PR 00169 - Explore

Pilot aim

A thorough review of baseline data has taken place including the assessment of the demographics and ‘needs’ of the communities along the Norfolk coastline, including current best practice.  Audit criteria for walking routes is being formed.  Engagement has been both adhoc and structured such as Physical Activity Forum.  End users have been fully engaged through the process - outlined in detail in a separate report.  This included application of the World Café approach.  NCC are working with the PP UEA to agree measurables for monitoring and evaluation.  Observers continue be engaged through meetings.

Stakeholders on your pilot

People and organisations represented, number of stakeholder meetings and total number of people at each stakeholder meeting.

[null Potential partner organisations]

[null Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure Sites]

A significant proportion of Norfolk’s local economy is focussed towards leisure and tourism, and this is particularly the case within Norfolk’s coastal regions, which therefore means there are a significant number of leisure assets within this region.

Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure sites are outlined in Appendix C. These may be regularly accessed by both tourists and residents, however, local leisure facility operators feel that they. The facilities provide opportunities for activities such as swimming, bowls, tennis, golf, boccia and table tennis.

The explore phase of SAIL has consulted with various stakeholders and the target demographic. This has begun to give an insight into why these facilities may not be being utilised by older people, and of the barriers that may need addressing, such as access, confidence and knowledge of physical activity benefits. The next phase of SAIL, the design phase, will explore ideas of how to address these barriers, and engage the older population in using these resources.

Through wider consultation with partners around SAIL, we have also been able to identify possible opportunities to expand upon pre-existing projects, and utilise their experiences. For example, Swim England are developing some training for leisure facilities to become more accessible for older people. This focuses on conditional specific accessibility, and builds on previous work to make centres accessible for people with Dementia.

There was also an opportunity to consult on SAIL and a number of other projects through a Dementia Sports workshop, which was hosted by the Alzheimer’s Society and enabled us to utilise their experiences and learnings to date.

[null Existing Community Support Services]

The support services that are available for older people within the target areas for SAIL are outlined within Appendix D. Although there is some provision aimed at getting older people to be more physically active, it is not a large resource in comparison to the demographic population. It can also be highlighted that the leisure and tourism assets that were identified earlier within the report are not being utilised by the older population, which supports the notion that these resources could be used within SAIL to explore new methods of getting older people to be more physically active.

The pre-existing community groups highlighted within Appendix D, are also a resource to provide insight into the local community, and the target demographic within these communities. A number of them have formed part of the stakeholder consultation process, and will continue to be involved within the SAIL project, supporting with designing and guiding the project as part of the steering group.

[null Sheltered Housing/Care Homes]

A number of organisations within Norfolk provide supported housing for older people. Some full-time care, and others a light touch call-in service where the resident is still very independent. Active Norfolk have previously worked with both ends of the spectrum on the Mobile Me project, and have experience of the varying level of capability of residents at the different types of site.

There is an increasing awareness within these organisations around the benefits of physical activity, and how it can impact upon the welfare of residents. As supported housing and the leisure and tourism sector have not historically worked together, there is likely to be a desire to moving forward.

The variety of private and local authority supported housing organisations within Norfolk, have different strategic objectives; this will affect the amount of resource they are able to provide to SAIL. Mobile Me has demonstrated that this can impact upon the level of buy-in from residents into a programme. Appendix E outlines the supported housing organisations in Norfolk.

[null Transport]

Norfolk is predominantly a rural county, dispersed with pockets of urban areas, which can often lead to geographical and social isolation, particularly for vulnerable groups such as older people. Therefore transportation links are important in terms of access for any project looking to increase participation in public facilities.

There are a number of community based transport services within the target area, which are outlined in Appendix F, as well as public transport links. These are still limited, and may be a barrier to participation, but by attempting to engage transport providers within the project we can enable some older people to access transport that normally would not be able too.

[null Meetings with partner organisations]

We audited and identified a number of potential key partner organisations that either have expertise in an element of this project or a vested interest in its outcomes. We discussed the SAIL project with these partners. Through these interactions we sought to grow our understanding of issues relating to SAIL including:

• Partners’ commitment to the outcomes of SAIL and what they may be able to contribute
• Considerations regarding the target audience, who they should be and their barriers/motivations to participate
• Appropriate provision and assets already available
• Potential ideas to achieve the outcomes of the project
• Effective methods of communication and marketing

Meeting notes can be found in Appendix H.

