North Lanarkshire H&SCP - Wishaw Locality – Older Adults Social Work

 

Embracing Change and Enabling Older Adults

“By shifting to empowering practices, we give the silent voices in our society a better chance of being heard”.

Scotland’s population is aging, meaning there is now more individuals in the older age group than ever recorded in Scotland. Therefore, inequalities currently being experienced need to be acknowledged and approaches to supports need to be adapted in response.

Wishaw Older Adult Social work team’s imatter action plan for the year ahead has highlighted the need for change. The team is displaying an open mindedness to new ways of working and a willingness to do things differently.  All members of the team are active participants in our commitment to making improvements and by taking this creative approach to change we are challenging assumptions and aiming to enhance existing practices.

Too often due to negative misconceptions around ageing this can often risk leading to poorer outcomes for older adults. We aim to promote practice in a way that older adults are co-producing supports and we are continuing to challenge societal perceptions of ageing; shifting from a decline analogy to one which recognises an older adult’s rights to choice & control.

 

We want older adults to become active participants in the planning of their supports moving away from seeing them as passive recipients. To do this we are ensuring that service users are given more access to information around support options and are given the opportunities to make informed decisions and choices by having meaningful conversations around supports. Within the partnership, we view the social work role as upholding this human rights strength based and enabling approach to service delivery. As a team we are driving forward the implementation of availability & accessibility of information around self-directed supports and the promotion of a right to remain living well at home.

One area of focus for the coming year is increasing our understanding around the barriers of uptake of option 1 - direct payments within the arena of older adults. We will be engaging with service users and their families to explore what may prevent them from pursuing a direct payment. Our role will be in helping them overcome any anxiety or barriers, recognising this option gives service users the most choice and control over their support.

We are committed to ensuring all older people have a voice, choice and control over their lives and they have a right to make informed decisions. The team recognises embracing change for the improvements this can offer to our service users and their families and the opportunities it presents to get it right for everybody.

Angela O’Brien, Wishaw Locality Social Work Manager added “the team have demonstrated a clear commitment to the service position around back to basics, ensuring that services users are at the heart of any social work intervention. The team promote clear choice and control on how individuals are supported particularly where families impress the need for services that are not warranted in an enabling approach to good service delivery. Celebrating the living well agenda has been very well adopted within the Wishaw Older Adults team which is very refreshing”.