"It's time to sit up and take note of us," say sheltered housing providers

Health and social care professionals and their industry bodies are being targeted with a new DVD, launched by ERoSH that tells them why and how to make better use of their local sheltered housing schemes.

The DVD, sponsored by ERoSH and the Care Services Information Partnership and produced by ERoSH and 4 Reel Films, is divided into two parts - health and social care - and explains clearly how housing, health and social care providers can work together, through a series of superb case studies about activities and programmes currently happening in sheltered housing, including falls prevention, keeping active and healthy ageing; advocacy and signposting to other services; healthy eating; prevention screening; and social activities.

Imogen Parry, ERoSH's Director of Policy who project-managed the DVD's production, said: "Health and social care professionals should sit up and take note of sheltered housing because nowhere outside of a GP practice or health centre, can those types of services be brought so directly and effectively to hundreds of thousands of older people. Delivering flu jabs, malnutrition screening, exercise classes, chiropody, day centres, managing long-term conditions and telecare through and within a sheltered housing scheme can revolutionise how these services are delivered to all older people."

Jeremy Porteus, National Programme Lead for CSIP Networks, said: "This DVD reinforces work previously published by our housing network to illustrate how encouraging health and social care to work together with people in their homes can benefit residents. It illustrates how sheltered housing or extra care schemes provide an excellent opportunity for care professionals to really make a difference to the health and wellbeing of large numbers of older people. There is a real policy emphasis on partnerships and I am sure housing associations will welcome with open arms the idea of strategic partnerships with health and social care providers."

The government's recently launched housing strategy, ‘Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods - A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society', states that "sheltered housing schemes can be vibrant community hubs, tackling exclusion and promoting active ageing", which ERoSH has long promoted and supported. The DVD graphically demonstrates how this can be achieved and is designed to spread those messages to regional and frontline level. Case studies include contributions from Westminster City Council and Primary Care Trust, Mendip Housing, North Somerset Housing, South Somerset Homes, Islington Primary Care Trust and Drum Housing and the City of London.

The launch of the DVD follows the recent publication of a joint ERoSH and CSHS good practice guide about partnership working as well as ERoSH's announcement supporting the ‘hub and spoke' model of sheltered housing which uses a scheme or collection of schemes as a resource for the wider community.

Ian Duncan, a scheme manager with City of London, said, "It was great to have the opportunity to involve ERoSH at our scheme. The DVD will be a valuable visual tool that clearly demonstrates to the health and social care sector how effectively sheltered housing can contribute to and enhance the lives of older people."

The DVD can be viewed at http://www.shelteredhousing.org/dvd Alternatively, it can be ordered by telephoning 01249 654 249 or emailing info@shelteredhousing.org