EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Transcription

1 EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2 EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS FULL REPORT The fu report on the evauation of the Transitions in Later Life piot projects Evauation of Transitions in Later Life Piot Projects: Executive Summary Pubished in 2017 by Caouste Gubenkian Foundation UK Branch and Centre for Ageing Better

3 EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is an evauation of seven piot projects funded under the Caouste Gubenkian Foundation s (CGF) (UK Branch) Transitions in Later Life programme. The Transitions in Later Life programme is based on the premise that transitions, such as retirement, provide an important opportunity to engage peope in support and ensure peope have positive experiences in ater ife. This evauation was co-commissioned by the CGF UK Branch and the Centre for Ageing Better (AB) as part of a partnership between the two organisations to use evidence and innovation to expore ways to hep peope manage major ife changes in ater ife. The projects which were evauated were: Age and Opportunity Beth Johnson Foundation, in partnership with Ageing Without Chidren The Centre for Poicy on Ageing Manchester MIND NHS Cheshire and Wirra Partnership Foundation Trust Positive Ageing Associates Workers Educationa Association (WEA) A projects deivered group-based interventions aimed at buiding the resiience and emotiona webeing of peope aged 50+. The projects used a number of varying toos and approaches, incuding: panning/goa-setting, sef-refection, sef-coaching, storyteing, reaxation techniques, mindfuness, meditation and cognitive behavioura therapy. As we as deivering courses, the project eads participated in a Learning Community which met quartery to share chaenges and earning. The overarching purpose of the evauation is to understand how promising these approaches were in supporting peope with transitions they experience in ater ife, for instance retirement, and to inform the deveopment of future service provision. EVALUATION QUESTIONS The evauation was conducted by Brightpurpose and investigated the foowing questions: What have been the types of outcomes for participants? How have the interventions contributed to these outcomes? Who engaged with the projects and why? What worked we and what were the chaenges, in terms of: Recruitment Sustaining engagement throughout the courses Intervention design and deivery What has been the impact of the programme on the project deivery organisations? I ve reaised that it s okay to take a few months after my retirement to give mysef the chance to think about what I want to do and how I want to spend my time, a bit of time to get used to being retired. 1

4 EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY METHODOLOGY 1. Survey questionnaires administered at four points: before the course, immediatey after the course, and 3, and 6-12 months afterwards. These questionnaires incuded bespoke questions and three vaidated toos. 2. Teephone interviews with 17 participants undertaken 6-12 months after course competion. 3. Anaysis of transcripts of externa interviews with 12 participants provided by one of the projects. 4. Two interviews with each project ead. MAIN LIMITATIONS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE EVALUATION This evauation has considered the seven projects, and the types of outcomes they have created, as a group, and has not evauated the specific outcomes from individua projects. Participant feedback was consistent across the quaitative interviews from different projects. Not everyone responded to the surveys; hence, we cannot be sure this data is representative of a participants, and it was not possibe to have a contro group. Participants were contacted 6-12 months after competing their courses and asked to participate in interviews. Hence, it is possibe that those who vounteered to be interviewed were those who had a more memorabe experience. Further evauation shoud investigate whether experiences vary for different participants. WHAT DIFFERENCE DID THE COURSES MAKE FOR PARTICIPANTS? Quaitative interviews indicated a transformative change in attitude and outook as a resut of the courses, in terms of: Confidence and readiness for the future; Resourcefuness; Positive attitudes to ageing and the future; Socia connections and reduced oneiness; Sense of purpose. Survey data indicated positive but reativey modest changes for respondents in terms of confidence in facing chaenges and changes, webeing, socia connectedness, and resiience. The difference in scae may be due to either the sef-seection of the participants for interview; the abiity of vaidated scaes to capture the outcomes described in the interviews; or other reasons. Confidence and readiness for the future Peope fet that having the time to refect - to think about what they wanted from ater ife and how that coud be achieved - eft them feeing in greater contro and more confident about their future. The courses often gave peope permission to pause: to not commit right away to meeting other peope s expectations about how they woud spend their time in the future unti they had taken time to work out what they wanted for themseves. Participants reported feeing more equipped to dea with change and face chaenges head on. Survey data aso showed an increase in the proportion of respondents feeing confident or reay confident in facing future chaenges and changes by the end of their participation in the course. Furthermore, this was argey sustained up to six months after the end of the courses. Our financia situation isn t briiant, but I ve stopped focusing on what we don t have and can t do, and started focusing on what we do have and what we can do. I m going to work part time for a bit onger, but I fee so much more positive about the future and we are reay enjoying panning ahead now. 2

