Knowsley Council
LJMU and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council worked together to develop services for older people.
Partnerships for Older People Projects
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s Department of Social Services was one of nineteen successful bidders awarded funding from the Partnerships for Older People Projects grant. The grant was to be used to develop a Partnerships for Older People Projects (POPP) pilot scheme.
The POPP initiative was launched by the Department of Health. The aim of the initiative was to develop innovative pilots to help older people avoid emergency hospital visits and to live independently for longer.
To achieve this aim, the POPP initiative supports the development of services that engage, enable and empower older people within a framework of partnerships between:
- Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Social services
- Local National Health Service
- Voluntary and independent sectors
Each pilot requires a local evaluation that assesses its impact in the short, medium and long-term against locally agreed performance targets and the relevant national Public Sector Agreement (PSA) targets.
Project
LJMU’s Business Development Team had experience of supplying local surveys for Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton. The University has also been involved in larger age-related projects, such as the Gender Discrimination and Ageist Perceptions project, which was funded by the European Social Fund. As a result of this experience, LJMU were invited to be part of Knowsley’s POPP bid, acting as the project evaluators.
Having contributed to the successful bid, LJMU’s Business Development Team and staff from the Liverpool Business School became an integral part of the project.
School
Liverpool Business School worked with Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council on this project.
Staff
The following members of staff worked on this initiative:
- Robert Porter
Client benefits
- Responding to client requirements, LJMU structured the research so that older people were partners, participants and beneficiaries of the evaluation
- To reduce the use of high-cost services, LJMU assessed the impact of the POPP initiative on the budgets of the health and social care agencies. The agencies were responsible for the delivery of costly hospital inpatient and residential/nursing care home facilities.
LJMU assessed the effect of the project on improving well-being in the community.
Academic and student benefits
- The profile of the project has continued to enhance LJMU’s reputation in this field of work and related areas
- Bob McClelland (lead academic) presented several papers on the project at a number of international conferences
- Being part of the project enabled LJMU to recruit Robert Porter as a full-time researcher for the evaluation. Robert Porter has now registered for a PhD based on this work
- The continued profile and experience gained from this project are providing opportunities for LJMU, including further business. LJMU also receive requests to present on this topic at future conferences.
- The Business Development Team was invited to supply bids for further services on behalf of other clients
Work with LJMU
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