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Journal of Brighton & Hove Pensioner Action
Reviewing sheltered housing Peter Huntbach, Older Peoples Housing Manager, Brighton & Hove City Council We are all growing older and luckily, we are living longer. In our city we’re no exception and in the years to come we’re expecting an increase in the very old (those over 80) and those approaching older age (those in their 50s). As the largest sheltered housing provider in Brighton & Hove, this provides us with both opportunities and challenges. We are therefore reviewing how we work to make sure we can continue to provide a valuable local service. We believe that we can make a real difference to people’s lives, supporting those who need a little more help and taking preventative steps to ensure that people live a more active and healthy old age. We know that many of the health impacts in the city, from cancer to poor mental health could be prevented if better advice and support is provided earlier on. If we get it right, we hope that our sheltered service can not only improve the quality of life for older people, maintaining their independence and wellbeing, but also reduce the need for hospital admission or residential care. Also, at a time when public budgets are under pressure, we believe that preventative services such as ours could help save money by reducing the need for more expensive health and social care interventions. Recent changes in how health, public health and social care are organised mean that councils now have an important role in how all these services work together. We want to take advantage of this opportunity. In our review, we want to see how we can work better with the health services, public health and Adult Social Care to support our aims.
schemes and recently attended a fantastic lunch club run by residents for residents. Not only was the food of the highest quality but the sense of community spirit was overwhelming. We would like to see more activities such as this that tackle loneliness and isolation. In some of our sheltered schemes, activities are open to older people living nearby, and we’ll want to make better use of the Fed’s ‘It’s Local, Actually’ scheme to promote these. Of course there are challenges for us. As we all grow older some of us might need a greater level of support, particularly when we are very old. With over a third of our sheltered housing residents over 80 we need to make sure that our services are able to support a very old age group. That’s not to say that everyone over 80 is frail, and many lead active and fulfilling lives, but we do need to be aware that our services are better tailored to meet the different needs and aspirations of all our residents. We are very lucky to have an active group of sheltered residents (our Sheltered Housing Action Group) who are helping us with our review. We want to make sure that any changes we make to our sheltered service reflect the needs and aspirations of our residents. If you would like to know more about the council’s sheltered housing service or our review, please contact our sheltered housing team on tel: 01273 293 255 or email: sheltered@brighton-hove.gov.uk
When talking about health we don’t always think about the impact of loneliness and isolation. Yet it’s becoming evident that loneliness can have a devastating impact on an older person’s wellbeing. The value of social relationships was recently brought home to me by the University of Brighton and Brighton & Hove Age UK’s research into wellbeing in old age. It is one of the enduring qualities of sheltered housing that our schemes provide a close community where older people can thrive. I’m constantly surprised about the activities in our
“The Pensioner makes me feel we still belong to this world.” “We wouldn’t get to know anything useful without The Pensioner!” “We sometimes pick an item in The Pensioner and use it as a subject for discussion in the afternoons when we meet. It’s so much better than ‘what I had for tea’!” (Members from the West Hove Neighbourhood Group) “We would not have known about the Patient Participation Groups unless we had discussed it in our Group and read about it in The Pensioner.” (Member from the Craven Vale Neighbourhood Group)