New report: what we’ve learned from our work so far
Twelve recommendations for helping to tackle loneliness and isolation among older people are outlined in a new report, published by Connect Hackney today.
Connect Hackney is a programme aimed at improving the wellbeing of people aged over 50 by preventing loneliness and isolation. It is one of 14 schemes funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Ageing Better programme and will receive £5.8m over six years.
We are working with older people and our partners to understand the different things that can help over 50s stay connected and active in their communities in ways that suit them.
The new report – Connect Hackney: what we learned from phase one – is aimed at policy makers and professionals who work with older people.
In phase one of the Connect Hackney programme, covering the period from 2015 to 2018, we invested in 23 projects to reduce the social isolation of older people.
These projects tested different interventions, aimed at different client groups and using different approaches and delivery models. The projects included a peer support project for people with hearing loss, activities at lunch clubs, mindfulness classes and an art group for older LGBT people.
Investing in such a wide range of projects brought challenges, but this approach also allowed us to identify common themes from a broad spectrum of projects, as well the successes and challenges of each project.
The 12 recommendations in this report are drawn from the insights of the provider organisations that ran the projects, the findings from data collected through the common measurement framework (CMF) used by all the Ageing Better programmes and the local evaluation of Connect Hackney led by the Tavistock Institute.
We will continue to use the evidence gathered through our work, and our knowledge of social isolation, to influence the way services and activities for older people are designed in future.
