Telephone Support Groups for Older People & Carers

Aim

Working with older people & carers, we want to continue to develop telephone support groups, which tackle loneliness and social isolation.

Who are Prama?

Prama is a registered charity that works with older people addressing issues such as loneliness and isolation, as well as supporting unpaid carers and those living with dementia. 

What is our project all about?

Improving the health and wellbeing of older people and carers who are lonely and isolated.

How did we keep older people / carers from becoming socially isolated during the pandemic?

We spoke with our regular group participants (825 people) and asked them what we could do to support them during lockdown.

They suggested that we could ring them for a chat. So, we did.

We are in regular contact with 476 older people/carers who want telephone support.

As time moved on, they then said that they missed talking with the other people from their groups, so we found some software that enabled us to allow them to do just that.

Telephone Support Groups were born.

Telephone Support Groups (TSG’s) involve 3+ people in a joint call, which are free to landlines. 

We have developed a team of volunteers that could lead the group chats. To date we have trained 19 volunteers, aged 65+ and 17 volunteers aged 56-65, including 10 carers.

We have a network of 11 telephone support groups, supporting 140+ people. This includes specific communities which experience disadvantage and people with specific needs e.g. people with dementia and carers.

Our plan is to continue to develop the telephone support groups and base them around themes (as suggested by our participants). e.g. gardening, cooking, travel etc., as well as continuing to support specific groups of people, such as those with dementia. 

What are the benefits of Telephone Support Groups?

The telephone support groups build strong relationships in and across communities, developing resilience amongst vulnerable older people/carers. They bring people together, especially those who find it difficult engaging with others, whether because of long term health needs, the pandemic, or caring responsibilities. The timings of the groups are based upon the availability of the participants, including when they are most lonely. We have enabled peer support groups to develop at their speed, where participants share their experiences, offer solutions and problem solve together. We are exploring how we can link people up from particular communities of people e.g., BAME people, who are separated geographically. A lot of people are unable to access online support due to it being too expensive, or they just don’t want to go on the internet. We are finding that some people are still wary of leaving their homes or coming back to our groups in person. Telephone support groups offer a flexible alternative to ensure that participants are not socially isolated, and still have contact with other people.

We shall continue to fundraise to provide this much needed service year on year. It is our fastest growing activity and is engaging with people both inside and outside of Dorset.

 Thank you for your anticipated support.

Prama

www.pramalife.org

This project successfully funded on 21st September 2021