MA DESIGN LAB: The Age Friendly City

MA DESIGN LAB

The Age Friendly City

Introduction
October 2011 saw the launch of a two-year partnership between the MA
Design (Design LAB) programme, based at the Manchester School of Art
Manchester Metropolitan University, and the Valuing Older People Team
VOP) at Public Health Manchester, Manchester City Council.

The aim of the partnership is to develop design ideas and approaches which contribute to the Age Friendly Manchester programme.

The project focuses on students working hands-on in the local community, whilst striving to achieve robust academic standards.
This booklet provides an overview of the initial phases of this partnership
It showcases several projects carried out in Chorlton, Manchester, and sets
out what was done, how, and why.

It documents design challenges and details responses that can be adapted or used by others working in this field
It is written from the perspective of the Design LAB students.
Collaborative, active, material-based design tools are starting to emerge
Direct contact with the community and its environment has been central
throughout. Much of the work has taken place on location. Some instances
have seen the street transformed into the design studio.

Read the full report here:

The_Age_Friendly_City ARTS (1)

Building bridges, breaking barriers: Integrated care for older people

Building bridges, breaking barriers looks at how well care for older people is integrated across health and social care, as well as the impact on older people who use services and their families and carers.

Building bridges, breaking barriers: Integrated care for older people
Read the Report here:

The review seeks to improve our understanding of how services work together to meet the needs of older people.

What we did

We gathered evidence from a range of sources, undertook site visits and spoke with older people and their carers to understand how integration across services affected their experiences of care. We looked for examples of where care was coordinated effectively and identified barriers that prevent it from working well.

What we found

We found many initiatives aimed at delivering integrated care. We saw some good practice, and in many cases considerable drive from providers and commissioners to improve the way services work together, but we did not find many examples of it working really well. There was considerable variation in the care provided and in the experiences and outcomes for older people.

Across the eight sites we reviewed, our findings related to both how services were working together and the impact this has on older people’s experiences. Looking at how services were working together for older people, we found that:

  • There was widespread commitment to delivering integrated care.
  • There were still many organisational barriers that made it difficult for services to identify older people who were at risk of deterioration or an unplanned emergency admission to hospital.
  • There were examples of joint working in delivering health and social care, but these were often inconsistent, short-term and reliant on partial or temporary funding and goodwill between different providers. They were not a mainstream part of the way in which services were planned or delivered around older people.
  • Monitoring and evaluation was often not carried out locally or was insufficient.
  • The lack of connection between services often resulted in older people and their families or carers needing to take responsibility for navigating complex local services. This could result in people ‘falling through the gaps’ and only being identified in response to a crisis.
  • Older people often had multiple care plans because professionals did not routinely link together and share information.
  • Older people were not routinely involved in decision making about their needs and preferences.
  • Older people and their families or carers did not routinely receive clear information about how their health and social care would be coordinated, in particular if there were changes in their circumstances or if there was an unplanned or emergency admission to hospital.
  • Local leaders achieved integrated person-centred care by working closely across health and social care services to share information, reduce duplicated efforts and use resources more effectively.

Our recommendations

  • Health and social care leaders should develop and agree a shared understanding and definition of what integrated care means for the population in their local area, and then work towards delivering this shared aim.
  • NHS England and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) should lead on developing an agreed methodology and data set for identifying people at risk of admission to secondary care or deterioration.
  • Older people should be meaningfully involved in making informed decisions about their care needs and care planning – in particular about the outcomes that are important to them – based on the existing national and local guidance.
  • Commissioners and providers in an area should ensure that information and support for older people and their families or carers is available, and this sets out connections between services, and how the people’s accessibility needs will be met.
  • The National Quality Board, in partnership with the National Information Board, develop and share a set of validated data metrics and outcomes measures for integrated care with person-centred outcomes at the heart of decision making about service provision and based on a consistent, shared view and definition of integration.

Seating and Sense of Place Document – Amy Barron, The University of Manchester

seatingMicra206 kopie

Introduction

The 21st century witnessed a momentous transition in modern urbanism with 2008 marking the year when more than 50% of the world population became urban.

