The Truth about Ageing plus Q&A – 10 November 2023

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Location: Tower Suite, Forth Valley College, Alloa, FK10 1PX

Booking required

In the upcoming event, “The Truth About Ageing,” participants will embark on an exploration aimed at reframing the perception of ageing and older age. Departing from the conventional view of ageing as a challenge, this event advocates for perceiving it as an opportunity for thriving. This event serves as a continuation of the impactful Reimagining the Future in Older Age Project, delving into the nuances of older age and its potential. Utilising Forum Theatre, an interactive theatrical approach empowering the audience to actively reshape the narrative, the event seeks to reshape societal perspectives on ageing and older age.

Following the theatre performance, attendees will engage in a Panel and Audience Q&A session, delving into the issues brought forth by “The Truth About Ageing.” The esteemed panel comprises Professor Alison Bowes and Dr Melanie Lovatt from the University of Stirling, Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, and Suzanne Dance, an Actor and Facilitator associated with Active Inquiry. Guiding the discussion, Dr Hannah Graham of the University of Stirling will chair the panel, fostering meaningful dialogue on the evolving landscape of ageing perceptions.

Find out more and book your place here

Scottish Modern Slavery Roundtable: Resources Available

Scottish Care, in partnership with Scotland Against Modern Slavery (SAMS), successfully hosted the Scottish Modern Slavery Roundtable on 26 October. This significant event brought together experts and stakeholders to discuss vital issues surrounding modern slavery.

We are delighted to announce that the recording of this insightful session is now accessible to the public. The recording can be viewed via the following link: Recording Link.

In addition to the video, we are sharing the presentation slides from key contributors:

We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who engaged in this crucial discussion. Your active participation contributed significantly to the depth and diversity of perspectives explored during the event.

Joint statement: Scottish Government’s Winter Plan ‘offers no hope for social care’

As the CEOs of Scotland’s two major umbrella bodies representing providers of care and support in the third and independent sectors we are dismayed to see yet another Winter Plan which purports to be a whole system response for Scottish citizens but in fact offers almost no hope for social care.

Both of our organisations have attempted to convince both the Scottish Government and CoSLA that the plan was wholly insufficient to address the deep crisis facing our members and a system that is meant to uphold the rights of individuals who require care and support.

We have tried to be constructive in those discussions to which we have been invited, but have certainly not been engaged in any way as equal partners in finding solutions for a system in which our members deliver key public services for some of our country’s most vulnerable individuals and families. This document reflects that. The marginal changes made to an early draft following our strong criticisms do not allay the fundamental concerns we shared.

In particular, we note a deeply disturbing direction for social care providers and, ultimately, for those who rely on services to maintain independence and connection and prevent crisis:

Where necessary, local systems will prioritise social care and support services for those who need it most and are considered to be at a critical or substantial risk level.

In the current climate, where we already see social care budgets being depressed to the detriment of people and, indeed the wider system, we fear this will be read as carte blanche to remove or reduce funding for many people who need support. This cannot be allowed to happen.

We hope that the Cabinet Secretary and CoSLA leaders will clarify their intentions in including this statement and do significantly more to underline their commitment to a thriving social care system for which they wish to share accountability through a National Care Service.

Rachel Cackett, CEO, CCPS, and Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO, Scottish Care

News Release: A Scotland That Cares – survey results & new briefing

Major surge in people who think care work is under-valued in Scotland, with majority saying nothing has changed for carers since pandemic

New data also suggests 1 in 3 Scots have caring responsibilities

The Scottish Government is being challenged to make a ‘transformative and world leading commitment to all carers’, as new polling reveals the overwhelming belief of people across Scotland that carers of all kinds are undervalued.

The poll, carried out by YouGov on behalf of the A Scotland That Cares campaign, shows that a staggering one in three adults (30%) in Scotland have caring responsibilities*; with respondents saying they are a parent (15%) or look after a child informally (7%), are an unpaid carer for someone who is ill, disabled or elderly (7%), or are employed in a paid caring role (2%).

While caring is widespread, the data exposes that nearly three quarters (74%) of adults in Scotland believe that care work is not valued highly enough by the Scottish Government.

This figure represents a significant jump since the peak of the pandemic in 2020, when 62% of Scottish adults said they didn’t think care work was valued highly enough by the Scottish Government.

The polling also reveals the majority of people don’t think that the increased attention on the role of carers during the pandemic resulted in any additional practical support for paid carers (57%), unpaid carers (61%) or parents (55%).

The A Scotland That Cares campaign, which is backed by over 60 organisations including frontline organisations representing unpaid carers, parents and paid care workers as well as prominent anti-poverty charities and think tanks, is calling on the Scottish Government to urgently address the public’s concerns and the deep undervaluation of the nation’s carers.

