Project Overview
Gloucestershire currently has an ageing population above the national average rate. It is projected that the population of those aged 60+ living in Gloucestershire will increase by nearly 20% over the next 15 years. It is also well researched that this demographic are substantially less active than the rest of the general adult population, (only 20% of those aged over 60 are currently active). These inactivity statistics and the growing ageing population have led to Active Gloucestershire developing the Active Ageing programme for Gloucestershire. Its primary aim is to get those aged 50+ more physically active across the county. Over the next three years we aim to get 6000 older adults active. We have just completed year one.
This programme consists of three key elements; the ‘Active Ageing Forum’, a newly developed network with quarterly forums to discuss and resource share to increase physical activity for older adults. The ‘Active for Life Ambassador’ programme – a peer to peer volunteering scheme, recruiting older adults to support those aged 50+ to be more active. Finally an ‘Equipment Loan Scheme’, a free 4-6 week loan of equipment such as Boccia, New Age Bowls and Table Tennis equipment to care homes, retirement homes and sheltered housing schemes to engage people into physical activity.
Objectives and project development
The Active Ageing Forum was developed due to a lack of opportunity for those working and volunteering with older adults such as Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust, Age UK Gloucestershire and local community centres, to network and gain support to increase activity levels for the 50 plus age group. The forum began as an opportunity to increase communication between the voluntary and statutory sectors across the county, to share skills and resources, to support and facilitate activity to start where there currently was no provision- and to inform the county of new initiatives, strategy and funding opportunities.
The Active for Life Ambassadors Scheme presented itself as a significant opportunity to change the behaviour towards physical activity in the 50 plus age group through the strength of a peer to peer project. Gloucestershire has a range of strong volunteering networks, however there had not been a programme specifically around physical activity. By working with a range organisations across the districts this ambassador scheme has recruited 60 ambassadors across the county, all aged above 50, to give their time to support their friends and community members to become more active. They have been given training and on-going support and guidance from Active Gloucestershire.
Finally the Equipment Loan Scheme was implemented based on consultation with the care home and residential home sectors. It was identified from this consultation that a main barrier to the residents in these environments not being able to take part in physical activity was the lack of transport in their area to be able to get out to attend external sessions and the cost of equipment to the homes, many of which had little or no budget where physical activity was not a priority. Active Gloucestershire combined an equipment loan programme which was being delivered on behalf of the Bowls Development Alliance, Just Bowl with additional opportunities for homes to loan Boccia sets and Table Tennis kits. Basic training and guidance in these activities were provided to staff in the venues and also residents so that they could facilitate activity during the loan period. The homes and settings, where the project was successful, were then supported by Active Gloucestershire to apply for funding to purchase their own sets of equipment, this making the activity sustainable and at no additional cost to the organisations.
Outcomes
No of older adults active: Over the past year, since the Active Ageing programme has been developed, Gloucestershire has seen an increase in older adults’ participation in sport from 19.1% from active people survey (APS) 9 to 20.9% in APS 10 – representing 2,283 more older adults being active. The organisations who are members of the forum have reported that they have witnessed a rise of between 15 and 25% in increased activity of their older adults with over 1,000 older adults playing bowls including one who was over 100!
No. of organisations engaged: Through the development of the Active Ageing Forum, over 120 organisations have been active members of a network, contributing, attending and presenting at the forum and other associated networks and meetings. The connections made have had a significant impact on the smaller community groups and residential settings in the sharing of resources and expertise to implement physical activity programmes that previously wouldn’t have been possible without these connections.
No. of ambassadors: The volunteer Active for Life Ambassador Scheme has seen 60 of its ambassadors working to support members of their local older community. Each Ambassador has helped previously inactive / isolated people within their community to raise physical activity levels, sustain them and also enhancing their long-term community involvement.
Sustainability
The concept of Active Ageing in Gloucestershire is being adopted by a wide range of organisations and groups across the county. Influenced by the Active Ageing Forum, physical activity is featuring highly on many people’s agendas, especially with the proven links in improving general health and social wellbeing. The equipment loan scheme itself and the opportunity to receive support to source funding to purchase the equipment has provided a sustainable model of physical activity across the sector. So far over 50% of the groups have managed to source funding to purchase their own equipment. The first 12 months of the Active for Life Ambassadors have seen 60 new volunteers, engaging nearly 1000 people into regular physical activity – many of these new participants then also going on to become leaders in their own communities. This becoming a growing and sustainable model once the guidance has been provided for them.
Outlook
While huge progress has been made towards raising the physical activity levels of the 50+ age group in Gloucestershire there is still the need to develop this further. Further investment and funding is being sought to increase all areas of the Active Ageing programme and to add new initiatives to it, such as competition programmes, mobile events in local communities and reminiscence projects