Category Archives: Team

Cross-border Learning: Belgian and UK partners exchange experiences

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In early November, SIG‘s HAIRE team were delighted to welcome our Belgian partners Sofie Schepers and Katrien Serroyen who were visiting Cornwall from Laakdal. After a weekend of cultural and historical activities – taking in Guy Fawkes’ night and a tour of Falmouth’s Tudor castle, Pendennis – they spent a day exchanging experiences with Feock (one of our pilot sites) before travelling to East Sussex pilot sites and meeting our partners at Rother Voluntary Action and East Sussex County Council.

The East Sussex team were keen to give as broad a picture as possible of their locality and took our Belgian colleagues on a tour that took in the quaint beauty of Rye (cobbled streets and the fifteenth century Mermaid Inn), Tilling Green social housing estate, new housing in Winchelsea, and a relatively new community hub – The Hub on the Hill – which runs many classes and services for the community with an emphasis on older residents.

Katrien and Sofie are smiling, standing in front of Pendennis Castle in Falmouth, Cornwall

Katrien and Sofie at Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, Cornwall

The cultural exhange and sharing is important for Interreg2Seas funded projects. They promote cooperation between regions and countries to enhance economic and social development in our own countries and across borders. Our HAIRE 2Seas partners share the common challenge of supporting people to age well in rural areas, where loneliness and isolation and mobility problems are just some of the themes being tackled. Having had very few opportunities to meet due to restrictions brought about by the Covid pandemic, it was inspiring to share experiences and perspectives from nearly three years of HAIRE action and learning in our respective locations.

The HAIRE teams from East Sussex and Belgium are looking over a vista of housing and fields near Rye

Steve, Sue and Naomi from East Sussex taking the Belgians on a tour of their locality

At the initial meeting in Devoran, the village in Feock parish where the council offices are located, the difference between locations felt quite stark to our Belgian colleagues: Laakdal is a municipality with a population of around 16,000, whereas the population in Feock Parish numbers around 3,700. The larger East Sussex pilot sites felt more familar to the Belgian team. Yet one of the most difficult challenges for all locations has been reaching members of the community who may be in need, or may benefit from HAIRE’s activities, but who are almost “hidden.”

The extended HAIRE team pictured in the "warm space" at Feock parish council

The extended HAIRE team pictured in a community space at Feock parish council

However, as a result of the emphasis the HAIRE toolkit placed on listening to residents, the needs of the older population as a whole can be better taken into account. Now that HAIRE and its ethos of co-creation and listening is familiar to each department and area of responsibility, the views, opinions, needs and ideas of residents are being heard, and this has led to subtle changes in the system. Different methods to listen and co-create products and services have been introduced in all of our pilot sites to ensure their older residents are included in important decisions.

Feock now has an information and help line, originating out of the Covid pandemic, but which has become a staple of the parish. A legacy of HAIRE is that parish-based decisions take into account any impact on the older population in a way that they may not have been so obviously before. It is the same in Laakdal: the planning department, for example, is aware of the way its decisions impact the elderly – and they are now prepared to consult the HAIRE team for information about how they might best move forward with their works.

East Sussex partners have done an excellent job by instigating local and national design innovations after working with the RSA, the royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce (“committed to a world that is resilient, rebalanced and regenerative, where everyone can fulfil their potential.”) Their Hastings and Rother Ageing Network meets monthly to network with local organisations, groups and individuals with a focus on how they can work together to make Rother and Hastings healthy and supportive places to grow older in.

From a longer term, strategic standpoint, Feock has made the decision to work with partners to develop a formal age-friendly community as our partners in East Sussex have done. The Guided Conversations in pilot sites illustrated the multiple dimensions of ageing well, which prompted the need for a holistic system response, and the UK arm of the World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly Communities programme is well aligned with the aims of the HAIRE project.

As Katrien and Sofie pointed out, the pilot site comparisons were useful, showing commonalities and differences and making them reflect on what went well in their own communities – and how “HAIRE thinking” could be built into longer term planning.

“Feock felt very isolated in comparison to Laakdal. The lack of public transport, the lack of shops, the very rural environment, the huge amount of second homes … I would think that building the community would be very difficult. Yet they succeed to organise meetings where 80 people attend and they make the most of small things (the red phone booths made into small libraries). Well done Feock! Rye felt more like Laakdal. What stood out was that both pilot sites are much more in contact with the church. In Belgium the church doesn’t organise much and in our pilot site the church isn’t involved. What was also different is the health part. I think that in the UK the health partners and health “input” is bigger than in Belgium. In Laakdal it’s more community building and well being than health. What I think both pilot sites did very well is thinking about life after HAIRE right from the beginning of the project. I believe that that will make it possible to continue and embed HAIRE better.”

The Belgian team are pictured with people from Feock and the University of Exeter - and the HAIRE mascot, a Corgi called Treacle

The Belgian team with Feock and the University of Exeter – and the HAIRE mascot, Treacle

Kate’s Grand Tour Part 4: Farewell Belgium

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This last instalment of our PI Kate’s travel blog covers her last day in Belgium in April 2022, the final stop of a ‘grand tour’ in which Kate met members of the community through various meetings, lunches and gatherings. Sadly, the popular singer Kate mentions below – Juul Kabas – has since died unexpectedly. You can read a tribute to Juul here. 