Simultaneously, globally improving health, nutrition and medicine have resulted in population ageing significantly affecting contemporary conurbations.

The Age-friendly Manchester programme aims to improve the quality of life for older people in Manchester and make the city a better place to grow old.

In 2010, Manchester became the first UK city to join the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Network of age-friendly cities.

This membership recognised the work that had been happening in the city since 2002 as part of the Valuing Older People (VOP) programme.

Since 2005, work in Manchester has included an urban design element and in 2012, the Age-Friendly Manchester team established an Age-friendly Design Group.

This goes alongside partnerships with the Manchester School of Architecture and Manchester School of Art.

The WHO produced an Age-friendly City Guide, which has a focus on urban design, based on the model of an ideal city for older people.

It has a universal checklist of features that should produce an age-friendly environment. This guide highlighted public seating as a necessary age-friendly feature. Various academic and policy publications have since reinforced this observation, often with a focus on design.

Although crucial, this type of practical guidance carries an inherent risk in that a preoccupation with generating actionable results excludes the equally important, less obvious and more complex, relational dimensions amidst design, people and place (Handler, 2014).

Read the full report here:

Age-friendly Seating Report 04.10.2015

Micra190

Did Muslim soldiers really fight for Britain in WW1?

Press Release

15th January 2016

For Immediate Release

Did Muslim soldiers really fight for Britain in WW1?

2016 sees the official opening of the Stories of Sacrifice exhibition, dedicated to the bravery and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of Muslim soldiers who fought for Britain in World War One (WW1).

From recruitment to burial, the exhibition developed by the British Muslim Heritage Centre (BMHC) and part funded by the Community Covenant, gives an insight into the selfless sacrifice of Muslim soldiers, who valiantly fought for the freedoms and privileges that we take for granted in Great Britain today.

Greater Manchester Lord Lieutenant Warren Smith will officially launch the exhibition during the exclusive Annual Gala Dinner at the British Muslim Heritage Centre, in Whalley Range, Manchester, on 15th January 2016.

Master of Ceremonies is set to be BBC Radio leading light Talat Awan, who will be joined by a host of dignitaries, including the interim Mayor of Greater Manchester Tony Lloyd.

Complete with a virtual library, lesson plans and a toolkit for schools, this exhibition is the first long-term exhibition of its kind, devoted solely to exemplifying the Muslim community contribution and sacrifices during WW1.

Located in the heart of a diverse and developing Manchester, it will provide a stimulating platform from which to discuss and celebrate Muslim identity, belonging and contribution, not only to the region, but to the United Kingdom as a whole.

400,000 Muslim Soldiers from India fought for Britain in WW1, in addition to a further 280,000 Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians who fought for the allies. At least 89,000 Muslims were recorded as having given their lives for this country.

It is a little known fact that 20% of British Empire recruits were actually Muslims. What an unbelievable commitment and sacrifice. We British owe a lot to these forgotten heroes.

BMHC Chairman, Nasar Mahmood has commended his staff on an excellent achievement, stating that This is not the complete or final exhibition, it is simply the start of a journey of education and enlightenment. Ultimately towards a more cohesive society, founded on mutual respect and collaboration.

At a time when the Muslim Community is continually in the media spotlight, with some in society calling into question their loyalty to British values and to the British way of life, this initiative will go a long way to finding some tough but common ground.


(Muslim soldiers praying at Woking Mosque November 1915)


Indian Army troops reading English Newspaper on the way to

Mesopotamia

ENDS

For further information, contact: Ashraf Ali, BMHC Project Manager, College Road, Whalley Range, Manchester, M16 8BP, email: ashraf.ali@bmhc.org.uk , 0161 881 8062, 07545853126.

www.bmhc.org.uk

www.storiesofsacrifice.org.uk

Older people need more respect in the media

Older people need more respect in the media

25 November 2015

Roy Jones

There is a golden rule for those reporting on older people and issues: ask yourself whether words such as old, elderly or aged are appropriate. If they are not necessary or relevant to the story, don’t include them.

