And on Friday 29 January, we will be at the IDeA ‘Transforming adult social care: information and advice strategy milestones’ conference. For more info, check out http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=15562324

The study reveals that over half of adults in the UK (55%) say they have learnt respect and manners from their grandparents, and almost as many say they showed them the different between right and wrong (48%).  The teaching of essential life skills continue with a quarter (24%) having been taught how to believe in themselves and almost a fifth (18%) shown how to cook by their grandmothers and grandfathers.

Furthermore, when it comes to the role the older generation play in their families’ lives, almost a third of grandchildren (31%) say their grandparents are like ‘second parents’ to them, more than one in seven (15%) say they are like ‘confidants’, and one in ten (10%) described their role as a ‘counsellor’ in their times of need.

As the structure of the British family becomes increasingly diverse, there has been a growing reliance on grandparents to help support their grandchildren’s upbringing, whether that’s financially, emotionally or otherwise. As such, the issue of grandparenting is a hot topic for all of the political parties ahead of the forthcoming election.

BeGrand.net - a partnership between Opportunity Links, The Grandparents’ Association and Digital Unite - has been designed to raise awareness of the significant part grandparents play in their contribution to family life and addresses serious issues like legal rights, through to fun things like activities to do with grandchildren on holiday.

Jackie Highe, author and spokesperson for BeGrand.net, said: “It is so important that we appreciate how much our grandparents can add to our lives and our research really highlights just how integral they are to supporting the family unit and society as a whole.  The launch of BeGrand.net provides a much needed ‘destination website’ where grandparents can go online and share issues from the more serious legal and social problems to the every day advice.”

Celebrities such as Davina McCall, Michael Palin and Esther Rantzen have also revealed the impact their grandparents made on their lives to mark the new initiative. 

Davina McCall, TV presenter: “I owe my grandparents so much. They brought me up from 3. They taught me manners and good old fashioned morals. They looked after my great grandmother and as a child l loved living with my great granny! They also taught me that family is everything and Sunday lunch together is the LAW!“

Michael Palin, comedian, actor, writer: “Grandparents are more than just a back-up team for weary parents. They can be an immensely valuable part of a child’s life and learning. And since I’ve had two of my own, I’ve realised that grand-children can be an equally valuable part of a grandparent’s life and learning. The two generations were made for each other.”

Esther Rantzen, journalist and TV presenter: “There is huge value of an extended family, my Mother’s mother loved the company of her grandchildren and we saw her every week.  She taught us songs and poems, riddles and children’s games that I have passed onto my own children.  She was a formative influence on my life.”

Bel Mooney, Daily Mail columnist: ‘My grandparents’ most important legacy is the belief that you always put your family first. They were ordinary Liverpool people with an extraordinary capacity for sacrifice, devotion, hard work, kindness, fun and tolerance - which are all essential ingredients of family life. As I get older I see them more clearly, and recognise how their influence turned my own parents into equally brilliant grandparents - and I just hope I am blessed with the chance to carry on the good work.’

Highe concluded: “It’s fantastic to see celebrities coming out in support of the grandparents’ role and it demonstrates just how much of an impact they can have over their grandchildren’s lives. We want BeGrand.net to give something back to the grandparenting community by giving them a voice to raise and share issues that are relevant to them.”

To visit the website, go to www.begrand.net

By 2011, all Local Authorities must provide… “Universal, joined-up information and advice available for all individuals and carers, including those who self-assess and fund, which enables people to access information from all strategic partners.” ¹

Information is a core component of all choice-based agendas, empowering citizens to make informed decisions. Personalisation in particular requires quality information to fully realise the goal of user-centric care, but also raises a number of key challenges:

• Fragmentation of information across multiple partners.
• Consistency of information across numerous delivery channels.
• Coverage of information to deliver a one-stop-shop service.
• Integration with the care process from first point of contact, through support planning and brokerage, all the way to management and review.

