Agenda item

31.1     The Director of Public Health introduced the report as a 12 month update on the Healthy Ageing action plan, reflecting the importance of healthy ageing in East Sussex and the need to change the narrative around ageing by recognising the assets, skills and contribution of older residents, alongside work to support healthy lifestyles and reduce future care needs.

31.2     The Health Improvement Principal outlined the progress of the scrutiny review and thanked the review board for their input into this work.

31.3     Work to progress the review’s recommendations included development of the Stay Strong, Stay Steady, Stay Independent falls prevention campaign delivered through community events and social media, the development of additional community strength and balance programmes, and work to develop an intergenerational activity toolkit, together with communications activity linked to Age Without Limits.

31.4     The Committee welcomed the progress made and asked questions in the following areas:

• Intergenerational (IG) toolkit: The Committee asked about engagement with the IG toolkit. The Health Improvement Principal advised that web page usage data was not yet available, but noted strong interest through launch webinars which had been attended by people from across the community. She noted that future communications would use case studies and webinar recordings, and that a further video case study was being developed.
• Employer engagement: The Committee asked about engagement with employers on the Age Friendly Employer Pledge. The Health Improvement Principal explained that although this data was not available, the pledge is promoted through wellbeing at work activity and district and borough councils, including Hastings and Rother, had signed up. ESCC’s HR Management Board was reviewing multiple workforce pledges to take a more holistic approach, while continuing to embed age?friendly principles in practice, including retention work for over?55s.
• Age friendly communications: The Committee welcomed the range of activity but queried how the plan would embed sustained change beyond awareness raising, including whether Council literature/forms/policies would be reviewed and whether baseline measures and tangible outcomes would be established. The Health Improvement Principal explained that ageism is widespread and deeply ingrained and that changing attitudes would take time. Work to date had focused on raising awareness through national campaigning led by the Centre for Ageing Better, including Age Without Limits. Measuring impact was challenging due to limited local data, although progress was being made through age friendly community work in Hastings and Rother. Internally, officers were considering how best to promote existing national guidance on inclusive language and imagery.
• Falls –reduced admissions: The Committee asked whether there had been a reduction in falls admissions as a result of the work. The Health Improvement Principal advised there was no evidence yet, noting falls admission data is typically reported annually and that a campaign was unlikely, in isolation, to shift system level outcomes. There was Sussex wide work through the Sussex Frailty Board and a newly established falls subgroup focused on long term, system wide action.
• Targeting areas of work: The Committee asked how areas with high falls rates would be targeted beyond the initial phase, how success of intergenerational micro grants would be measured, and whether the work would be rolled out to other districts and boroughs if successful. The Health Improvement Principal explained that future work would link to Integrated Community Teams, including development of local information packs identifying hotspot data and practical actions. On grants, she advised the programme was in development and would include proportionate monitoring expectations and support for organisations to evaluate activity, with wider roll out dependent on additional resources and partnership arrangements.
• Loneliness: Councillor Ungar welcomed the work and highlighted its links to previous scrutiny on loneliness. He noted that many older people experience loneliness and that initiatives to promote physical activity and wellbeing also play an important role in bringing people together and reducing social isolation.

31.5     The Lead Member for ASCH welcomed the update and commented that the Healthy Ageing Scrutiny Review demonstrated effective scrutiny, with positive officer engagement. He emphasised the importance of partnership working and noted that the success of the work would be seen by tangible improvements in health outcomes for older residents. He thanked officers and the Review Board for their work.

31.6     The Committee welcomed progress to date but agreed that further updates could benefit from further scrutiny by the incoming committee.

31.7     The Committee RESOLVED to note the progress made against the agreed actions at Appendix 1 and to recommend to the incoming committee that this is further explored at a later date.