Evaluation of Ageing Better Isle of Wight
Author(s)
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM FOR INCLUSION
Publisher(s):
National Development Team for Inclusion
Publication year:
2020
Final evaluation report for Ageing Better Isle of Wight – a five-year Programme funded by the National Lottery Community Fund that aimed to make the Isle of Wight a great place to grow older, encourage better relations between generations, and tackle social isolation and loneliness. Over five years of delivery the AB IOW Programme has had a significant impact across a number of areas and generated substantial learning. 16,836 older people participated in 16 projects across all areas of the Island. These included: care navigators; community navigators; alternative transport; Alzheimer cafe; one-to-one creative sessions for people in residential care; care for carers; digital inclusion; education; men in shed; employment support; mental health peer support; good neighbour scheme; older-preneurs; an online directory of local events and services; singing groups. In total, 11 organisations were directly involved in delivery of the Programme and organisations across the voluntary, public and private sectors Island wide were affected by the impact of the work of the projects. Key areas of impact included: reducing social isolation – for an estimated two thirds of participants levels of social isolation were either reduced or maintained; improving wellbeing – there was a statistically significant increase in the mean wellbeing scores of national evaluation questionnaire respondents, and 50% of respondents participating in AB IOW projects experienced an improvement in wellbeing; value for money – analysis of the costs and the benefits of the projects found that in part due to good use of volunteers and existing community facilities, the projects delivered support, advice and interventions at a low unit cost per participant; becoming an Age Friendly Island – AB IOW has had a notable impact on the voluntary, public and private sectors on the IOW. (Edited publisher abstract)
