Ageing Well Engagement Page

The council’s overall direction for adult social care is built on three core strategies named ‘Ageing Well’, ‘Caring Well’, and ‘Living Well’, which set out priorities over the next five years. The three strategies were co-designed with people who use the services and their friends and families. They focus on how the council will support people across the city, whether they are older people, those with a care and support need with learning disabilities, mental health challenges, autism, living with additional physical or sensory difficulty, or the friends and family of people with additional needs.

A Partnership group has been formed to manage the development, delivery, and monitoring of the yearly action plans for each strategy. This will build on the work of the previous year and consider emerging needs and trends.

All action plans contain a desire to further develop co-production, meaning there will continue to be multiple methods for residents to be a part of the work going forward. We are currently setting up Residents Forums for us to be able to gather feedback. This will enable multiple ways to work with us, whether this is via membership of the partnership group, residents forum, focused pieces of work on specific activities or design, or by engagement through the website and social media. We are also aware that people may be interested in more than one of the strategies and as such we will link together so people can navigate between more easily.

The Ageing Well Strategy takes into account the needs of people as they get older. The Strategy does not limit its ambition to an arbitrary age, but instead aims to create an environment and community that embraces ageing and allows people of all ages to live well together in Southend.

What are we going to do? Our priorities for action:

• Outdoor spaces and buildings – carry out an audit of public buildings with a view to recommending improvements
• Transport – carry out a review of transport availability and options for older people to create community focused solutions.
• Housing – encompassing a number of actions, with the aim of moving away from an over reliance on residential and nursing care, considering what other options are available and developing a business case for investment.
• Social Participation – connecting active participants in the community with older people living on their own.
• Respect and social isolation – promote intergenerational understanding and respect
• Civic participation and employment – work with existing VCSE sector in Southend to coordinate a volunteering bureau.
• Communication and information – Creating a streamlined offer for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG)
• Community support & health and social care services – Increase investment in prevention and early intervention to promote better outcomes for older people.

The survey has been separated into different sections, for residents to engage in every month. The schedule has been detailed below:

1. Outdoor Spaces, Buildings and Housing (how you feel about buildings, parks, green spaces, pavements, roads, and housing in Southend) From Wednesday 1^st February 2023
2. Transport and Social Participation (how you feel about the bus and train service in Southend, and community integration) From Wednesday 1^st March 2023
3. Respect and social inclusion & Civic participation and employment (how you feel about how you are included in employment and volunteering opportunities). From Saturday 1^st April 2023
4. Communication and information & Community and Health services (how you receive information about your local area in Southend, and the support services you receive) From Monday 1^st May.

All surveys will close on Wednesday 31st May 2023.

If you would like to be involved you can take part in our Ageing Well survey below. If you have any questions or would prefer a hard copy, please email Adult Commissioning team at AdultCommissioning@Southend.gov.uk or contact us on 01702 212464 (Tasnima) or 01702 215710 (Tracey).

*Update - 1st February 2023*

Thank you to all who have participated so far. The first version of the survey has now closed. Following feedback we received from residents and those engaging with the survey, we have decided to revise the survey to make it easier and simpler for residents to complete. The findings from the first version of the survey will be released once the new surveys have all been completed. The plan for the next phase in this information gathering stage, is that each month will focus on a different topic. The surveys will take. The schedule for the surveys will be:

1. Wednesday 1^st February 2023: Outdoor Spaces, Building and Housing
2. Wednesday 1^st March 2023: Transport and Social participation
3. Saturday 1^st April 2023: Respect and social inclusion & Civic participation and employment
4. Monday 1^st May 2023 : Communication and information & Community and Health services

All surveys will close on Wednesday 31st May 2023.

To read about how the Council handles your data please visit our Privacy notice: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council Privacy Notice