Making Change Happen
As part of our work with Sandwell & West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, we have recently completed a project with national organisation, iMPOWER, which required the thoughts and views of older people.
iMPOWER’s research – conducted over a 6 month period - included a survey of over 600 GPs, 40 interviews with leaders and managers in the care and health services as well as a survey of 200 older people and three filmed focus groups with older people.
It was seeking to address two connected challenges: 1. The increasing dependency on acute settings and urgent care, particularly for older people and 2. The positive agenda to integrate care in home and community settings.
Currently, patients over 65 account for 80 per cent of emergency hospital admissions lasting over two weeks. There is a general consensus that up to half of acute hospital admissions for older people could be avoided or the length of stay shortened.
iMPOWER's research with older people looked into their values and motivations to see how these affect the way they engage with health and social care services.
Agewell carried out 200 telephone surveys with people aged 55 to 86 and over. Everyone was asked some general questions about their attitudes and understanding of health services as well as a ‘values questionnaire’.
We also arranged for three focus groups of eight people to meet at The Public in West Bromwich. Each group was filmed discussing the options for accessing health and care services and sharing their experiences.
“Agewell has contributed hugely to our research findings and have been essential to the progression of this important project,” says iMPOWER’s Grace Warman. “Within a week they had called over 200 people and were only too willing to play a large role in organising the focus groups.Their extremely enthusiastic, friendly and hard working attitude has made them a pleasure to work with and we couldn’t be happier with what they have produced for us.”
A white paper entitled ‘ A Question of Behaviours’ has now been produced by iMPOWER and concludes that delivering care integration and managing acute demand depends as much on changing behaviour as new systems and structures. You can read the full report here: http://www.impower.co.uk/en/a-question-of-behaviours-the-latest-report-from-impower-453.html
If you need to consult with older people, we are the organisation to speak to! Our broad range of consultation and engagement activity never stops. To find out more, call us on 0121 796 9333 or contact us here.