In the past, older people were treated somewhat patronisingly by the media, “reaching for their slippers”, for example, but generally in a kindly way. Nowadays, the following comment is more typical:

“The young tax-paying population has to fund, to its detriment, an ageing society.” – newspaper comment.

However, roughly 12 million older people are central, some say critically so, to Britain’s economy and their needs and responsibilities are subject to close media scrutiny and the vagaries of government.

Change the record: NUJ guidelines on reporting age state:

“Language can be a powerful tool in shaping our views and reflecting public attitudes and perceptions – both of which can form barriers that prevent people of every age from integration and participation in society. The NUJ has always urged journalists to avoid sensationalising issues in ways that cause offence or encourage discrimination.”

The British Medical Journal (BMJ, 12 February 2005) has pointed out that, despite the evidence [that over 65s are the safest drivers], many European governments have passed restrictive laws on elderly drivers and asks: “Might it be that a negative image of elderly drivers in the media could be an important part of shaping public and medical opinion?”

People reaching 60 or 65 do not automatically take on the characteristics of old age. Although such a diverse group is difficult to stereotype, the media manages to do so.

From change the record: NUJ guidelines on reporting age:

“‘Old’ itself is loaded with assumptions of neediness and ineptness that terrify the young and undermine the old, robbing them of self respect, damaging their health and welfare. Terms such as ‘granny’ and ‘pensioner’ encourage negative stereotypes.”

The use of ‘old’ is a trap for the unwary. There are 500 words or phrases defining old, about 10 are complimentary while the rest are derogatory and many – as in ‘old maid’ – doubly insulting.

Older people are not an amorphous mass but millions of individuals with different backgrounds, wealth, health, and demeanours, so that when one person is, or a group of older people, are the subject of a news story or feature remember – pensioners receive pensions, veterans have grown old in a profession. Adding a person’s age, Roy Jones, 62, is factual and probably relevant, although frowned upon by some.

There is no accepted catch-all word for the 60+ age group but ‘older people’ has become the most used and covers a very diverse grouping. Words such as old, aged, pensioner or aged 70 – throw no light on the subject.

They encompass every part of life’s rich pageant; men and women, rich and poor, dull and clever, fit and unfit, Tory and Labour and every other political hue, bankers, trades people, labourers, astronauts, middle, working and the ruling classes, public school educated and the uneducated. One-third of grandparents work and half pay taxes. All of the them do some or all of the following: tend to their own families; care for young and old; contribute to their communities in various ways; fill theatres and cinemas, read books and newspapers, listen to and watch current affairs and news programmes and join phone-ins. Journalists would do well to take time to discover what they do and give the rounded picture of them they deserve.

Politicians and the media claim daily that the country can’t afford the older generation and, having escaped the austerity cuts endured by the rest of the population, should lose benefits such as free bus travel, winter fuel allowance, free prescriptions and TV licences. In fact, the young are paying for the old now and in the future, they claim.

However, in 2010 a survey by the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service Gold Age Pensioners showed that every year pensioners contributed more to the economy than they received in pensions, care and benefits: “In 2010, over 65s made an astonishing net contribution of £40 billion to the UK economy through, amongst other contributions, taxes, spending power, provision of social care and the value of their volunteering.”

“Older people are the glue that hold our society together.” – Age UK spokesperson

The benefits group, Pension 100, has pointed out that: “The [OAP Act 1908] level of benefit was deliberately set low to encourage workers to also make their own provision for retirement. The Act provided five shillings (7s 6d for married couples) a week for those over 70 whose annual means did not exceed £31.50.”

The old have “generous pensions” – ITV reporter

Today Britain’s basic pension is worth 18 per cent of the average male earnings, compared with 60 per cent in many other European countries. One in five older people now live below the poverty line, the majority being women. Is this generous?

Britain’s basic pension is inadequate, leaving some without choice, opportunity and quality of life and reliant on benefits that are now under attack.

It time for older people in the UK to be given more respect by the various media outlets and – importantly – by politicians. An adequate rate of pension would be a start, but attitudes have to change to reflect the very real contribution to society made by people of all ages.

Read more here:

reporting age