On Wednesday it’s time to meet the Mayor of Laakdal, Tine Gielis, and Alderman Gerda Broeckx. Gerda has specific oversight of HAIRE and is keen to hear about progress and successes, of which there are many. We meet for lunch with a group of older people who gather regularly for a subsidised meal and conversation. The atmosphere is very convivial.

The Mayor, Alderman, Laakdal Team and I discuss the familiar issues of community engagement, encouraging younger volunteers and making sure that everyone’s voice is heard. We also explore how new models of service design and delivery can bring together the public sector and the local community groups and volunteers. I also meet Freddie, Laakdal’s Super Volunteer, who does a great deal in his community. He is part of HAIRE and has conducted several Guided Conversations. Stalwarts like Freddie can be found in every community, and are greatly valued.

My last day in Belgium sees me attending the Seniors’ Party, a twice-yearly event which, pre-Covid, used to attract 600 older people from the municipality for entertainment, drinks and a sandwich lunch. About 250 people attend this lunch, seated at long tables set out in a sports hall decorated with fairy lights around the walls. There is a stage, lighting and an impressive sound system. Alderman Gerda Broeckx makes a speech about HAIRE. The entertainment is provided by Juul Kabas who sings popular sing-along classics and gets everyone clapping. Freddie is also volunteering at this event and tells me that Juul was badly affected during lock down, unable to do shows. Juul signs off his set with the phrase “If you lose your smile, you lose your heart”. The Seniors’ Party was a model of community action, with everyone working hard to create a joyous atmosphere.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to East Sussex and Belgium. I met people who I have only previously met over Teams, and I relished seeing them in action at the various events I attended. Everyone worked hard to make me welcome, which I really appreciated. There’s amazing work going on in our pilot sites and I am really looking forward to a few more trips before the project ends in March 2023. A huge THANK YOU to everyone involved in planning and making this trip a reality.

Extending the HAIRE toolkit: Guided Conversations with In The Mix Project

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Over the past couple of months, a small team from the University of Exeter’s Social Innovation Group has been working on adapting HAIRE’s Guided Conversation tool for use in youth work. Two interns, Matilda Ferguson and Lewi Connor, have been involved in this process, and Matilda very kindly agreed to write a blog about it. Read on…

The HAIRE project aims to support older people in rural areas. One of the systems tested by the HAIRE project is Guided Conversations. These take the shape of a semi-structured discussion, prompted by images, general themes and talking points such as the local area, relationships, interests and community. Using the Guided Conversation tool, the HAIRE project has been able to explore the isolated situation of older people in rural areas, and identify their needs and desires. The Guided Conversations became not only part of a study into the rural isolation experienced by older people, but a tool for combatting it.

We have been working alongside In The Mix to explore implementing the Guided Conversations tool into youth work in rural areas. The In The Mix Project (ITMP) is based in the small town of Wiveliscombe, Taunton Deane. However, the charity provides youth and community services across Somerset. ITMP offers informal educational, activities and positive opportunities programmes to provide learning, skills and experiences, which supports young people’s personal, social, emotional and professional development, as well as boosting self-esteem and confidence. Their approach to youth work is flexible and based on issues and values prevalent to young people, their communities and their environment.

Image taken from In the Mix Project website

Working alongside the charity’s project manager John Hellier, we have tailored the prompts and structure of the HAIRE Guided Conversation to fit the focus of ITMP and context of youth work. Our version of the Guided Conversation covers three themes: place-based’, ‘people-centred’ and ‘empowerment’. We have also adapted the tool into a new format: an app. The app shows participants these themes, as well as some sub-topics, image prompts and radars which shows how positively they rate the topics discussed.

We hope that the Guided Conversations will help us to understand the situation of young people living in rural places in terms of the issues and relationships they have with their areas. This research will help youth work in rural areas to be responsive to young people’s needs. As well as this, we hope that like we have found in the HAIRE project, the Guided Conversations themselves will not just be research tools. The discussion provides opportunity for people to open up, share, connect and be heard. This itself will combat isolation and prompt discussion about solutions. The app also provides the opportunity for action through its ‘signposting’ feature, which will allow young people to find existing services to support them.

Over the last week, Lewi and Matilda went up to Exeter to meet with John to try it out. Our practice guided conversation lasted almost three hours and was a great way to understand how the tool would work in practice. After a few adjustments, the app is ready to be tested and we look forward to trying it out at ITMP sessions over the next couple of weeks.

Matilda Ferguson

Image taken from In The Mix Project website

 

 

 

 

Crossborder Recipes: The HAIRE Christmas Party 2021

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Season’s Greetings! After nearly two years of working together throughout the Covid pandemic, the team has still not managed to meet up in person since the project launch in early 2020. At the end of 2021, plans for our first face to face gathering were once again thwarted by the emergence of Omicron, but we are still finding ways to connect with each other on a personal level despite everything. To celebrate the season, the HAIRE team got together virtually to share their favourite family recipes from each of our four countries: the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Such was the response we decided to make our own HAIRE recipe book, featuring tasty dips and snacks, desserts and treats from across the 2Seas region. Below are a few highlights …bon appetit!

Kaat’s Appelbol (The Netherlands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAIRE is about “a good old age”: project progress in Laakdal

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Thanks to our colleagues in Laakdal for sending us a news article which was published after a large stakeholder event discussing the co-creation and prioritisation of local social innovations. Below is a translation into English of the article by Annelies Frederickx published on Wednesday 20th October, 2021. You can read the original article at source here.

