work Awards, on inspirational leadership for innovation and empowering staff to develop new ideas and approaches
• June Burgess, Regional Co-ordinator at the Eden Alternative, on introducing variety and spontaneity into care and support for people in care homes and for people receiving care at home, applying the 10 principles of the Eden philosophy. See June on You Tube.
• Les Clarke, Director of Strategy and Service Development, Housing 21, one of the largest providers of care, health and housing for older people, reflecting on what older people really want from care and support, and what it takes to deliver personalisation at scale.
• Marion Janner, Director of Bright, on ideas for services for older people based on the Star Wards initiative that discovers and shares good ideas to improve the social and emotional well-being on mental health inpatients.

GREAT IDEAS FOR SERVICES

• Flourish Home’s ‘Sheltered Housing Olympics’, competitions from darts to poetry inspiring engagement and achievement.
• Community Networks’ project to connect retired sea-farers through a telephone support group
• RCT Homes’ Green and Active Project, the inter-generational ‘verse on the street’ initiative a theatre project addressing the problem of door-step lending
• Citadel Arts Group’s reminiscence sessions to develop new playwriting based on the memories of elderly people living in residential homes
• Silver Song Clubs using popular songs to evoke memories, getting older people to meet new people and build a community through music
• Midland Heart’s Magic Moments initiative that makes older resident’s dreams come true by taking them abseiling, bungee jumping and on helicopter flights
• PLUS winners and runners-up of the Bloom Awards for Life-enhancing Services for Older People. £1,500 to be won!

What you’ll get from the day

1. A new framework and philosophy for designing and delivering life-enhancing services and interventions for older people
2. Ideas and examples from inspirational practitioners working in different settings
3. Insight into older people’s social and emotional aspirations and what they really value in life
4. Tools and approaches for front-line staff to make their work more person-centred
5. Networking opportunities with leading practitioners from across the country representing a range of agencies working with older people

Who should attend?

Directors, service managers and team leaders from local authorities, housing associations, ALMOs and private sector organisations delivering services for older people in:

• Sheltered and very sheltered housing
• Retirement housing
• Supported housing
• Care homes
• Extracare settings
• Independent living
• Floating support and support at home
• Day centres

Commissioners of services for older people from:

• Supporting People teams
• Local authority adult social care teams
• Primary Care Trusts.

Programme