Five pillars of our Healthy Ageing Project
The Healthy Ageing Project will focus on achieving goals for the following five pillars. This will focus our efforts on the most achievable and important aspects for our communities.
The five pillars explained:
1. Building a community alliance
We want to enhance the connections between our communities by continuing to host public engagement events on key elder health issues such as mobility, mental health, social isolation and financial matters.
We will work with specialist health charities, research bodies, statutory services, voluntary sector groups and government. We aim to enhance the understanding of our Irish community and share of best practices
Irish in Britain have been successful in many schemes such as the Vaccine Le Chéile campaign, which partnered with NHS, local authorities and VCSE organisations. Our Cancer Comhrá campaign worked with Macmillan to deliver information events and services/support via Irish in Britain members.
2. Developing and strengthening support networks
We will use charity, government and community support across Britain to ensure that all member groups and communities are strengthened. The project will aim to pinpoint and find those aspects that are most beneficial for the elderly and help to develop schemes within the member groups.
3. Providing training and learning opportunities for our members
Understanding what our community needs and developing training for our members is an integral part of the project and Irish in Britain’s programming.
Irish in Britain’s current Cuimhne programme, is used by families, volunteers and health professionals. It offers innovative, evidence-based approaches to dementia care, enhancing quality of life for families and fostering dementia-friendly communities. The programme includes targeted support for member capacity building, effective policies and procedures and peer-learning opportunities for grassroots organisations.
Irish in Britain’s Cuimhne team works with volunteers to create diverse Cuimhne Champions roles, designed to maximise inclusivity for those facing barriers such as early-stage dementia, disabilities, or long-term caregiving responsibilities. These roles included:
Outreach: Time-limited placements in community organisations to help develop dementia-friendly services.
Development: Co-producing resources like Irish in Britain’s ‘My Story’ workbook.
Co-facilitation: Supporting the delivery of Cuimhne training events.
Strategic: Participating in project steering committees and working groups.
Specialist: Receiving further training from external organisations (e.g., carbon monoxide awareness, CPR skills) to disseminate knowledge across Irish in Britain’s network.
Similarly with our Green Hearts campaign, which is focused on heart health and blood pressure training, we want to ensure that all members have the opportunity to attend and host our training for their volunteers and members.
There is also the opportunity for us to develop new training in some of the key health issues that are brought to our attention in our research stage of the project.
4. Improving awareness and understanding
Building on successful campaigns like Green Hearts, our three-year programme aims to enhance community knowledge on key health, social and welfare issues affecting older people.
We will develop quality information resources to promote understanding and positive behaviour changes in areas such as physical and social activity, nutrition, and preventative health measures like blood pressure testing.
This initiative includes member campaigns and training on stroke and dementia awareness, age-positive practices, and identifying support for older adults facing specific challenges.
5. Advocating with policy makers to ensure the needs of Irish seniors are met
We have advocated for better representation of the Irish population, including collaborating with the ONS to ensure Irish ethnicity data analysis in the Census. This programme will commission a data report using NHS/Open SAFELY data to study post-Covid health inequalities among England’s Irish communities, with a focus on older groups.
This data will guide our programme delivery, inform our Positive Ageing strategy, promote Irish community needs via the APPG on All-Party Group on Ageing and Older People, and enhance engagement with policy bodies like Age UK and the Centre for Ageing Better. It will also support our members in high-need areas in securing funding for community-led health activities.