1 / 17

Village Agents

Village Agents. Gloucestershire County Council in partnership with Gloucestershire Rural Community Council. Rosie Callinan – Village Agent Project Manager. Gloucestershire. 2-tier local authority 6 district councils Population 600,000 22% of population 60+ Largely rural, 2 main

ulani
Download Presentation

Village Agents

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Village Agents Gloucestershire County Council in partnership with Gloucestershire Rural Community Council Rosie Callinan – Village Agent Project Manager

  2. Gloucestershire • 2-tier local authority • 6 district councils • Population 600,000 • 22% of population 60+ • Largely rural, 2 main towns • Some high levels of deprivation • Poor transport links

  3. The Village Agent Concept Rurality research commissioned by CAREdirect Gloucestershire in 2002/03 • to identify how older people living in rural areas gain information and access to services • 160 people aged 60+ surveyed • 83% preferred to approach someone within the community for help and advice

  4. What is a Village Agent? • Becomes a trusted member of the community • Provides high quality information • Facilitates access to services • Carries out a series of practical checks • Facilitates community building • Identifies unmet need within communities • Paid for 10 hours per week

  5. Village Agent parishes • Pilot aimed at rural isolation • Locations chosen to complement existing services • Population density • Amenities - (MAIDeN ‘Survey of facilities in Gloucestershire’) • Deprivation scores – OPDM • Initially 95 parishes - Jan 2008 - 162

  6. Tools • Training programme • Publicity materials • Laptop • Mobile telephone • Mobile internet access • Adult Helpdesk • Robust line and performance management

  7. Parish Councils Churches Community/district nurses Existing social clubs Drop-in sessions Meals on wheels rounds First steps • Recruitment • Becomepart of the community • Focus groups and questionnaires

  8. Electronic Gateway referrals 1. Agent completes Gateway referral form via secure log in 2.Outline of need

  9. Electronic Gateway referrals 3.Electronically sent to partner agency • 4. Partner agency • makes contact • defines need • provides service • brief follow up 5. Individual record for Agents 6. Monitoring data in Excel

  10. Countywide holistic working 40% queries are sent to partner agencies • Social Care 4% • Health 16% • County Council 13% • Police 2% • Fire and safety 5% • District Council 9% • Voluntary Agency 8% • GRCC 2% • Energy Efficiency 4% • HIA 7% • DWP 8% • Well being/support 22%

  11. Unmet needs • North Cotswolds bus route • Tai Chi classes • Library clubs • Forest of Dean – walk leaders • Floods • Lunch clubs/pub clubs • Bereavement days etc • Social isolation – ‘that little bit of help’

  12. Our success so far… 30 Village Agents • 20,000 contacts and 2,500 Gateway referrals in 2007 • Library clubs, Tai Chi classes, social/lunch clubs, liaising with transport providers, smoke detectors etc • Partner agencies working closely together and piloting use of Gateway referral system • Evaluation • baseline survey • 640 questionnaires, 30 public focus groups, to be repeated • 3 focus groups with partner agencies • Website – www.villageagents.org.uk

  13. Achievements – rural isolation • In Village Agent parishes • Contacts to Adult HelpDesk increased by 43% • SW and OT referrals increased by over 50% • End of pilot questionnaire will find out if accessibility to services and well being has increased • Focus groups demonstrating high regard for service by older people

  14. Current position • Agents cover 30% of older rural population. • Cost per Gateway equates to approx £75 • Cost per contact (including Gateways) equates to approx £12 per contact • GCC (and PCT) committed to continuation funding

  15. Developments • Community Agents – Jan 2008 • 6 county wide Agents • minority ethnic communities • All age groups – whole community??? • Childrens Centres • Extended Schools

  16. Transforming Social Care LAC (DH)(2008)1 Introduction Consultation response to Our health, Our Care, Our say • Access to support when they need it, quickly, easily and fit into their lives • Make provision for a range of needs – focus on using preventative approaches • Emphasis on enablement and early intervention to promote independence

  17. Any Questions?rosie.callinan@gloucestershire.gov.uk

More Related