This years National Children and Adult Services (NCAS) conference saw an increased focus on the need for quality information management to underpin the transformation of adult social care. In particular, the timely publishing of the transforming social care milestones² set out the following requirements:

• By April 2010 every council has a strategy in place to create universal information and advice services.
• By October 2010 the council has put in place arrangements for universal access to information and advice.
• By April 2011 the public are informed about where they can go to get the best information and advice about their care and support needs.

To support the development of information strategies we would recommend starting by exploring the issues for four main stakeholder groups:

Providers

The personalisation agenda represents a transformational challenge for service providers who in order to succeed must not only provide excellent services but are also required to market their provision directly to the public. Questions to consider include:

• Are you providing a trusted marketplace for your providers?
• Are you qualifying providers with an accreditation scheme?
• How are you ensuring provider and service information is up-to-date?
• Does your provider list cover the full range of services made possible by personalisation?

Commissioners

Smart commissioning is essential to delivering personalisation, requiring that commissioners shape the market to ensure local needs are met³. There are several informational challenges for commissioners that arise with the move to personalisation:

• How are you capturing feedback on services?
• Do you have good data on the supply of all relevant services?
• Are you aware of unmet demand?
• Are you gathering integrated management information across channels and partners?

Front-line Information, Advice and Advocacy (IAA)

Local Authorities adhere to the principle of delivering information at a place and in a format convenient to the citizen. However, the proliferation of touch points with the citizen introduces complex demands for those tasked with delivering the universal information service:

• Who is collecting and updating your services information?
• Who is responsible for ongoing quality assurance of your information?
• How are you supporting partners in their IAA role?
• How are you integrating face-to-face, online, telephone, mediated and self-service delivery channels?
• Are you focused on minimising referrals to deliver a one-stop-shop at the first point of contact?

Service users and self funders

Supporting service users and their carers with good information about service availability is essential to enable them to make the best choices about their care. Issues to consider include:

• Are you facilitating peer-to-peer recommendation?
• Is your information accessible?
• Do you support multiple delivery channels?
• Have you co-designed your delivery to cater for local need?
• Does your information service support both service users and self-funders?

Each of these four stakeholder groups must be engaged by your information strategy to ensure that personalised marketplaces function effectively. To support Local Authorities in developing their strategic approach, we launched ‘Information Matters’ at this years NCAS conference; the first of a set of tools defining the context for the universal information service and providing guidance on its implementation. It can be downloaded for free here: http://bit.ly/tasc-infomatters or please contact us directly for a printed copy.

References:

1 Local Authority Circular (DH)(2009)1: Transforming Adult Social Care http://bit.ly/tasc-lac2009

2 Progress measures for the delivery of transforming adult social care (DH, ADASS, LGA, 2009) http://bit.ly/tasc-milestones

3 Personalisation briefing: Implications for commissioners (SCIE, DH, ADASS, 2009) http://bit.ly/tasc-commissioners

• 60% of grandparents see one of their grandchildren at least once a week.
• A third of parents turn to their parents for advice before any other source of information.
• Even teenagers still listen to them: 80% say their grandmothers give ‘good advice’.
• 1 in 4 are buying essentials for their new grandchildren.
• Age Concern put the cost of the childcare they provide at £3.9billion; Others put it as high as £50 billion.

But grandparenting is about much more than just practical support.  BeGrand.net Chief Operating Officer, Marc Webber, explains:

“The monetary value of grandparents’ time can be measured. What can’t be measured is the love and support they offer to children. BeGrand.net will celebrate that passion and help them fully enjoy one of the most special - yet undervalued - relationships that exists in society.”