The seniors of Laakdal debate four themes: mobility, leisure, caring for tomorrow and communication — © AF

Laakdal is the first municipality to undertake the European participation project HAIRE.

HAIRE’s pilot site in Laakdal involves a partnership between the local government and Welzijnszorg Kempen, an organisation specialising in the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable in society, including older people. In Laakdal, 28% of the population is senior, so the municipality is ideally suited to explore the possibilities of co-creation with older people. There is also interest from adjacent areas, Mol and Herselt, in working with HAIRE.

Katrien Serroyen of Welzijnszone Kempen takes an active part in the debate. — © AF

The first part of the started in September 2020 with a neighbourhood analysis (a mapping of resources with residents in the neighbourhood; see this earlier blog post for an overview of what this entailed in Feock, UK, one of our other pilot sites.) Volunteers were then recruited to carry out “Guided Conversations.” Sixteen volunteers set out from the community to interview 71 older people. The respondents were 60, 70, 80 and 90 years old and they lived all over Laakdal. The Guided Conversations contain place- and person-related questions, as well as a section on personal empowerment. The results yielded a long list of more than a hundred action points. In consultation with the municipal council, the project team has filtered four priorities from this: mobility, leisure, care for tomorrow (dementia and early care planning) and communication. The older people surveyed all expressed the wish to rename the HAIRE project ‘A good old age in Laakdal’, as the English acronym did not resonate as strongly.

Sofie Schepers is an expert community-oriented care provider in Laakdal. — © AF

During the kick-off in the local meeting centre, some thirty people over sixty set to work on the four priority themes. In each domain, they identified the most important difficulties and looked for possible solutions. Rosa Wilms took an active part in the debate as she has been involved from the start: “When I read the call in the municipal information sheet, I immediately applied to be a volunteer”, Rosa Wilms reveals. “I was alone and this seemed to be an ideal pastime for me. I like to chat and through the project I was also able to make new contacts. I had a total of ten conversations, four online and six at home. They were all intense but wonderful conversations.”

Rosa Wilms has been involved in every phase of the project. — © AF

“My chats showed that older people in Laakdal struggle with a lack of respect from neighbours, young people and from traffic”, Rosa Wilms adds. “Of course there’s not much a municipal council can do about that; we all have to work on that together. I completely agree with the four chosen themes. Choices must of course be made and it seems realistic to me that the municipal council can achieve things in those four domains. The most important thing for me, however, is that we are being listened to.”

Difficult points to resolve or improve were noted for each theme. — © AF

Sofie Schepers, who leads the project for the municipal government, had good news for the participants. “The municipality is buying a van and it will be available to all older people in Laakdal. It can be used to provide transport to activities in all boroughs and we are also looking at the possibility of, for example, providing transport to the local market. The aim to provide ‘A good old age in Laakdal’ has only just started, but we are well on our way.”

The impact of HAIRE: A profile from our Cornish pilot site in Feock, UK

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Cathy Whitmore, HAIRE’s administrative officer in the Parish of Feock, UK, is a key point of contact for community members. Over the last year, Cathy has spent her time fielding phone calls and organising support for community members throughout the various lockdowns and beyond, and collating points of view from all stakeholders invested in the improvement and development of products and services that aspire to support and enhance the lives of older people – most importantly from older people themselves. HAIRE has offered residents an opportunity to speak up on matters close to their hearts.

The project has provided a sense of purpose, energy, and confidence during a difficult period for those volunteering or working in the community, including businesses, schools and faith groups. The spirit of community has been tested throughout the pandemic; in a previous post discussing the kindness of volunteers at the peak of the covid crisis, 150 volunteers come forward to help their fellow villagers. Because of that, Feock had no difficulties recruiting “HAIRE Enablers” – these are the volunteers who meet with older people to understand their needs and service desires. In fact, there was a 50% over-recruitment of volunteer HAIRE Enablers in the parish, which exceeded all expectations.

A recent interview with volunteer Sue Thomas in Feock featured in our project funder Interreg 2 Seas‘ “Virtual Voyage” online event, which was created for European Cooperation Day on September 21, 2021. Sue joined the project in order to help and support her local community. As part of the HAIRE volunteer preparation process, Sue took part in training sessions designed to provide skills in listening, interviewing, safeguarding and other skills that not only benefit the individual, but the community as a whole. With Interreg showcasing the work of people on the ground all over the 2 Seas area in Europe, we were given a glimpse into Feock volunteers’ achievements. Sue’s interview can be accessed on YouTube here.

Cathy said the project has created a rallying point for key figures in the community – social weavers and influencers. These are people already involved in volunteering, offering and running group activities, and council members, for example – all people who have a vested interested in making the lives of our older people better. To work together on the central theme of healthy ageing will ultimately enable stronger and more linked up solutions. Feock Parish is made up of several communities, and HAIRE has enabled them to envisage themselves as a family of villages within Feock Parish, with similar issues and concerns, rather than separate entities on a scale of importance and status, so that more people can benefit from local initiatives.

