Experience Counts: Haringey's strategy for improving the quality of life for older people 2005 - 2010
Experience Counts is a strategy that has been developed to tackle discrimination and to promote positive attitudes towards ageing in Haringey so that by 2010 "older people are enabled to be as informed, active, healthy and independent as possible and empowered citizens at the heart of the community".
Experience Counts covers all aspects of older people's lives represented by the ten goals below. Not all older people will identify with all of the goals all of the time, however, most will identify with at least one of them. Priorities to achieve each of these goals have been identified for the period 2005 - 2008.
- Being respected: to ensure that older people are respected and valued
- Keeping informed: to ensure that older people have accurate information on which to base their decisions
- Staying healthy: to promote healthy living
- Being active: to create opportunities for being active, including getting involved, volunteering, socialising and life long learning
- Choosing work: to create opportunities for employment
- Feeling safer: to create safer communities
- Having a safe, comfortable and well maintained home: to ensure that older people have a safe, comfortable and well-maintained home (and garden) which meets their needs
- Living with support: to enable older people to live independently with support for as long as possible in their own homes
- Getting out and about: to ensure that older people are able to get out and about, including being able to use public transport
- Making the most of your income: to enable older people to maximise their income
- Being respected: to ensure that older people are respected and valued
- Keeping informed: to ensure that older people have accurate information on which to base their decisions
- Staying healthy: to promote healthy living
- Being active: to create opportunities for being active, including getting involved, volunteering, socialising and life long learning
- Choosing work: to create opportunities for employment
- Feeling safer: to create safer communities
- Having a safe, comfortable and well maintained home: to ensure that older people have a safe, comfortable and well-maintained home (and garden) which meets their needs
- Living with support: to enable older people to live independently with support for as long as possible in their own homes
- Getting out and about: to ensure that older people are able to get out and about, including being able to use public transport
- Making the most of your income: to enable older people to maximise their income
Experience Counts is a strategy aimed at:
- Active and independent older people: some of whom have completed their career in paid employment or child rearing; others may still be working or have caring responsibilities. Some older people remain active and independent into late old age; others may not.
- Older people who are vulnerable: some of whom may have ill health or long-term conditions such as diabetes and dementia, or social care needs, or a combination of both.
This strategy was developed using a 'bottom - up' approach with the support of older people working in partnership with statutory and voluntary sector organisations including Haringey Forum for Older People. It will be monitored through the Haringey Strategic Partnership and the key priorities within each goal will be reviewed annually.
- Older people who are vulnerable: some of whom may have ill health or long-term conditions such as diabetes and dementia, or social care needs, or a combination of both.
This strategy was developed using a 'bottom - up' approach with the support of older people working in partnership with statutory and voluntary sector organisations including Haringey Forum for Older People. It will be monitored through the Haringey Strategic Partnership and the key priorities within each goal will be reviewed annually.