Partners in East Renfrewshire, at the instigation of Anne Kidd, chief executive of VAER, are working together to develop a new \u2018Home from Hospital\u2019 service as part of a Big Lottery Funded programme called \u2018Better by Design\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Better by Design is a new approach from Big Lottery, aiming to apply the methods and mindsets of design to improve the social impact and sustainability of Scotland\u2019s third sector. Taylor Haig is delivering this programme for Big Lottery in partnership with the Young Foundation.<\/p>\n
Lynne Wardle, Director of Taylor Haig, is working with Anne and partners on Home from Hospital.\u00a0 Here she describes the initiative and what she thinks is particularly exciting about the approach in East Renfrewshire.<\/p>\n
When I first spoke with Anne about the Home from Hospital project she was apologetic.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d she said, \u201cbut it\u2019s complicated\u201d.\u00a0 She went on to describe the many organizations \u2013 public sector, voluntary sector and private sector – the local policies, national policies, new initiatives and existing services that connected and related to older people\u2019s journey home from hospital.\u00a0 \u201cBut the good news,\u201d she added, \u201cis that we\u2019re have a mature local partnership and I believe we can make a difference\u201d.\u00a0 I believe she\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
The official narrative of the issues associated with hospital discharge is well rehearsed.\u00a0 But how do older people experience this situation?\u00a0 What are their expectations, their hopes and fears relating to hospital admission and the transition home, or to a new or newly adapted home? What about health professionals, social workers, carers, family members, neighbours and friends? Actually, what problem is \u201cHome from Hospital\u201d trying to solve and whose problem is it anyway?\u00a0 In a complex system there will be many different perspectives on both the problem and the solution.<\/p>\n
As with any design-led approach we began with an exploratory phase.\u00a0 A workshop with stakeholders [practitioners] informed the initial \u2018design brief\u2019 and from there we\u2019ve drawn on ethnographies, case studies, desk research and interviews with stakeholders to shape the approach.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, when talking with stakeholders it was noticeable that most said very little about \u201cHome from Hospital\u201d.\u00a0 Instead, they spoke about their realisation that things had to change.\u00a0 The current systems and services to support older people don\u2019t make sense in the changing world we live in. \u00a0Stakeholders experienced a tension between \u2018keeping the lights on\u2019 \u2013 maintaining performance within the current paradigm \u2013 and working in new ways and with new models that haven\u2019t yet got a clear form.\u00a0 The people in the partnership were restless and thoughtful but also open minded and optimistic \u2013 a great basis for a design-led approach!<\/p>\n
It is apparent that partners in East Renfrewshire have positive regard for one another and empathy for the day-to-day pressures that can get in the way of innovation and change.\u00a0\u00a0 They are also prepared to challenge assumptions and really seek to understand what people want and need and what assets, capabilities and capacity exits in communities that could be reconfigured in service of older people. \u00a0They also want to get on and try things, to co-design with older people and prototype services quickly.\u00a0 Through learning by doing they hope to show not only that it is possible to design improved services for older people, but also it is possible to change the relationship between commissioners and community providers, between professionals and volunteers and between services and people who need support.<\/p>\n
In East Renfrewshire, we\u2019re not only developing a service; we\u2019re prototyping a process, a way of working together that can be applied to other challenges and one that we hope will have the potential to sustain system-wide change in the way communities and public services collaborate to make life better for people.<\/p>\n
To quote the well-known anthropologist, Margaret Mead, \u201cNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Partners in East Renfrewshire, at the instigation of Anne Kidd, chief executive of VAER, are working together to develop a new \u2018Home from Hospital\u2019 service as part of a Big Lottery Funded programme called \u2018Better by Design\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Better by Design is a new approach from Big Lottery, aiming to apply the methods and mindsets of … <\/p>\n