Activity Buddies: Promoting Health and Wellbeing Together 1 st July 2008 By Professor Ann Moore Director of Clinical Research Centre for Health Professions Chair of the Wellbeing, Health and Occupation for Older People (WHOOP)

Project Partners Professor Ann Moore – Clinical Research Centre for Health Professions (Project Lead) Mr John Appleyard – Hastings & St Leonards Seniors Forum (Community Partner Strand 7) Ms Diane Aslett – Help the Aged (Community Partner) Professor Marion Barnes – Health and Social Policy Research Centre (Strand 4) Ms Finola Brophy – LifeLines, Age Concern Brighton, Hove and Portslade (Community Partner Strand 6) Mr Mike Ellis-Martin – School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences (Strand 2) Mr Dave Harley – School of Applied Social Sciences (Strand 4) Dr Elizabeth Harrison- School of Anthropology, University of Sussex (Strand 4) Ms Kirsty Henshall – WRVS (Community Partner Strand 1, 3 & 5) Miss Lisa Hodgson – Clinical Research Centre for Health Professions (Project Co-ordinator) Dr Raija Kuisma – School of Health Professions ( Strand 1) Dr Linda Lovelock – School of Health Professions (Strand 3) Ms Juliet Millican – School of Applied Social Sciences (Strand 6) Ms Paula Riley – School of Health Professions (Strand 5) Ms Beth Thomas-Hancock Student, University of Brighton Mr Clive Wormald – Age Concern Eastbourne (Community Partner Strand 1,3 & 5)

Building upon existing WHOOP activities 2005 CUPP funded project exploring university and community partnerships 2007 BSCKE funded project to implement activities in collaboration with community and voluntary partners to promote health and wellbeing in older people

Activity Buddies SECC project Encourages cross disciplinary, cross sector and intergeneration collaborations and learning It opens up and encourages older people and voluntary organisations into the university Develop projects which promote health and wellbeing among older people It empowers older people to share their experiences/knowledge – ‘The teacher’

This SECC project Developed 6 different themed strands – Collaborations between the University of Brighton & University of Sussex working with the CoP’s community partners to address health and wellbeing of older people. Will develop a proposal to BSCKE to fund an additional Activity Buddies strand working in collaboration with Hastings & St Leonards Seniors Forum

The strands Strand 1 - Fitness & mobility for health- Dr Raija Kuisma School of Health Professions To promote regular exercise and to maintain and improve health related fitness in the elderly Strand 2 - Dispensing with the mystery- Mr Mike Ellis-Martin School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences To address issues of management of medications and information about medications. Strand 3 - Learning together – Dr Linda Lovelock School of Health Professions To enabling older people to work alongside occupational therapy students to develop intergenerational understanding and knowledge exchange

Strand 4 -Reduced Horizons – Dr Elizabeth Harrison School of Anthropology University of Sussex, Professor Marion Barnes Health and Social Policy Research Centre & Mr Dave Harley School of Applied Social Sciences University of Brighton To reduce the risk of isolation among older people by developing a booklet and internet resources which highlight positive approaches to ageing. Strand 5 - Health Education Programme - Ms Paula Riley This project seeks to help older people care for their own feet and when necessary, how to access the locally available services. Strand 6 – Community Partnerships – Ms Juliet Millican University of Brighton and Ms Finola Brophy, LifeLine project Age Concern Students from the Community, Participation and Development module will work on a number of projects determine by the LifeLines programme.

Individual strands will run two rounds of the projects throughout the duration of the funded period; with the exception of the Sussex strand where the project is on going and will Encourage students to use and develop their professional skills to build confidence Students will be encouraged to share their experiences and feedback their knowledge Develop understanding of the issues concerning older people and the issues which prevent them from participating in activities and their communities

How we will evaluate the project The Activity Buddies CoP will run focus groups at the end of each project strand to guage in the success of the project Use the REAP model to begin to ascertain the projects impact on the university’s, students, community partners and older people

In addition individual strand leads will have the opportunity to implement their own outcome measure tools relevant to each of the project areas to measure impact eg: Health and fitness questionnaires to assess the impact of the activities on older people Understanding your medications questionnaire Quality of life questionnaires

Links with University of Chichester project ‘Training older people as researchers’ Older people carrying out follow up focus groups to ascertain the impact of participating in the different activity buddies projects

Reciprocity Knowledge exchange will occur between students, staff, older people and community partners related to individual stands Steering group meetings and WHOOP meetings will enable all members of the CoP and wider WHOOP group members to evaluate and assess outcomes of the project throughout the project Share best practices & research knowledge with one another A strategic plan will be developed by the group to develop research funding bids to support current and new activities

Externalities Integrating individual strands into teaching and research SECC is already part of School of Health Professions Strategic plan Develop new initiatives to develop the good practices established in the CoP Dissemination – publications in relevant journals, 2 planned project books, 2 planned conferences and WHOOP conferences

Access Throughout the duration of the project older people and community organisations will have access to university facilities Membership of the WHOOP group older people and community organisation have opportunities to access research Contribute towards research agenda’s and project development

Partnership WHOOP will continue to develop new links within the community and strengthen existing links with community partners Together identify priority areas for further research which will deepen all members knowledge and understanding of the issues concerning older people in the local community

Contact Details Professor Ann Moore (Project Lead) Miss Lisa Hodgson ( Project Co-ordinator)