£1.5 MILLION CASH BOOST TO GIVE OLDER PEOPLE MORE INDEPENDENCE

9 November 2005

Older people with mental health needs and their carers in Camden can look forward to a £1.5 million cash boost to help them live more independent lives.

Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health made the funding announcement at a visit to the Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre in Chalk Farm on Tuesday 8 November.

Camden Council is one of 19 areas across the country to win the new funding for a new project called Partnerships for Older People Projects (POPP). The money will pay for a range of innovative new projects for older people with mental health needs and their carers to help them stay independent for as long as they want to.

The projects will focus on preventing dementia and reducing emergency admissions to hospital. They also aim to make sure older people with mental health needs from all backgrounds are included and give extra support for carers.

The raft of new initiatives that will be funded include:

• Projects where older people can use their own experiences to network with others to give vital information and support.
• A new ‘alternative care’ scheme where older people can buy-in the care they need, when they need it, giving them complete control of their care.
• A new memory service for early diagnosis and treatment of people with dementia
  A specialist exercise programme offered at home, with carers trained to give lessons in exercises such as Tai Chi and other relaxation exercise.
• A new enhanced home care service open seven days a week for people with high level complex needs such as dementia.
• Emotional and practical support for carers.
• Supporting more older people with mental health needs to live in their own homes by increasing access to assistive technology such as falls sensors, wandering client sensors and flood, gas and smoke detectors.

Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health added: “I am delighted to announce £1.5 million for your projects in Camden. We know, because older people tell us, that they want to live independently for as long as possible. Too many older people are being admitted to hospital, often as an emergency, when this could be avoided if the right community services were in place at the right time.

“What we want to achieve with POPP are services that avoid these crisis scenarios and that will give our older people more choice and control over their lives."

Cllr Harriet Garland, the borough’s Older People’s Champion welcomed the benefits this new funding will bring. Speaking to around 50 older people and staff involved in devising services with and for older people, she said:

“I am so excited that this new funding has an emphasis on older people with mental health difficulties and carers. Having mental health difficulties can mean being very depressed, forgetful, having dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It is very difficult to live with. I have suffered from depression all my life - it’s scary, and as you get older it gets a bit worse.

“The services Camden provides in day centres and residential homes is already fantastic. This money can extend services and support for carers. Carers have an extraordinarily difficult time. However much you value a person, the frustration at your inability to make the other person feel happy can be relentless.“

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