The population of Essex is ageing, people are living longer with more complex needs and Health and Social Care need to think differently about how to manage this growing demand. As people grow older the risk of developing health complaints and long-term health conditions increases; yet many older people in Essex are inactive, increasing this risk even further.
Each community in Essex offers a wealth of assets, activities and opportunities for people to connect and engage with. However, those with additional needs often feel excluded from their local community and become isolated or increasingly dependent on their loved ones.
We know that sport and physical activity brings people and local communities together. It creates focus and has the power to generate networks, friendships, improve confidence and promote a healthy lifestyle, both in terms of cardio-vascular health, diet and nutrition. However, many older people and those who have additional needs, do not engage in sport or physical activity and often have limited daily activity or interaction with others.
Active Essex, Essex County Council Adult Social Care and Sport for Confidence have developed a strategic partnership to look at how we create opportunities for disabled people and those living with long-term health conditions to be active and engage in sport and physical activity within their community. Initially a 12-month test and learn project funded by the Essex Local Delivery Pilot, the Prevention and Enablement Model (PEM) is now in its second year of testing due to the disruption of Covid-19 with further finance investment from Adult Social Care.
The initial findings from the 6-month evaluation report published in March 2021 reported, ‘From early, indicative data, we see that PEM has the potential to lift the wellbeing and activity levels of a disabled person to levels similar to those reported by non-disabled persons. ‘PEM service users also self-reported health levels higher than disabled people in the Active Lives survey’. ‘Of those staff exposed to early PEM training, we saw a sixfold increase in the confidence of Occupational Therapists advising service users on the impact of inactivity’. ‘PEM has the potential of being a socially desirable investment, delivering about £3 of social value per each £1 invested’.
PEM is providing a great opportunity for the sport and physical activity sector to better understand adult social care, how the system operates, the challenges it faces, but also where the opportunities are for collaboration. Co-production has been at the heart of the project from the start, building on Asset Based Community Development work and ensuring the user voice is heard throughout.
The journey has started positively and despite the impact from the pandemic, PEM is primed to make an even more significant difference to the lives of people living with a disability or long-term health condition, over the course of the next year.