HAIRE has given inspiration and motivated fresh personnel to come forward with ideas and offers of support. An intergenerational project has been initiated by a local artist who discovered HAIRE through conversations with the team and they are now putting together plans for a “Memory Shanty Festival.” Older people in the community will share their life stories and unique points of view with schoolchildren, who will work with musicians to produce sea shanties based on real lives in their community. In general, HAIRE has provided people with an opportunity to be creative and innovative – there is “no such thing as a wrong idea”. There is something very powerful in seeing one’s ideas turn into positive action.

The conversations with participants have provided a better understanding of life changes and their impact on a multi-generational level. Ageing impacts us all, not just “older adults”. There is widespread recognition of the danger of a shrinking life world as we age, which puts us at risk of loneliness. Knowing this, it means individuals can start to plan for the future earlier, with the involvement of supporting organisations.

All pilot sites aim to improve the services already in place that have value and link in to them. In Feock, social prescribing’s growing importance and availability means that residents can be signposted to local activities for a range of different reasons, including bereavement, anxiety or loneliness. HAIRE’s volunteers are available “buddy up” with community members depending on their interest – such as swimming, gardening or walking.

The volunteers provide a guiding ‘hand-hold’ to help people discover or return to social activities, developing trust and relationships. The team has created a ‘What’s On’ list and ‘Directory of Groups, Service, and Helplines’ which can be sent to residents, who are later contacted by telephone and given the offer for further advice and support if required in the future. All the activities in the parish are advertised and reviewed on a regular basis in an accessible and inclusive format. They even advertise opportunities in a community phone box.

The CREATE workshops held throughout the summer months brought people together in a safe place to share ideas, voice opinions and feel listened to and respected. HAIRE has been able to respond to comments and requests to make quick wins in the short term with opportunities to grow in the long term.

We are all thankful for the work of the amazing volunteers involved in this project. During June’s National Volunteer Month, service users were asked for any comments they would like to pass on to Feock’s volunteers as well as posting on Facebook pages for anyone who would like to thank a member of the community for their support. A beautiful “thank you tree” was put together by a talented resident and used as a backdrop to the CREATE workshop sessions.

Importantly, the work to look at the relevance of services and the creation of new ones won’t just “stop” when the research comes to an end. The communities involved are developing the sorts of skills and opportunities that can really make a difference and can evolve with the times to ensure an organic, thriving culture of listening and learning for positive, age-friendly action with the voices of residents at the fore.

The HAIRE project involves its stakeholders at regular intervals and in different ways throughout the project as we continue to pursue widespread, sustainable system change and to initiate and support innovative models of service delivery. One element of this is to hold regular steering group meetings, such as the Parish of Feock’s HAIRE Action Group Meeting. This took place in September 2021.

CREATE Juin 2021 – Réflexion (French translation)

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Our French intern, Valentine, has again translated this month’s blog for us into French.  It is a research reflection by Shuks Esmene, our postdoctoral research fellow. To read the original English language version, click here.

A l’occasion des ateliers CREATE, les partenaires du projet HAIRE se sont rassemblés pour discuter de leurs premières idées d’innovations destinées à améliorer le bien-être des séniors dans les sites pilotes. Les outils de recherche utilisés dans le cadre du projet représentent un aspect essentiel de l’apprentissage HAIRE. En particulier, les expériences et les idées de tous les partenaires, y compris des bénévoles et des participants, sont aussi importantes que ces outils le sont pour identifier des actions axées sur la personne et adaptées au milieu qui soient pertinentes à échelle locale.

Notre atelier de poésie a montré que les partenaires de prestation et les équipes de recherche du projet HAIRE sont parvenus à élaborer un environnement favorable à la discussion – même en ces temps troublés ! Les souvenirs de ces personnes âgées avec qui nous avons des liens privilégiés, par exemple des parents, des grands-parents, d’autres membres de la famille et des amis, ont inspiré une séance riche en émotions. Un de nos partenaires a fait remarquer :

« Ce ne sont pas des larmes de tristesse ! »

La remarque ci-dessus concernait un grand-parent défunt et résume la façon dont nos liens avec les personnes qui comptent pour nous s’étendent au-delà de leur présence physique auprès de nous. Bien qu’elles ne fussent qu’une parenthèse parmi les autres activités du projet, les réflexions que nous tirons de telles expériences peuvent aider HAIRE à amorcer des conversations relatives à l’intégration des soins dans nos communautés. Des soins plus approfondis. Des soins qui surpassent les besoins fonctionnels des individus. Ces besoins sont extrêmement importants, bien sûr. Cependant, le bien-être ne se limite pas à la somme des besoins fonctionnels d’un individu.

Les Conversations Guidées du projet HAIRE ont révélé que les activités et les passions qui importent aux participants (marcher, tricoter, lire et se rendre à des marchés locaux, entre autres) leur ont apporté de la joie et, malheureusement, de la tristesse lorsqu’ils n’ont pu s’y adonner pendant la pandémie. Ces conclusions ne sont en aucune façon propres au projet HAIRE, mais elles lui offrent plusieurs possibilités. Le réseau HAIRE, constitué de personnes soudées et attentionnées, va nous permettre de réfléchir différemment à notre façon de procéder face à ces conclusions. Certes, il est important de faire une liste des activités et des passions présentes dans une région, et de s’assurer que ces activités sont proposées à ses habitants, mais il faudrait aussi offrir l’opportunité aux séniors de développer de nouveaux centres d’intérêts et de nouvelles passions – ce serait une façon d’ajouter de la capacité à un lieu donné. La variété des activités et les activités extracurriculaires sont considérées comme une partie fondamentale du développement de l’enfant (1).

