Welcome to the 10th edition of our Joint Working Journal (double figures already!). Today we’re focusing on Steering and Advisory Board 1 (SAB1), which came together on 6th August to hear about the latest developments across the West Glamorgan Communities and Older People Programme and the Carers Programme. Here’s a summary of the key points discussed:

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Communities and Older People Programme

The Programme’s Prevention and Early Intervention Working Group is ramping up early intervention efforts to address pressures on community and hospital services more effectively. By coordinating early intervention services across the region, individuals will be able to access the right services at the right time.

A new workstream lead has also been appointed to advance the new Regional Communities and Older People Strategy. The first Strategy Working Group meeting took place in July, focusing on supporting older people with an element of frailty. This approach was endorsed by SAB1 members. 

Upcoming priorities for the Programme also include:

• Scoping the strategic context in which early intervention services operate.
• Preparing for two early intervention workshops focusing on guiding principles and optimal model development, and
• Planning the first Communities and Older People Strategy workshop to discuss the new strategy’s vision and themes.

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Carers Programme

It’s been a busy few months for the Carers Programme – if you’re a ‘Hits Radio’ or ‘Greatest Hits Radio South Wales’ listener you may have heard the latest campaign that was co-produced with unpaid carers as part of the communications and engagement workstream.

Part one of the campaign launched at the end of July with the aim of raising awareness of what it means to be an unpaid carer and signposting to the support that’s available. A link to the West Glamorgan website has been created so unpaid carers are able to access the link to find out where they can go for support in their region: www.westglamorgan.org.uk/carers

The campaign’s second phase is about to go live and will promote the forthcoming Annual Unpaid Carers Event on 17th September (see below for the flyer, and feel free to share!):

The event will be held in Swansea.com Stadium and provides an opportunity for unpaid carers to meet with other unpaid carers, find out about services in the area and help influence support that is available. Doors open at 9am with refreshments on arrival and the opportunity to browse a range of information stands. The event will begin at 10am and finish at 2.30pm. Lunch will be provided and there will be opportunity to have a free health check-up and network with staff whose role it is to support unpaid carers.

Tickets can be booked via the following link (the event is free but ticketed): West Glamorgan Unpaid Carers Annual Event at Swansea.com Stadium event tickets from TicketSource

Staff members are welcome to attend the event, however, we are keen to centre the voices of unpaid carers and prioritise their bookings. We would kindly ask that staff members wishing to attend, liaise with their colleagues before booking to limit staff representation to two people per service/organisation.

Another outcome of the Carers Programme is the recent delivery of ‘Care Aware’ training, which is designed to raise awareness of unpaid carers and to enable them to identify and support carers. A pilot project is currently underway in the Upper Valley Cluster with 10 community pharmacists engaged. A plan is being developed in order that community pharmacists are able to identify and signpost unpaid carers. ‘Care Aware’ training was also provided to Optometrists in July. A programme of training is currently being mapped out and scheduled for other Primary Care providers.

That’s it for today’s journal entry – we’ll be back after the next SAB with more updates as our programmes continue to evolve and make a positive impact across West Glamorgan 😊