A new toolkit and video to help local GP Surgeries to become Age Friendly has been launched on the Isle of Wight.
The project won grant funding from ‘NHS England’s Celebrating Participation in Healthcare Grants’. These grants are awarded to showcase best practise, engagement and co-production with the public to improve healthcare. Following this success the project was also awarded matched funding from My Life a Full Life to produce a film of the project.
The Isle of Wight has an increasingly aging population, with nearly half of all Island residents being aged 50 and over. In 2015 the BIG Lottery Fund awarded funding to create an Age Friendly Island to support this ageing community and tackle social isolation. Being Age Friendly means recognising and respecting the decisions and changing lifestyles of older people, and promoting their inclusion in all areas of community life. This includes adapting services and environments to respond to age-related requirements and preferences.
As part of this work the Age Friendly Communities team within Age UK Isle of Wight worked in partnership with Tower House Surgery in Ryde, and their Patient Participation Group, to put together a toolkit of recommendations and best practise. They came up with a framework of 6 areas to focus on, including looking at areas of the surgery that were already considered Age Friendly and how other areas could be improved.
This framework was then taken to the Age Friendly Island Public Forums, a series of open public meetings where local older people were invited to have their say on the toolkit. Their input shaped, and helped to develop, the final the Age Friendly Surgeries Framework.
This framework offers GP Surgeries a map of how to engage and co-produce with the public to help improve health services. The practical toolkit can be adapted where necessary to provide an environment and service that takes a person-centred approach, improving older patients’ experience and access to healthcare services.
More information can be found at https://agefriendlyisland.org/making-gp-surgeries-age-friendly/). For any queries about this project contact Emma Lincoln on [email protected] or ring Age UKIW on 01983 525282.