Je pense souvent à cette façon que nous avons d’essayer de trouver et de doser un assortiment d’activités spécifiques dont la population adulte puisse bénéficier – plutôt que de nous appliquer à mieux comprendre les modalités du bien-être de chaque individu. Comme nous l’avons dit durant nos discussions sur l’innovation au deuxième jour des ateliers CREATE, cela peut faire la différence d’« être prêt à commencer modestement » afin de produire des innovations qui restent ouvertes aux contributions des habitants – particulièrement si les opinions et points de vue reçoivent une réponse et ne sont pas perdus au fil des démarches administratives. A ce titre, les solutions numériques contribuent largement à améliorer la sensibilisation, mais c’était aussi encourageant de voir des idées se développer lors des ateliers autour des activités en face à face et de la notion d’« aller vers les gens ».

Dans leurs réponses aux Conversations Guidées, les participants ont communiqué l’importance qu’ils attachent aux interactions en face à face et aux évènements de rassemblement convivial. De plus, même si nous l’avons appris par le biais d’anecdotes, nous ne pouvons oublier que les commerçants et les docteurs étaient bien plus profondément intégrés dans les quartiers ruraux par le passé. Les services avaient plus souvent lieu en face à face, et ces expériences doivent être prises en compte lorsque l’on réunit des personnes âgées.

Par ailleurs, des préoccupations primordiales vis-à-vis du profil des participants recrutés jusqu’ici ont été soulevées lors des ateliers CREATE. On considère souvent qu’une méthode de communication qui attire et inclus les groupes vulnérables et marginalisés représente un défi (2). Les communautés inclusives doivent s’assurer que tout le monde sent qu’il ou elle fait partie du lieu dans lequel il ou elle vit, et que l’opportunité d’exprimer ses opinions leur soit donnée de façon à ce que tout le monde puisse contribuer à façonner l’avenir du lieu en question. Parvenir à une compréhension plus inclusive du bien-être représentera un défi important pour le projet HAIRE, et la démarche consistant à « être prêt à commencer modestement » pourra nous être bénéfique dans cette mesure également. La recherche a parfois tendance à se focaliser sur des chiffres et des objectifs à accomplir, tous les deux générés par des groupes larges et soi-disant représentatifs. Toutefois, si nous nous posons des questions essentielles sur les points de vue variés que nous avons recueillis pendant les Conversations Guidées, nous pouvons commencer modestement. Des questions telles que : comment se fait-il que quelqu’un qui s’est occupé des autres, et qui a travaillé dur dans un secteur qui n’est pas généreux économiquement, peut se retrouver dans une position financière précaire plus tard dans sa vie ?, et, que pouvons-nous faire pour impliquer quelqu’un à échelle locale quand cette personne n’a pas pu développer et/ou approfondir des centres d’intérêt à cause d’une enfance ou d’un début de vie d’adulte mouvementés ?

Enfin, la question qui selon moi ressort le plus de nos séances CREATE est :

« Pourquoi sommes-nous, en tant que société, si mauvais à cela ? »

La réponse se trouve peut-être dans une nouvelle conception des soins, une conception selon laquelle les soins seraient reçus et donnés par des individus dans leurs communautés, et ne seraient pas simplement un service dédié à répondre aux besoins fonctionnels des personnes âgées. Fait encourageant, nous avons parfois accompli cela au sein de projet HAIRE – que ce soit entre les chercheurs et les équipes de prestation, entre les équipes de prestation et les bénévoles, et/ou entre les bénévoles et les participants. Notre prochain défi sera de trouver des façons d’impliquer les donneurs de soins dans le projet, sur tous les sites pilotes, plus étroitement encore. J’ai hâte d’affronter ce défi.

Footnotes

1. Metsäpelto, R., & Pulkkinen, L. (2012). Socioemotional Behavior and School Achievement in Relation to Extracurricular Activity Participation in Middle Childhood. Scandinavian Journal Of Educational Research, 56(2), 167-182. doi: 10.1080/00313831.2011.581681

2. Meyer, C., Evans, D., Soucat, A., Dkhimi, F., Akweongo, P., & Kessy, F. et al. (2018). Leaving no one behind? Reaching the informal sector, poor people and marginalised groups with Social Health Protection. Journal Of Poverty And Social Justice. doi: 10.1332/175982718x1536143686739

CREATE Research Reflection: Caring

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This month’s blog post is a research reflection penned by Shuks Esmene, our doctoral research fellow.

HAIRE’s CREATE workshops (held June 2021) brought together the partnership to discuss our initial ideas for innovations to improve the wellbeing of local older adults in our pilot sites. The research tools being used in HAIRE are a key part of the
project’s learning. Notably, the experiences and ideas of all project partners,
including volunteers and participants, are as important as these tools in
identifying person-centred and place-based actions that are locally relevant.

Our poetry workshop demonstrated that HAIRE’s delivery partners and
research teams have been able to build a comfortable environment for
discussion – even in these challenging times! Memories of older adults that we
hold special connections to, including parents, grandparents, other family
members and friends, filled the session with emotion. One of our partners
simply remarked, “These are not sad tears!”