[null Potential partner organisations: Summary and recommendations]

Key potential partner organisations are

• Local Leisure Providers (often linked in with local authority)
• NGB’s (e.g. Swim England)
• Existing Community Support Services (e.g. Age Concern, Age UK, Alzheimer's Society, Lily, OPF)
• Supported Housing Providers
• Third Sector Organisations (e.g National Trust)
• National Based Older Person Provision (e.g. Oomph Wellness)
• Private Companies (e.g. Golf clubs, Holiday parks, Swimming pools)

Recommendations

• There is resource available, but not much partnership work across sectors. We should support with linking up relevant work streams
• There is not a great deal of physical activity provision for older people, but there is a growing desire to access this demographic. We should support with developing new interventions.
• This needs assessment has highlighted gaps in provision for accessing facilities (Transport, information providers, specific conditions, socially or geographically isolated etc). We should consider how we address these.
• Link in with Dementia Friendly Walks

The below tables highlight the potential delivery venues for the Mobile Me Out and About element of the SAIL project, at both tourism and sport/physical activity sites, with the highlighted venues appearing to be the most practical in terms of provision and location for the target delivery area.

Pilot beneficiaries

Who will benefit from this pilot? What is the goal that you are trying to achieve with this pilot?

People living with dementia and their carers. Both locals and tourists.  Target areas from Needs Assessment, trying to improve quality of life for people in the SAIL area.

Ideas generated

What ideas were generated from your stakeholder meetings?

See Needs Assessment pages 61 - 68

Values for selection

Based on the information collected at the stakeholders meetings and other interviews or conversations held in the location, what are important underlying values for your project? Such as valuing the opinions of your users or needing your project to be cost neutral at this stage for some of your partners?

See appended chart, Tabs 1, 2 and 3. 

Acceptability

How did the project team, other organisations and your participants react to the project idea? What is the level of involvement/commitment from each group at this stage? Evidence could include: participant observation at initial project meetings and the reflections of the project group.

Please see the notes from each stakeholder meeting in Appendix H of the Needs Assessment

Demand

What is the demand for your project? How do you know this, what information did you use to help you?

See the Needs Assessment, including pages 30-32 on Green Space. Also use the Norfolk Fit Together Memory Walks Report on page 69 of the needs Assessment

Implementation/Practicality/Organisational/Financial Feasibility

How feasible does your project look to your team at this stage in terms of practicality, and financial feasibility?

Drawing on existing work of Active Norfolk for resource and contribution of facilities and volunteers from wider partners, the Dementia Friendly Walks look feasible both practically and financially though some finer details need to be ironed out. Some of these will depend on what is decided in terms of design of the pilot in the Design and Develop Phase. 

Additional assets and resources

Do you need any additional assets or resources including expertise to help you deliver your project?

Existing CIO’s (cha ritable incorporated organisation) which run some walk groups receive funding (£2k pa) however we are looking to find other sustainable resources. We are using mapping expertise from the NCC Environment Team, these may need to be updated at some point in the future however the current work should be applicable for some years. Ideally should resource training for more people to deliver led walks to expand the current reach of expertise and ensure sustainability.

Adaptation

Have you made any changes to your original plans, why did you make the change and what information did you base your new plans on? For instance any changes you made to the context, format, timing, setting or population at this stage?

None yet., we have used the research from the Needs Assessment to focus our efforts in a geographical area and will use the Design and Develop Phase to further refine ideas. 

Integration

Do you think this project will work within the current local setting/structures? What changes need to be made to integrate your new project into existing infrastructure or programs?

CIO for led walks, funding continuation could be an issue. See above.  Walks from Care Homes should be fine as staff trained and paid for, no funding required. Structures should be in place for self-led walks. 

Selected ideas for next phase

Based on the areas stated above, which ideas from your meetings have been selected for the phase of design and develop on SAIL?

Independent and led walks, for those living with dementia and their carers in the SAIL area.