Getting residents out and about mustn’t be a luxury

For many people both living and working in care homes there is an understandable temptation to settle for what is familiar and comfortable. Leaving the home can present many practical challenges – staffing, transport, knowledge of where to go, time to plan and organise – but the biggest challenge as ever is mindset and the fear of the unknown. Unless we fully recognise the positive impact of keeping those in care connected to the outside world and support our carers to make this happen it is easy for inertia to win.

However, when we get it right and keep people connected to places and communities that have meant something to them in their lives magic happens. This magic is the inspiration behind the launch of a new excursions service this month that will get hundreds of thousands of people in care to enjoy regular, meaningful outings to the places that matter to them in their local communities including botanical gardens, museums, pubs, markets and farms.

My company, Oomph!, is already operating in care settings from the Shetlands to the Isle of Wight and is best known for getting older people active through participation in exercise classes. Our new Oomph! Out and About service combines expert day trip planning with minibus transport and on-board conductors in order to make it much easier and more affordable for residents and their carers to regularly go on trips.

Credit: Christopher Ison

I’m passionate about my work and perhaps one of the few people to have visited around 1000 care homes in the last few years. It’s been eye opening and informs how Oomph! develops new services – always in close collaboration with care providers. As well as the cautious mindset that prevents some homes running regular outings, the most upsetting stumbling block is that many homes can’t currently afford to run their own minibus outings. Several home owners have told me of their dismay for residents who’ve not been outside for months. I just can’t accept that so many vulnerable people are stuck indoors due to funding cuts and financial pressures.

The new Oomph! Out and About service takes the expense and hassle of excursion planning and transport logistics away from care providers. Because of our relationships with so many homes we can pool capacity between multiple services whilst each still receives exclusive trips for their residents.  For those lucky enough to have their own transport, Deloitte has calculated that they will typically benefit from up to 3 times more trips for half the cost.

We are catering for as wide a range of services as possible including those for older adults and those living with learning disabilities. With packages starting from around £160 per month our ‘early adopters’ include groups across the funding spectrum including WCS Care which runs 12 care homes across Warwickshire, including five rated 'outstanding' by the CQC. 89% of participants in our pilot programme rated the service as good or excellent.

Credit: Christopher Ison.

Anyone in the sector will know that the regulator is increasingly interested in meaningful activities based on individual interests and quality of life, rather than care alone. Yet research conducted for us shows that only 55% of for-profit homes serving older residents currently offer a regular minibus service and that figure is lower in non-profit homes.

Out and About will be available to most care homes by 2020 thanks to a rapid nationwide roll out plan. We’ve just launched this month in the South East, South Wales, Liverpool and North West, East Yorkshire and East Midlands. Expansion will be hair-raisingly fast with a fleet of 100 within twelve months rising to 300 vehicles by 2020 by which time we’ll be providing half a million individual journeys per year². This new service wouldn’t have been possible without a £1.5 million investment from Mike Parsons (Chairman of Barchester), the Care and Wellbeing Fund and Nesta Impact Investments.

It’s great to have the backing of such prestigious investors, but the real marker of success is what the residents themselves have to say. So, I’ll give the final word to 94 year old, ex Autocar journalist Martin who recently visited Brooklands Museum of Motoring and Aviation. “Motoring and writing about cars has been my life…It was a wonderful day. I haven't actually written anything for a long time so when this opportunity came up to start again, it was wonderful.”

For more information on Out & About contact hello@oomph-wellness.org, call 0203 601 6363 or visit www.outandabout.oomph-wellness.org

By Ben Allen, CEO, Oomph! Wellness

About Oomph! Wellness

Oomph! is an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to transforming the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of older and vulnerable adults. We provide training, support and services to enable anyone working in care or community settings to deliver outstanding, sustainable activity programmes.  Working with care groups, local authorities and community support organisations across the UK we prove our impact every step of the way and lead the industry in how we track health and wellbeing outcomes. www.oomph-wellness.org