The Richmond Fellowship Scotland

Success of Older People Services shared at International Dementia Conference

The Richmond Fellowship Scotland offered a presentation at the Northern Ireland International Dementia Conference ‘Embracing the Challenge: Citizenship and Dementia’ on 8 May 2008. The presentation, delivered in partnership by Nancy Keenan, Area Manager, and Sylvia Hamill, Commissioning Officer with Glasgow City Council, was on the topic of ‘Choosing to remain at home: the impact of 24 hour supported living services’. It offered the views and experiences of three individuals with Dementia supported by the Glasgow Older People Services and their families through the use of Digital Stories. Many commented on how powerful these stories were in supporting the presentation.
(The digital stories will be available shortly)

The Glasgow Older People Services provide support to 72 individuals who have been assessed as requiring a residential level of support. These services are an alternative to residential care, allowing individuals the choice to stay at home, with support, for as long as possible. Each individual can receive 30 hours of support based on their individual needs and wishes.

Sylvia set the context for the development and commissioning of the Glasgow Older Peoples Services and explained how these were the first of their kind within Scotland. She also emphasised the level of positive partnership working which has enhanced these services (involving housing associations, other service providers, health professionals, local communities, etc.).

Nancy explored the outcomes achieved with and for individuals with dementia through the provision of this flexible service and the use of assistive technology based on each individual’s assessed need and level of identified risk. The outcomes were assessed through the use of the UDSET (User Defined Service Evaluation Toolkit) developed by the Joint Improvement Team in Scotland. Outcomes for the individuals we support included:

• Feeling safe – 82% of older people with dementia state that they always feel safe due to the provision of the support offered by the service
• Having things to do and contact with other people – through the support and opportunities offered, 75% of those supported feel more connected with their local community
• Staying as well as you can be – 86% of people have experienced better health or have been supported to maintain their health through the support of the service

It is clear from these positive outcomes that our services are delivering on key quality of life outcomes for individuals. Having the choice to remain at home and remain an active citizen in the local community is an important aspect of life to us all. We recognised in our presentation that these services ensure that Older People continue to have these opportunities where possible.

The presentation was well received by the audience and we hope that this model of support will be adopted across the country to provide these opportunities and outcomes to those who would benefit from it.