involving older people in Planning case study 2010_04

Involving older people in Planning and Development of Services in Dundee 

This case study is based on interviews with a rep from the Strategic Planning Community Care Team in Dundee City Council and the Coordinator of the Celebrating Age Network.

The Celebrate Age Network (CAN) Forum is an independent group that enables older people to get involved in the planning and development of public services in Dundee. The group membership is made up of older people who elect a committee annually to manage the work. Parts of Dundee have particularly high numbers of older people and a high ratio of sheltered housing. The CAN initiative was prompted by work that was going on in the City around 2000 to re-evaluate older people's services.  A lot of care homes were closed and the Council needed to work with older people to find out what they wanted for the future.

 The CAN initiative was started in 2000 by a multi-disciplinary group which involved the social work, community education and health departments. Initial funding of £25,000 was acquired from the Council to employ a worker for a year to develop forums across the city to promote consultation and involvement.  It is now jointly funded by Dundee City Council and NHS Tayside.  Dundee Voluntary Action is contracted as the lead agency and they employ a coordinator to support the CAN committee.