Some of the poetry about ageing shared at our CREATE session

The remark above related to a late grandparent and sums up how connections to
people that we value go beyond being in their physical presence. Although a
small moment in HAIRE’s activities, reflections from such experiences can help
HAIRE start conversations around embedding care into communities. A deeper
care. Care that surpasses the functional needs of people. These needs are, of
course, extremely important. However, wellbeing is much more than the sum of
someone’s functional needs.

HAIRE’s Guided Conversations showed how valued activities and passions (walking, knitting, reading and going to local markets, to name a few) provided participants with joy and, unfortunately, sadness due to missing these activities and passions during the pandemic. These findings are in no way unique to HAIRE, but they do present the project with opportunities. The close-knit, caring network of people that HAIRE has engaged can help us to think differently about how we can act on these findings. A record of valued activities and passions in an area, and trying to ensure these activities are offered to locals is important, but opportunities to develop new interests and passions can be seen as a way of adding capacity to a place. Variety and extracurricular activities are regarded as a fundamental part of development in children (1).

I often reflect on why we try to find and measure a set of specific activities that show
benefit when adults are considered – rather than addressing how we can best
understand wellbeing priorities at an individual level. As stated during our
discussions about innovation on the second day of our CREATE workshops,
“…being willing to start small” to achieve innovations that stay open to input
from locals can make a difference – particularly if voices and perspectives are
responded to and not lost in bureaucratic processes. As such, digital solutions
are important in improving outreach, but it was encouraging to see ideas
develop around face-to-face activities and “going to people”.

A French Guided Conversation in action

Face-to-face interactions and events that bring people together were certainly
valued in responses to HAIRE’s Guided Conversations. Additionally, even if
revealed through anecdotes, we cannot overlook how local shop owners and
doctors used to be more deeply embedded in rural neighbourhoods. Services
were more face-to-face and such experiences need to be considered when
bringing older adults together.

Importantly, concerns around the participant profiles engaged by HAIRE so far
were raised at CREATE. Outreach that engages and is inclusive of vulnerable and marginalised groups is often referred to as challenging (2). Inclusive
communities ensure that everyone can feel part of where they live and, through
being able to voice and discuss their opinions, individuals can contribute to
shaping the future of a place. How we achieve more inclusive understandings of
wellbeing will be an important challenge for HAIRE and “…being willing to
start small” can benefit the project here too. Research can tend to focus on
numbers and achieving outcomes that are generated by large, so-called
representative groups. However, if we ask critical questions of the differing
perspectives that we have been able to gather through HAIRE’s Guided
Conversation, we can start small. Questions such as: why can someone that has
cared for others and worked hard in a sector that is not economically
generous end up in a financially precarious position in later life?, and, what
can we do to involve someone locally that has not been able to develop and/or
pursue interests due to a turbulent childhood and early adult life?

Finally, the question that stands out for me the most from our CREATE sessions
was: “Why, as a society, are we so rubbish at this?” The answer may lie in re-thinking care, where care is received and given by individuals in communities and not simply a service that aims to meet the functional needs of older adults. Encouragingly, we have examples in HAIRE where this has been achieved – whether it be between the researchers and delivery teams, between the delivery teams and the volunteers and/or between the volunteers and participants. Our next challenge is to find ways to engage the caring people on the project, across all sites, more closely. I look forward to
working on that challenge.

Footnotes

1. Metsäpelto, R., & Pulkkinen, L. (2012). Socioemotional Behavior and School Achievement in Relation to Extracurricular Activity Participation in Middle Childhood. Scandinavian Journal
 Of Educational Research, 56(2), 167-182. doi: 10.1080/00313831.2011.581681

2. Meyer, C., Evans, D., Soucat, A., Dkhimi, F., Akweongo, P., & Kessy, F. et al. (2018). Leaving no one behind? Reaching the informal sector, poor people and marginalised groups with
 Social Health Protection. Journal Of Poverty And Social Justice. doi: 10.1332/175982718x1536143686739

Shukru Esmene, s.esmene@exeter.ac.uk, University of Exeter

CREATE: New Models of Service Delivery for Older People

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(This blog is written in English and French – please scroll to the end for the French language version.)

It’s been a cold and reluctant spring for us all in the HAIRE community: the UK saw the lowest April temperature since 1922. The sun is shining today, however, and we are feeling more hopeful as we get ready for summer and the opening up of our communities. By the end of April, HAIRE partners had compiled the initial Community Report drafts for our pilot areas, which combines information gleaned from Guided Conversations, Action Plans and Neighbourhood Analysis. Our partners are now preparing for our next major challenge: co-creating innovative service delivery in the pilot sites and beyond that respond to the challenges identified in their areas. Some challenges are unique to the pilot sites and some stem from issues that are commonplace in rural Europe.

For the past several weeks, the University of Exeter has been hosting drop-in Teams sessions for all partners to discuss progress and to share participatory methods for innovation and idea generation. We’ve looked at such techniques as mind-mapping and Q-sorting. We’ve discussed key practical considerations, such as tailoring sessions to different audiences and sizes and making sure all the exercises are inclusive. Our colleague Femke Verthé at iDROPS – a Belgian organisation skilled in social innovation development – led sessions on Human Centred Design Thinking, a participatory tool for inspiration, ideation, focusing and prototyping.

Throughout May, partners have been gathering ideas and meeting with their volunteers, stakeholders and communities in unique ways. For example, in East Sussex, the HAIRE enablers have been going on walks with their community, and this act of getting volunteers to talk to the community members really engages them in the idea generation process and makes for powerful, insightful input.