The project is part of a government-funded Parent Know How Programme which, via its Innovation fund, uses new and existing media channels to deliver information and support for children and families,

The site will combine grandparent-focused information and advice (from fun activities to serious legal issues) with a community where grandparents can find friends and share problems, advice and ideas.  They can set up profiles and get information personalised to their location and interests:

“Millions of grandparents every week are realising the power of the web. They know it is a great destination to talk, share and learn about a whole range of topics. That’s why BeGrand.net’s easy-to-use site will be right down their street. The help and expert support they crave will be in one place, as will thousands of other grandparents enjoying the same exciting journey.”

Who makes up the Consortium?

The three consortium partners came together to combine their experience of website design, knowledge of the issues grandparents face and expertise in engaging with older people online. The members are:

Opportunity Links: who work with local and national government developing innovative solutions for delivering information services to families, as well as older and younger people.

The Grandparents’ Association: a highly-regarded charity with 22 years of experience supporting grandparents, combined with practical knowledge of growing local grandparent communities and peer support networks.

Digital Unite: the UK’s foremost digital inclusion specialists for the over-50s.  They help older people enjoy IT. They run a network of professional tutors, as well organising Silver Surfers Day, Britain’s biggest campaign for older people online.

Full press release with organisational details

The DLF compiles and maintains the UK’s only comprehensive database of daily living equipment, DLF Data, which contains information on over 14,000 products from over 1,600 suppliers and was a winner of the 2008 eWell-Being Awards, and commended in the 2008 ICT Hub Awards.

Mark Cheverton, OL’s Managing Director, said “By making DLF Data available within evince, alongside other datasets such as NHSChoices, we can provide a single integrated system which can underpin Local Authorities delivery of a universal information service.”

Local delivery of a universal information service is a key Department of Health priority introduced as part of the social care transformation programme. By April 2011, every local authority is required to have a comprehensive universal information service available to social care budget holders and self funders to support them to make the best choices about their personalised care.

evince focuses on delivering measurable outcomes for service users through support of front-office information advisors, online self-service, and high quality back-office data management; the essential components of a universal information service.

Full press release with organisational details

Opportunity Links, Booking Bug, and Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) are pleased to announce at today’s NCAS conference, the formation of a new partnership to support the development of an innovative software solution for the social care transformation agenda.

By April 2011, 30% of people who are eligible for social care should be receiving this in the form of an individual budget. It is expected that a significant number of these budget holders will seek to directly recruit Personal Assistants to deliver their domiciliary care.

One of the biggest challenges for the personalisation of Adult Social Care is the development of transactional online marketplaces for service users. In particular, supporting the expected growth of markets for independent Personal Assistants requires timely and accurate scheduling information to be available to the public. This challenge is reflected as a priority in the West Midlands Joint Improvement Partnership business plan.

The partnership will focus on supporting local government to create online marketplaces for Personal Assistants and other bookable services, through integration of Opportunity Links’ flagship information management system, evince, with Booking Bug’s robust technology platform. IEWM will build upon its existing analysis of Personal Assistant registers to shape the design process, ensuring the needs of social care budget holders and local government are represented

Matt Bowsher, Regional Transformation Lead of IEWM, said “This partnership will provide a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and shape a solution that reflects the needs of the public and professionals alike. In an increasingly challenging financial climate we welcome the opportunity to co-produce without the need for financial investment.”

Full press release with organisational details

Tomorrow the Opp Links team are descending en masse to Harrogate for the National Children and Adult Services conference which kicks off on Wednesday. Last year we were there to launch ourselves into the adult social services market; applying our ten years experience of delivering information to families to the information challenges explicit in the social care transformation agenda.

This year we’re back again, with some exciting partnerships to announce and a comprehensive suite of products and services for local authorities who are fast approach the last year of the social care reform grant. Over the three days of the conference we’ll be posting an announcement each day, so keep watching and if you’re at the conference then drop by stand 74 and say hello.

Thankyou to everyone who spoke so candidly and gave their consent to use the video, and thank you to the organisations who helped us including Cambridge Film and Television Productions, WhyNot! (Essex), Cambridgeshire LINk, Alzheimer’s Society, and Cambridgeshire Carers Partnership Board