Social work with older people – Frequent home visits for socially isolated older people with lower levels of care needs

Warum wurde diese Initiative implementiert?

The aim of the pilot is to increase the participation of older people into a local social network. The main target group is older people living in isolation or with insufficient social support from their families or neighbours. The project gives information to older people about how to access local support services. After the initial contact, the first visit by a professional social worker is to assess the support needs of the person focusing on social participation rather than a comprehensive care needs assessment. The support could be in the field of care which is delegated to a home care service or in social assistance which is arranged with volunteers.

The important goal of the visit is to get access to older people on a low threshold level and to get them in contact with formal social care structures, especially those who live alone or are isolated. The low threshold access by volunteer visitors allows for contact with the older person on an ‘eye level’ not on a professional level. Important for the recruitment of volunteers was co-operation with the local employment agency which offers interested unemployed people the opportunity to engage for limited hours in the pilot project for a small additional income. These ‘volunteers’ are connected with an official contract to carry out agreed activities for the project. Genuine volunteers are more independent and are able to decide their level of engagement in the project. Currently the ratio of unemployed volunteers to genuine volunteers is fifty-fifty.

Beschreibung

The project aims to reach older people with a low level of care needs but who are lacking in social participation and integration. The theoretical base of the project is a social and environmental oriented perspective within the neighbourhood where the project runs. Under this perspective the social and care needs of a person are viewed side by side. Four organisations are responsible for the realisation and evaluation of the pilot: two social welfare organisations, one research centre for scientific assistance and an academy for education which carries out the qualification and workshops for the volunteers and expert conferences. Two of the organisations responsible for running the service started with a public relations campaign targeted at older people and networking activities in the respective boroughs. Meanwhile the recruitment and education of volunteers proceeded. The first base assessment is always carried out by a professional social worker in the context of a personal interview. All important information is fixed in the so called ‘first visit’ documentation and in a continued evaluation document. Changing needs could be followed-up by volunteers. In agreement with the user a kind of action plan was set up to clarify the next steps in care provision. This could mean that the older person needs to have support by professional carers or by volunteers. The older person has the option to be visited by a volunteer one or more times a week. The support can be stopped at any time on the request of the individual. It is possible that there are other (professional) care service providers caring for the older person while they are in the pilot project. The financial means to run the project were provided by the County Government of Bremen with an amount of 115.000 € for 15 months.

Welche Effekte wurden erzielt?

The project started in 2008 with an evaluation by the Centre for Nursing Research and Counselling Bremen (ZePB) running in parallel. The evaluation includes the following:

• Documentation of the project steps and phases of the implementation.
• Documentation of case-related befriending work.
• Interviews with users (older people) and volunteers.
• Improving and adapting the qualification to current demands of the volunteers. 

A report on the evaluation of the first period was published in October 2010. The outcomes show a successful achievement of the objectives. Huge interest from stakeholders and volunteers who participated in the project was identified. Improved strategies to identify potential users and gain access to the target group will be an important challenge in the future. The project is still a work in progress and open to new ways of solving problems and challenges. Currently funding for the project is not ensured after the end of the pilot period. If government policy remains the same then plans to implement the project in other boroughs of Bremen can be carried forward.

Worin bestehen die Stärken und Schwächen der Initiative?

Strengths

• The pilot tries to narrow the gap between social care and nursing care in a preventive way with home visits by volunteers for home bound older people.
• The intervention aims to reach older people in a preventative rather than reactive capacity. Using this strategy there is a higher probability that older people can continue living in their own homes. 
• The pilot reaches an ignored target group in the German care system. 

Weaknesses

• Getting in touch with isolated older people is the main aim and challenge of the project. It is likely that there are still an unknown number of older people who could not be reached by the project in spite of intense public relations and networking efforts. 
• Volunteers connected by the employment agency regularly stay in the project for six months and some remain up to 12 months after extension of their contracts. The limited availability of these helpers is not a good basis for personal work and befriending older people. 

Opportunities

• The pilot offers the possibility to get more evidence about the effects of preventive home visits to isolated older people. Two specified targets could be analysed: how home visits improve life-satisfaction for older people and to what extent self-determination and independency can be retained. 

Threats

• It is unsure how the project will be retained after the end of the pilot period.

Impressum

Links zu anderen INTERLINKS-Initiativen

• Neighbourhood Solidarity

Externe Links und Literatur

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