The Living Well in Later Life event, held at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh on the 26th of October brought together the colleagues from across the health and social care sector to discuss issues surrounding a person’s later life.

Hear from Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive at Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Ruth Glassborow, Director of Safety and Improvement on why it’s important that we support older people to live well in later life.

The day comprised morning and afternoon plenaries, as well as eight breakout sessions ranging from ‘What works in reducing social isolation – and how can we enable more of this?’ to ‘Focus on Dementia – home is where the heart is’. A comprehensive overview of each of the sessions is available below.

We have compiled, in photographs, a summary of the day. If you’d like a copy of any photos please contact joanna.hansen@nhs.net.

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Structuring the day with focused breakout sessions allowed delegates to really understand and contribute to the discussion on issues facing older people.

Breakout sessions on day 1
Active and Healthy Ageing: physical activity and falls prevention
Presenters: Ann Murray, Edith McIntosh and Alan Doyle

The session was chaired by Edith Macintosh, Rehabilitation Consultant with the Care Inspectorate and Ann Murray, the National Falls Programme Manager. This workshop provided an opportunity to learn about and share successful and innovative approaches to supporting active ageing and falls prevention in the community, including care homes.

You can download the Active and healthy ageing – physical activity and falls prevention presentation. The presenters have also put together a report detailing the table discussions, as well as links to further information and reading material.

What works in reducing social isolation and how can we enable more of this?
Presenters: Mark McGeachie, Gayle Bell, Mark Kelvin and Susan McDonald

This interactive and participative workshop, delivered by the Joint Improvement Team and The ALLIANCE, offered participants the opportunity to hear from people working in the community, partnership and national level on ways in which social isolation of older people can be reduced to help improve their health and well-being. Please view the what works in reducing social isolation presentation.

You can learn more about this work in the video below.

Using Padlet, an online sheet of paper for people to contribute content, we captured the key elements from the session. Included in the padlet is a video of delegates imaging themselves as an older person and moving forward or back when thinking about how an older person might feel in a certain situations.

Anticipatory Care Planning: Are we realising the potential?
Presenters: Janette Barrie and Stuart Cumming

This workshop, delivered by National ACP Task and Finish Group, focused on the benefits of anticipatory care planning. Delegates looked at scenarios from carer, individual and professional perspectives. We also looked at innovative local, national and international models of care in which anticipatory care planning is delivering a better care experience. The Anticipatory Care Planning – time to make it happen presentation and video can be viewed by following the links above.

Nothing about ME without ME
Presenters: Glenda Watt, Tom Berney and Rob Snodgrass

‘Nothing about me without me’ was led by the Scottish Older People’s Assembly. Tom Berney and Glenda Watt gave a presentation about the Scottish Older People’s Assembly and then delegates were invited to participate in small group discussions on what older people want from the Scottish Government and service providers. The nothing about me without me – Scottish Older People’s Assembly presentation and a summary of views gathered during the session are available for you to view.

The Scottish Older Peoples Assembly also joined us in the afternoon of day 1 for a conversation on the couch – please visit our blog about this session to find out more and view the photo gallery.

Living it Up
Presenters: Beth Murphy and Kirsty McLaughlan

Beth Murphy, Living it Up Service Manager at NHS24, provided an overview of recent developments with the ‘Living it Up’ service, and reviewed the ambition to provide digital self-management support.  In groups, attendees shared insights from their experience of how best to support people to actively engage with technology to better manage health and well-being. The Living and Dying Well with Frailty presentation can be viewed, as well as two videos highlighting this important work.

Enabling well-being at home through intermediate care or reablement
Presenters: Marie Curran and Lorna Dunipace

This workshop, delivered by Marie and Lorna from the Joint Improvement Team, was a mix of short presentations, digital stories and table discussions where delegates learned and covered:

• approaches to intermediate care and reablement across Scotland
• the outcomes for people who use these services, and for their carers and the health and care system, and
• how information about these services can be used for continuous improvement and global examples of good practice.

View the Enabling well-being at home through Intermediate Care and Reablement presentation for more insight into the session. A summary of the session can also be viewed via the padlet below.

Focus on Dementia – home is where the heart is
Presenters: Douglas Philips and Amanda Britain

The Joint Improvement Team delivered an interactive workshop focused on the benefits of collaborative working across traditional boundaries. Attendees discussed innovative local, national and international approaches to improving the quality of care and experience of people with dementia, which included a focus on housing, dementia-friendly communities and technology-enabled care. This session was filmed and is available to watch, you can also download the Focus on Dementia – changing minds, improving lives in Scotland (day 1) presentation.

A Stitch in Time: Making the case for investing in prevention in later life
Presenters: Mark McGeachie and Diane Kennedy

Diane from Evaluation Support Scotland and Mark from the Joint Improvement Team made a case for the contribution of the third sector and for prevention in reshaping care for older people through bringing together self-evaluation, formal research and tacit knowledge of practitioners, older people, carers and commissioners. This workshop provided participants with the opportunity to think about and discuss how they can use the materials and approach from A Stitch in Time? in their Partnership to make the case for prevention based on their local needs and priorities. Mark and Diane used a situation tree, a tool which allows participants to map a prevention journey. Key questions to ask when thinking through the journey are:

1. What is the current situation?
2. What are the expected poor outcomes?
3. Who is most at risk?

A template situation tree is available for you to use.

A copy of one of the completed situation trees along with the A stitch in time – the Scottish third sector contribution to care for older people presentation are also available for you to view.