Drawing on their experience of piloting actions locally, the partners, older people, local partners, volunteers and agencies will come together in June in a joint CREATE workshop (Crossborder European Activity Testing Exercise) to share their experiences and support and mentor each other. Partners will organise themselves into Action Learning Sets, cross-border groups that want to work on shared innovations together. Action Learning is one of the methods effective programmes use to help participants apply learning in a support group. This approach encourages partners to make meaning from direct experience and supports genuine cross-border idea exchange.

We are also taking the time during the June CREATE workshops to “get to know each other” more personally. All the Covid restrictions have meant we haven’t been able to travel or meet with our counterparts in different countries. The socialising will have to wait a little longer, but we’ve integrated a creative writing workshop into the sessions, in which we’ll look at poems about ageing in all our languages, listen to each other speak in our native tongues, and write and share our own personal and cultural experiences of ageing. The atmosphere of mutual support, shared experience and cultural learning will provide another layer of depth and understanding in our cross-border exchange as we drive towards positive change for our older people.

Here’s one of our chosen poems.

Long Life, by Elaine Feinstein

Late Summer. Sunshine. The eucalyptus tree.
It is a fortune beyond any deserving
to be still here, with no more than everyday worries,
placidly arranging lines of poetry.

I consider a stick of cinammon
bound in raffia, finches
in the grass, and a stubby bush
which this year mothered a lemon.

These days I speak less of death
than the mysteries of survival. I am
no longer lonely, not yet frail, and
after surgery, recognise each breath

as a miracle. My generation may not be
nimble but, forgive us,
we’d like to hold on, stubbornly
content – even while ageing.

French Translation follows:

Ce fut un printemps frileux pour la communauté HAIRE, le Royaume-Uni ayant connu ses températures les plus basses depuis 1922 pour un mois d’avril. Aujourd’hui cependant, le soleil brille, et l’optimisme est lui aussi au rendez-vous alors que nous nous préparons en vue de l’été et de la réouverture de nos communautés. D’ici la fin du mois d’avril, les partenaires du projet HAIRE auront compilé les versions préliminaires des premiers rapports communautaires de nos sites pilotes, qui cumulent les informations récoltées lors des Conversations Guidées, des Plans d’Actions et des Analyses de Voisinage. Nos partenaires se préparent désormais à affronter notre prochain grand défi : non seulement cocréer une prestation des services innovante au sein de chaque site pilote, mais aussi résoudre les problèmes qu’ils ont distingués dans leur région respective. Certains problèmes sont propres à leur site pilote tandis que d’autres découlent de problèmes répandus en Europe rurale.

Ces dernières semaines, l’Université d’Exeter a animé des séances de discussion ouvertes sur Microsoft Teams, afin que tous les partenaires puissent discuter de l’avancée du projet et partager des méthodes participatives d’innovation et de conception de nouvelles idées. Nous avons testé des techniques comme la carte heuristique ou le Q-sort. Nous avons débattu de sujets clefs d’ordre pratique, par exemple comment adapter les séances à des publics différents et des groupes de tailles différentes, et comment s’assurer que tous les exercices sont inclusifs. Notre collègue Femke Verthé, de la société belge iDROPS – spécialisée dans le développement de l’innovation sociale –, a animé des séances sur le Design Centré sur l’Humain, un outil participatif d’inspiration, d’idéation, de concentration et de prototypage.

Au cours du mois de mai, nos partenaires ont recueilli les idées des uns et des autres et ont rencontré bénévoles, intervenants et communautés par le biais de méthodes uniques. Par exemple, dans le Sussex de l’Est, les Aidants HAIRE font régulièrement des promenades avec les membres de leur communauté. Cette démarche d’échange entre les bénévoles et la communauté les implique réellement dans le processus de conception de nouvelles idées, apportant au projet une contribution percutante et instructive.

Mettant à profit leur expérience pour mener des actions à l’échelle locale, les partenaires, les personnes âgées, les partenaires locaux, les bénévoles et les organismes se réuniront en juin lors d’un atelier CREATE (« Crossborder European Activity Testing Exercise ») commun, afin de partager leurs expériences ainsi que se soutenir et se guider mutuellement. Les partenaires se répartiront dans des « Sets de formation-action », des groupes transnationaux désirant travailler ensemble sur des innovations communes. La formation-action est l’une des méthodes que les programmes efficaces utilisent pour aider les participants à appliquer les notions apprises dans un groupe de soutien. Cette approche encourage les partenaires à trouver du sens dans leurs expériences directes et promeut un véritable échange d’idées à travers les frontières.

Pendant les ateliers CREATE de juin, nous prenons également le temps « d’apprendre à se connaître » de façon plus personnelle. Toutes les restrictions relatives au COVID19 nous ont empêchés de voyager ou de rencontrer nos homologues d’autres pays. Le retour de la vie sociale devra attendre encore un peu, mais nous avons mis en place un atelier de création littéraire parmi les différentes sessions. Cet atelier nous donnera l’occasion de découvrir des poèmes sur le vieillissement dans toutes nos langues, d’écouter les uns et les autres parler dans leur langue maternelle, et d’écrire et de partager notre propre expérience personnelle et culturelle du vieillissement. Cette atmosphère de soutien mutuel, de partage d’expérience et d’apprentissage culturel apportera une nouvelle dimension de profondeur et de compréhension à notre échange transnational, alors que nous avançons vers un changement positif pour nos personnes âgées.

