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ELDERLY CARE


an award of almost £1m was granted to mEAAP for a new programme of community-based care and support for older people.


‘over the last three years,’ deirdre said at the time, ‘our successful core Ageing Well & Reaching out Programme has given us an insight into the various experiences of older people in terms of meeting their health needs. We are now delighted to be in a position to showcase the impact social needs, like access to transport, loneliness and literacy, can have on the health and wellbeing of older people in our community. And to pilot a model that supports our local older people groups to provide alternative care in the community, by the community, in true partnership with healthcare practitioners and commissioners.’


But what exactly will this community asset-based model look like in practice? Well, from April 2017, ImPAct will see the development of six localised health and wellbeing hubs, which are coordinated by one strategic hub. the six local hubs, which will be based in gP practices, will have a project officer or ‘ImPAct officer’ to co- ordinate the personalised care plans for older people and will work in a multidisciplinary team involving the gP, a Primarycare and community together (PAct) pharmacist and trust representative.


over three years, up to 1100 older people aged 70 and over will be supported via up to 13,200 funded alternative care prescriptions, which will be facilitated by at least 36 community Partnership Agreements to deliver a wide range of activities, services and support programmes.


once the gP practices and ImPAct officers are in place, monthly meetings will be held in gP practices, with the multi-disciplinary teams looking at each of the gP practice registers to identify those patients, who meet the criteria and could benefit from the ImPAct model. to see how ImPAct will work in practice, let’s take the example of one of these older patients, who meets the criteria – ‘mary’.


once chosen (and providing that she wishes to be involved), ‘mary’ will be supported by an ImPAct officer, who will have an initial guided


conversation to assess her particular needs and then, over a period of six months, will help mary to co-design her own personalised care plan which places her well being needs on a par with her medical needs.


‘mary’ may, for example, be socially isolated and lonely, so the ImPAct officer will assess what would make a difference for ‘mary’ and match those needs with available support in her local community.


‘mary’ will then be supported over a period of six months with twelve social ‘prescriptions’ – which have a monetary value – and which allow ‘mary’ to attend local social clubs, community groups or to have access to luncheon clubs. the alternative care prescriptions aim to nurture the capacity and capability of the local community groups. By overcoming her initial social isolation, ‘mary’ should have the confidence and support network to continue after her


Seaview Primary School joined forces to grow together’, making and planting flowerbeds to be enjoyed by the old and the young in the community


collaborative working with other associations: through working closely with mid & East Antrim citizens Advice, £2.8m in unclaimed benefits was identified, making a significant difference to the lives of older people.


What will prove invaluable for Northern Ireland healthcare is the fact that the ImPAct model will be independently evaluated each year to provide evidence for a sustainable, transferable, social prescribing model that may ultimately be rolled out across the province and further afield.


Why is this an exciting opportunity for pharmacy? one of the key differences between the ImPAct social prescribing model and other existing models is the inclusion of pharmacy.


“to solve the crisis in care for older people, think health, not ill health”


John Ransford, the guardian Newspaper, 1 September 2015


six month support from the ImPAct programme has completed.


this is where mEAAP’s vast experience in this area will be invaluable. over the last five years, the charity had found that it was these ‘small steps’ that made the biggest difference to older people’s quality of life and their health, and they’ve already been running some very successful, collaborative associations in areas such as:


good morning Services: mEAAP work in partnership with good morning Ballymena & good morning East Antrim to provide a daily phone call for older people to provide reassurance and overcome social isolation in order to allow them to maintain their independence at home. A recent survey noted that 99 per cent had a ‘little more’ or ‘much more’ confidence in terms of staying safe and well in their own home, while 78 per cent felt more informed about activities and support available in their local community.


Intergenerational initiatives: glenarm community focus luncheon club &


ImPAct is a truly bottom-up, whole system approach designed to meet the needs of older people with mEAAP taking the leadership role. It is independently chaired by Joanne morgan from the community development and health Network, an organisation, which has a long history of working with community pharmacy through the Building community Pharmacy Partnership (BcPP) programme in the co-design and co-production of locally-based health and wellbeing initiatives.


the ImPAct model has been supported by each of the partners on the local IcPs and provides community pharmacy with the opportunity to work collectively within a defined population (in this case six gP practices within the mid & East Antrim Borough council area): an approach that will be required for new models of commissioning services.


the PAct pharmacist will be selected from the community pharmacy network and will represent the network in the gP hub meetings.


When a medicines-related issue is identified, it will be the PAct pharmacist’s responsibility to ensure that the solution – which will be taken from the range of our contracted services - is provided by the patient’s local community pharmacy, and that the outcomes are communicated back to the multidisciplinary team and form part of the development of the older persons individualised care plan.


the ImPAct model provides an opportunity for pharmacy ‘to join the dots’ within our profession and across professions in the development of the medicines optimisation Strategy.


We’ve already been working with our colleagues in secondary care, who are key stakeholders through the Northern trust, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders who have an interest in helping older people get the best possible care, not only from their medicines, but from their communities and local health services.


Work by the strategic hub commenced in december and all community pharmacies in the mid & East Antrim council area will be contacted in due course with further information and to request expressions of interest.


John Ransford, Project Sponsor and trustee, summarised it eloquently when he announced the dunhill medical trust funding. ‘I am delighted,’ he said, ‘that we have identified in mEAAP an innovative and caring consortium of organisations which have not only come together with a single vision – to provide an excellent service for older people – but also to learn and share learning. We are keen to gather and share evidence from this project and look forward to demonstrating how the needs of increasing numbers of older people can be met more effectively and compassionately, despite the increased demands on the public purse.’


the sum of the parts is, as we know, always greater than the whole and that is why I, as a community pharmacist, look forward to seeing what this innovative and ground- breaking project can contribute to the care of older people throughout Northern Ireland. •


for more information on how ImPAct works visit http://www.hscboard.hscni.net/ partnership-working-results-in-1-million- funding-award-to-support-older-people-in-the- community-2/


PhARmAcY IN focUS - 9


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