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Our Services	How we work with communities
Research and Development	The role we play nationally

 

Our Services

Help and Care provides a number of services across Dorset, The Isle of Wight and Hampshire;

[Download our summary sheet about what we do where...]

Gateway

The Information Gateway is a single information point for anyone who has a query about anything that might affect an older person or a carer. By telephoning 0845 4500 418 a person can talk to one of our friendly team who can provide information, signpost to other services or send one of our 40 Factsheets.

Help and Care Carers Centre

Help and Care’s Carers Centre provides a number of carers support services across Dorset including;

• Carerslink – An information Helpline for carers of all ages
• A Carers Sitting Services (Poole and Dorset)
• Carers Outreach Workers
• Carers Support Groups
• Strollers Groups
• Carers Networks and
• Carers Events

Read our latest Carers Rights Day Report from Decemer 2006

Housing Support Services

Help and Care provides a number of services that provide housing support and home safety including;

• Home Improvements and Adaptations for people with Disabilities
• Grants and Loans (including WarmFront Grants)
• Handiworks, small repairs and gardening
• Finding a Trades person

Volunteering

Help and Care believes that the use and recruitment of volunteers is crucial in the development of active and healthy communities. It uses volunteers in providing all its services as well as recruiting a fabulous bank of very dedicated volunteers to provide a Volunteering Service to people in Poole who need that extra bit of help.

Advocacy and Support

Where some people find it difficult to navigate their own way through the complex world of health or social care; filling in forms, applying for the right benefits or simply having their say, Help and Care’s advocacy and support workers can help.

Befriending

A team of volunteers provide a telephone befriending service to particularly isolated older people. Each person receives a call every week for a chat and a check up on how they are. This is a very popular service and known to provide that life-line required to keep people feeling secure and knowing there is help at hand if needed.

Hospital Discharge Screening Service

Help and Care has a team of workers based within Royal Bournemouth Hospital and West Dorset General Hospital who make sure that any person when leaving hospital has all the support they need. They work mainly with those who do not require Social Services intervention but who nonetheless benefit from other help such as volunteer support, equipment, applications for benefits or information about community activities or support groups.

Support at Home Services

Currently all of the services that Help and Care provides are FREE. However we are developing a range of services that can be purchased on request. These might include;

• Moving Home Service – all the care and support you might need to make moving home stress free; including advice and support to make the right housing decisions
• Housing 300 – our gold star handiworks service for all your care and repair needs
• Independent Social Worker – a holistic and independent service that will assess all your needs and ensure you receive all the care or support you need

We would be interested in your views on these new services. Would you pay for the types of things we have described? Let us know what you think.

How we work with Communities

One of Help and Care’s priorities is in working with local communities and it does this in many ways. We believe that all people should be empowered to have their say and have the opportunity to get involved whatever their circumstances. We use community feedback ourselves to shape our own services but we also undertake consultation and community engagement on behalf of others. In addition we host or run community network groups and an on-line Older People’s Network.

Patient and Public Involvement Forums

The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health has a remit to ensure that the public is involved in decision making about health and the provision of health services by overseeing and promoting the new system of Patient and Public Involvement Forums. Help and Care hosts these forums in Bournemouth, Poole, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. [link to forums and groups content page]

Older People’s Strategy Groups

Help and Care host two groups of Older People who work with local public sector agencies, at a strategic level, in discussing issues and developing policy that affects them and their peers.

Older People’s Network

Help and Care has built up an on-line network of over 500 Older People who share their views on matters that affect them.

Community Leaders - Dorset Partnerships for Older People Project (POPP)

As part of the Dorset POPP Help and Care has employed 25 Older People as Community Leaders. These people are trained and supported to work with their local communities to tackle issues that affect them.

 

Research and Development

At Help and Care we believe in the need to always look to the future and therefore we invest time and energy in undertaking research and developing new services.

We work in partnership with the Older People’s Programme which is an independent research & development body working to improve services, opportunities and experiences for older people across the UK.

New Services that Help and Care are currently working on are;

• A range of new services for Older People on the Isle of Wight
• A range of new trading activities including Independent Social Work
• New opportunities to become a Health Provider as part of changes set out in ‘Commissioning a Patient Led NHS’

We have also published our own research including;

• Clearing the Hurdles - Barriers to Independent living faced by Older People in Bournemouth and how they can be overcome
  
  
• Lifting the Lid on Sexuality and Ageing - Gay and Grey in Dorset

The role we play nationally

As well as our work locally Help and Care also plays a part in influencing government policy to influence change for Older People and carers.

Mark Sharman, the Chief Executive;

• Advised on Audit Commission/BGOP series of reports “Promoting Independence and Wellbeing for Older People”
• Served on DTLR working group looking at older peoples services
• Involved in National Audit Office report into government strategies for older people
• One of the first Strategic Alliances of Better Government for Older People, advising development of Government strategies on age and older people
• Member of ODPM’s Foundations Management Board (the national co-ordinating body for Home Improvement Agencies)
• Led the development and piloting of the Care Direct model in Dorset, funded by Dept of Health, now being further developed through the White Paper, Opportunity Age. 
• DWP: Actively involved in the policy development of Third Age Services (now known as Link-Age)  
• Guest member of the Local Government Association’s Action Learning Set on Link Age
• ODPM: Member of the National Advisory Group for the implementation of Supporting People in the Home Improvement Agency Sector
• Member of the DoH’s National Strategic Partnership Forum (national forum for strengthening the role of and building capacity within the VCS to influence the work of the DoH, NHS and Social Care at all levels (nationally, regionally and locally) whilst improving the experiences of patients, service users and their carers
• Guest lecturer on the MPA module on Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Warwick University

At Help and Care we are always scanning for changes in policy, new publications or reports that affect the work that we do. These are links to some of the current policy documents that are influencing our work today;

• Our Health, Our Care, Our Say. This White Paper sets a new direction for the whole health and social care system. It confirms the vision set out in the Department of Health Green Paper, Independence, Well-being and Choice. There will be a radical and sustained shift in the way in which services are delivered, ensuring that they are more personalised and that they fit into people's busy lives. We will give people a stronger voice so that they are the major drivers of service improvement.
• Opportunity Age is the Government's strategy for an ageing society. The strategy aims to end the perception of older people as dependent; ensure that longer life is healthy and fulfilling; and that older people are full participants in society. It was first published in Opportunity Age: Meeting the challenges of ageing in the 21st century’ in March 2005.
• Report of the Third Sector Commissioning Taskforce. A report setting out the conclusions of the Third Sector Commissioning Task Force, set up to promote a sound commercial relationship between commissioners of health and social care services and the third sector as providers, and help remove barriers to entry for all potential providers of health and social care.
• Counsel and Care – A new vision for older people’s care and support. The Fit for the Future report sets out a range of practical measures that Government can implement in its 2007 spending review and calls for a national debate on a long-term strategy for better care and support for older people and how it is fairly funded
• A Sure Start for Later Life. This new report, A Sure Start to Later Life: Ending Inequalities for Older People, examines how to tackle exclusion in later life. The report sets out 30 agreed cross-government action points, which will be implemented to ensure that the needs of the most excluded older people are addressed.
• A multi-million pound package of support for carers was unveiled today by Ivan Lewis, minister for Care Services. Formally launching details of the Government's New Deal for Carers, Ivan Lewis announced a range of measures designed to recognise the essential work that carers carry out across the country.