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Chain Reaction in Newcastle
Chain Reaction began as a pilot project in Newcastle to provide alternatives to traditional day opportunities for older adults aged 55 and over. It focuses on using existing community resources, developing new groups, and providing a personalized and member-led service to reduce social isolation. Key elements include one-on-one support, connecting members to activities in their community, and creating a network of natural support. The program has now expanded to work with additional organizations, roll out services across the city, and implement preventative support for more older adults.
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Chain Reaction in Newcastle
- 1. Chain Reaction Supporting healthier,happier lives for the over 55s
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- 3. How Chain Reactionbegan… • Recognition that the network model is transferrable to other vulnerable groups • Newcastle council wanted an alternative day opportunities offer for older people • A different way of doing things • KeyRing led the pilot project in two locations
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- 5. The focus ofthe pilot was to develop…. • An emphasis on using existing resources and increasing viability • New groups where gaps are identified • Alternatives to traditional day opportunities • A member led service with a focus on choice and control • A personalised service
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- 7. Three key elements •One to one personalised support • Connecting people to things in their community • Connecting people to other members and creating a network of natural support The ultimate aim of bringing these elements together is to…………
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- 9. How have wedone this? • Set up member-led groups for men and women • Introduced people to groups in their communities • Offered emotional support • Taken our time and not rushed people • Focused on the individual and what they want to do • Supported people at a time that suits them • Shared information within the team and identified opportunities for connecting individuals
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- 11. Where are wenow? • Working in partnership with 2 other organisations • Sharing skills and knowledge • Developing a new preventative level to the service • Rolling out Chain Reaction across the city • Working with a wider group of people aged 55 and over
- 12. Consistent messages… • Olderpeople, including those who need extra support, such as those living in care homes or sheltered housing and people who get home care, want to make choices about the support they get. • They want to participate in shaping the services they get and helping the organisations that provide support to have good quality services. • They want to be able to continue being part of their communities for as long as possible. This includes making a contribution as well as taking part in activities organised by other people. • They want to have different services and community opportunities available to them, so they can choose the combination that reflects their interests. • They want to be part of making choices and decisions that affect everyone in their community, not just be involved in issues that mostly affect older people. • They want other people to remember that they are part of the community, just like everyone else.
- 13. Contact us: Visit ourwebsite at; www.chainreaction-newcastle.co.uk Email us on; info@chainreaction-newcastle.co.uk Or call me; Catriona Hackney 07917 68658
Editor's Notes
- #2 I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you about Chain Reaction, which is one of the ways in which KeyRing are doing things differently…
- #4 In autumn 2012 I had been doing a mapping exercise with the council to identify clusters of new people who may want to use our service. What we came up with was evidence that there were groups of older people living within specific areas of communities who were showing up on the council radar as lonely, isolated, vulnerable and disconnected. Around this time, the council were planning to re address their whole offer for day opportunities for older people and as part of this, we were asked to lead a pilot project for older people, based on our network model and offering flexible support with a focus on community connections. As we all know, there is an urgent need to address social isolation as one of the main issues in the lives of many older people The council recognised that there was a need to do things differently; the older population is now ‘younger’ and people don’t always want to go to a day centre or a lunch club. We started out by developing networks in 2 locations in Newcastle and once we’d gained the trust of social workers and proven that we knew what we were doing referrals to the service started to come in quickly.
- #6 As part of the pilot process, and now as we carry on developing the service, there is a focus on using exisiting resources in the communities within which people live. The thinking behind this is that if we are utilising the community centres and clubs and bringing people we support to them, then the knock on effect is that they become more viable. They were also keen for us to set up new groups as we identified gaps and to again, utilise the community centres and other resources for these groups. As an organisation that works with people with learning disabilities, we were well placed to use our skills around concepts such a person centred planning and apply this to work with vulnerable older people. We ran the pilot for almost 2 years….it worked and the outcomes were recognised as positive by social workers, families and members alike
- #8 Over time we identified that there were 3 main elements to the service. And these have become the cornerstone to how we approach support for each person. Also, talk about what one to one support we offer.
- #10 Tell some stories about Mary who reaccessed her church/ Betty and Diane/ Rita not going out then flying to america/ the mens and women’s groups; Accessing normal things like parks and musems in small groups/ women wanting to go to court/
- #13 I’d like to finish by having a look at the consistent messages that the ‘we’re here too’ events found during winter last year. I hope that the Chain Reaction project is able to meet these to some degree and I’d like to thank you for listening to us today.