5 EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Resourcefuness Refecting and taking stock of their strengths, skis and persona attributes gave participants a greater sense of sef-worth and sef-beief, particuary amongst those who had fet they had itte to offer previousy. Positive attitudes to ageing and the future Participants reported strongy positive changes in reation to their outook and attitude to ater ife. They had tended to view ater ife negativey, but participation ed to a more baanced understanding of what it means to age. Interviewees reported increased optimism, a newfound enthusiasm, and a desire to make the most of this stage of ife. Socia connections and reduced oneiness Peope reported a greater appreciation of the importance of their socia reationships and the roe they woud pay in their ife going forward. For those approaching retirement, there was an acknowedgement that the workpace had provided a ot of their reationships, interaction and support, and that this woud change once they retired. There was a recognition of the importance of being proactive, and making a concerted effort to keep in reguar contact with friends and famiy, and spend more time with them. Sense of purpose Peope approaching retirement spoke about the sense of purpose and sef-worth that working gave them and how their roe in the workpace had argey shaped how they had seen themseves. They acknowedged that they had been anxious about the gap that retirement woud eave in their ives. Going on the course heped to aeviate some of these concerns. Peope found that making pans and setting goas provided a sense of achievement and sef-worth and added to a sense of purpose. WHAT ASPECTS OF THE COURSES MADE THE DIFFERENCE Interviews with participants identified the foowing six interdependent aspects of the courses to be most important in achieving their outcomes: Space and time dedicated time where they coud refect on the changes, chaenges, and opportunities ahead. Faciitation to create the safe space, support the discussions and faciitate productive refection. Provocation scenarios, case studies and discussion points that encouraged participants to think about different situations and to think differenty about them. Reframing presenting ater ife as a ife stage with positive opportunities, chaenging stereotypes about ageing and encouraging participants to take contro of their future. Toos and techniques providing a range of practica toos and frameworks to enabe refection, thinking differenty, decision-making and panning, for exampe, goa-setting toos, whee of ife, mindfuness. Group process sharing experiences and hearing different perspectives from peope in the same boat. WHO PARTICIPATED AND WHY? The most commony stated reason for signing up for courses was to get hep for preparing for retirement or to gain skis and information that woud support the transition into retirement. Respondents reported hoping to gain a variety of immediate benefits from the course, in terms of: practica toos, strategies, and information insights and space to think a more positive and confident outook For the onger term, the most cited expectations were that courses woud equip them with skis that woud benefit them in the future, ead to increased confidence or bring about a more positive outook and attitude reated to ater ife. Hearing about what some of the other peope on the course were doing gave me the kick I needed to ook into different things that I coud be doing. 3

6 EVALUATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LATER LIFE PILOT PROJECTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OPERATIONAL LESSONS LEARNED The majority of projects reported that recruitment took more time and effort than they had originay anticipated. They perceived that this was reated to bringing a new product to market which was further compounded by the foowing: the projects tacke the need to prepare emotionay and psychoogicay for the changes experienced in ater ife, which is not a need that is typicay discussed in society; the ife stage that the programme prepares peope for is reativey abstract unti peope are experiencing it, and may yet be some time away. Feeing motivated to sign up for such an intervention may therefore not seem a priority WHAT DIFFERENCE DID THE PROGRAMME MAKE TO DELIVERY ORGANISATIONS? Projects fet that deveoping new interventions under the Transitions in Later Life programme had benefitted them through earning in terms of: Testing a new approach in terms of the cohesive offer around transitions in ater ife, as we as different deivery formats Strengthening reationships and reputation Reaching a new set of cients, and increasing their abiity to reach oder age groups in the future Testing out the approach of buiding the capacity of others to deiver Buiding and using partnerships with empoyers to recruit was a successfu approach, and projects fet this was because empoyees were referred recruited on to the course by someone known and trusted. Furthermore, where these projects have run more than once, word of mouth has become an important factor, with participants recommending the project to coeagues. Finay, in one instance, the deivery of the project was fet to have cataysed organisation change in reation to how the organisation supports oder workers. A projects began with a curricuum which had been designed in advance. However, course faciitators fexed the fow of sessions, giving more or ess emphasis or time to each, based on feedback from participants and their own observations of individua or group responses to different components on the day. This appeared to work we the fexibiity was fet to be an important aspect of successfu deivery. I m hoping that instead of feeing ike I m batting through ife and that it is ikey to ony get worse, that I deveop a more optimistic, confident attitude that enabes me to recognise and take opportunities that enrich my ife instead of etting difficuties increasingy imit it as I get oder. I want to be exuberant, enthusiastic and engaging in my ater years, not fearfu, reticent and retiring! 4

7 ABOUT THE CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION The Caouste Gubenkian Foundation is an internationa charitabe foundation with cutura, educationa, socia and scientific interests. Based in Lisbon with branches in London and Paris, the Foundation is in a privieged position to support nationa and transnationa work tacking contemporary issues. The purpose of the UK Branch, based in London, is to bring about ong-term improvements in webeing particuary for the most vunerabe, by creating connections across boundaries (nationa borders, communities, discipines and sectors) which deiver socia, cutura and environmenta vaue. ABOUT THE CENTRE FOR AGEING BETTER The Centre for Ageing Better is an independent charitabe foundation, bringing about change for peope in ater ife today and for future generations. It draws on practica soutions, research about what works best and peope s own insight to hep make this change. Ageing Better shares this information and supports others to act on it, as we as trying out new approaches to improving ater ives. The Centre for Ageing Better received 50 miion of Nationa ottery funding from the Big Lottery Fund in January 2015 in the form of an endowment to enabe it to identify what works in the ageing sector by bridging the gap between research, evidence and practice. Caouste Gubenkian Foundation UK Branch 50 Hoxton Square London N1 6PB +44 (0) info@gubenkian.org.uk Centre for Ageing Better Leve 3, Ange Buiding 407 St John Street London EC1V 4AD +44 (0) info@ageing-better.org.uk