Voici l’un des poèmes que nous avons choisis:

Longue vie, par Elaine Feinstein

 

Fin d’été. Soleil. L’eucalyptus.

C’est une chance que nul ne mérite

d’être encore ici, avec des soucis de tous les jours et rien de plus,

à placidement accorder des vers de poésie.

 

J’examine un bâton de cannelle

enroulé de raphia, des pinsons

sur l’herbe, et le buisson râblé

qui cette année a donné naissance à un citron.

 

Ces temps-ci je parle moins de la mort

que des mystères de la survie. Je ne suis

plus seul, pas encore chétif, et

depuis l’opération, je réalise que chaque souffle

 

Est un miracle. Ma génération n’est peut-être pas

preste mais, pardonnez-nous,

nous voulons tenir bon, obstinément

satisfaits – même en vieillissant.

 

Senior Cluster University

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This month’s blog comes from our HAIRE colleagues at the University of Artois, who have innovated a new research institute dedicated to the study of healthy ageing.

Thanks to Julie Varlet at the University of Artois for this contribution to our team blog, and thanks to our intrepid intern Valentine for the excellent translation (which you will find if you scroll down.) Contact details for the team at the University of Artois are included at the end of the English translation. 

Permettre aux personnes âgées de rester à domicile tout en favorisant le lien social est un défi pour notre société et nécessite une gamme de services adaptés et un savoir-faire innovant. L’université d’Artois, entend y contribuer grâce au Cluster Senior University, un institut de formation et de recherche, dont la formation « Management Sectoriel – Parcours Cadres de direction des établissements du secteur social et médico-social ».

La formation se donne pour objectif de former les futurs directeurs et cadres de direction du secteur social et médico-social en assurant une montée en compétences et en qualification dans un secteur qui ne cesse d’évoluer. Elle vise à assurer une prise en charge de qualité des publics vulnérables. L’objectif de la formation est de former les professionnels de demain capables de répondre aux nouveaux besoins et aux nouvelles attentes des seniors. L’enjeu de la recherche est de permettre des innovations au service de la qualité de vie des seniors. Cependant, avant d’entreprendre toutes actions visant à favoriser leur maintien à domicile tout en luttant contre leur isolement en milieu rural, il était nécessaire de comprendre l’environnement dans lequel ces personnes évoluaient. Ce fut le challenge pour l’année 2021 pour les 22 étudiants issus du Master 1 « Management sectoriel ». Ceux-ci ont travaillé en collaboration avec les partenaires des Flandres Intérieures afin de produire un diagnostic démographique, de l’accessibilité et des services du territoire par le biais de la boite à outils HAIRE. Tout l’enjeu de ce travail repose maintenant sur les actions à mettre en œuvre afin de lutter contre cet isolement rural en Flandre Intérieure.

Favoriser le maintien des personnes âgées au domicile tout en étant en mesure de répondre aux besoins des publics fragiles et dépendants constituera d’ailleurs leur problématique future. Ce pourquoi les étudiants du Master étudient actuellement une gamme d’innovation sociale, en rupture par rapport à l’existant ou se basant sur une solution existante pour significativement l’améliorer. Ces nouvelles solutions, intégrant les besoins repérés dans le discours des personnes âgées, seront proposées aux partenaires français lors des ateliers CREATE, voués à la conception d’innovations locales.

____________________________________________________________________

The Senior Cluster University: a training and research institute

Enabling older people to stay at home while strengthening their social connections constitutes a major challenge for our society, one that requires an array of tailor-made services and innovative skills. The University of Artois figured out a way to rise to the task: we created The Senior Cluster University, a training and research institute that offers the training programme ‘Leadership and Management Course in Health and Social Care’.

This course aims to:

  • train future directors and executives in Health and Social Care by improving their skills and qualifications in a sector that is constantly evolving.
  • ensure that vulnerable groups are properly taken care of.
  • train future professionals so they can tend to the ever-evolving needs and desires of older people.
  • foster innovation for the benefit of the quality of life of older people.

However, before we could undertake actions to combat isolation in rural areas and enable older people to stay at home, it was essential that we first gained a better understanding of the environment these people lived in. This is precisely what the 22 students who completed their ‘Master 1: Leadership and Management’ aimed for in 2021. They worked alongside partners in the Flandres Intérieures [area in the Hauts-de-France region] to make a ‘demographic diagnosis’ of the accessibility and services particular to each locality using the HAIRE toolkit. The study’s significance and practical utility will be brought to bear through the initiatives that are to be put in place to combat rural isolation in Flandre Intérieure.

The next challenge will be to enable older people to stay in their own homes, and to tend to the needs of vulnerable and dependent groups. The Masters students are therefore studying a wide range of innovative social initiatives; some of them are a clean break from existing solutions, while others are based on existing solutions with the aim of improving them significantly. These new solutions, which take into account the needs that older people have expressed in conversation, will be brought forward to the French partners during the “CREATE workshops”, which are all about ideating local innovations.

 

For further information, please contact:

Julie Varlet, Post-doctorante  06 37 62 59 96

Cécile Carra, Professeure des universités, responsable scientifique