Becky Duff, Director of Carers Trust Scotland, said: “The pandemic shone an unblinking spotlight on how essential the roles of unpaid carers and paid care workers are for holding society together. We are incredibly disappointed that despite this increased attention, most people believe that nothing has really changed for carers. People across Scotland are even more concerned now than they were during the pandemic about how valued carers are, including by Scottish Government. These findings send a clear message: the scale of action needs to go further, faster by putting carers at the heart of Scottish Government’s plans for Scotland’s future.”

Alongside immediately accelerating and deepening action to boost support for all those with caring responsibilities, campaigners say the Scottish Government must lock-in a commitment to transformative change. They say the current review of its ‘National Outcomes’ – the goals which it says describe ‘the kind of Scotland’ it wishes to create – provides Ministers with a golden opportunity to demonstrate its support for carers.

The Scottish Government has 11 existing National Outcomes, including on health, poverty, the environment and education. Progress on each Outcome is measured by a number of indicators, and the Outcomes are intended to drive policy and spending decision-making.

However, there is no dedicated National Outcome on care: a glaring omission which campaigners believe should be addressed when Scottish Ministers lay draft new National Outcomes before Parliament in the coming months.

Carmen Martinez, Coordinator of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, said: “Most of us will know someone who does care work – whether paid or unpaid – or even be one ourselves, with women being much more likely to be carers than men. But all of us will need to be cared for at some point in our lives. Yet, although caring is crucial to us all, it is chronically undervalued; it’s very telling that carers don’t even feature in the Scottish Government’s existing vision for the country. It’s time for Ministers to right that wrong, by creating a new, robust National Outcome on care to drive the actions needed to fully value and invest in care and all those who provide it.”

The new polling demonstrates strong public support for a new National Outcome on care, with nearly two-thirds (64%) of adults in Scotland saying they back it.

Campaigners say that while creating a National Outcome on care wouldn’t be a silver bullet to address the multiple issues faced by different types of carers, it would provide a strong focus for new, and sustained, policy and spending action at national and local levels.

The A Scotland That Cares campaign says it must be accompanied by robust and cross-cutting National Indicators, to measure progress meaningfully and transparently, including to ensure carers have the practical and financial support they need.

If implemented, Scotland would become one of the first countries in the world to make such an explicit commitment to driving and transparently measuring progress on how care is valued.

Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “Care matters deeply to us all. Scotland’s communities and economy is underpinned by the invisible yet invaluable efforts of people who look after others, too many of whom face significant personal impacts, including poverty. Yet politicians’ warm words and pandemic plaudits haven’t been and will never be enough. The Scottish Government has a golden opportunity to make a transformative and world leading commitment to carers by placing them at the heart of its vision for the country through the creation of a new National Outcome on care; it must take it.”

/ENDS

For more information please contact: Rebecca Lozza, Oxfam Media and Communications Adviser, Scotland and Wales: [email protected] / 07917738450  

Notes to Editors

  • All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,012 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6th – 10th October 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in Scotland (aged 18+).
  • *Please note this was a multiple-choice question, so some respondents may have selected more than one answer.
  • Find out more about the A Scotland That Cares campaign here: https://ascotlandthatcares.org/
  • The explainer briefing ‘Invaluable but Invisible’ is available here

Finalists Revealed for the 2023 Care Home Awards!

We are thrilled to share that the finalists for the 2023 Care Home Awards have been chosen! This year, we were inundated with a record-breaking number of entries, all of exceptional quality. The high standard of submissions made the judging process incredibly challenging, showcasing the outstanding work and dedication within our community. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who entered the awards, and congratulations to our finalists!

The anticipation continues to build as we prepare for the grand reveal of the winners at our Awards Ceremony. This special evening, set to be hosted by Michelle McManus, alongside Scottish Care CEO, Dr. Donald Macaskill, promises to be a celebration of excellence.

Event Details:

Date: Friday 17th November 2023
Time: 18:30 – 01:00
Venue: Hilton Hotel, 1 William Street, Glasgow

For those interested in joining us for this memorable occasion, awards tables are available for booking. To secure your spot please fill out this form here.

 

Bereavement Charter Webinar: “The Space Between: understanding anticipatory grief.” (1 Nov 2023)

“The Space Between: understanding anticipatory grief.”    | A webinar from Scotland’s National Bereavement Charter for Adults and Children Working Group.

Wednesday 1st November 2023, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm (via Microsoft Teams)

The Group which developed the Charter is holding the fourth in a series of webinars exploring different elements of death and bereavement.

Full programme can be viewed below.

Register your place on: Webinar (microsoft.com)

Bereavement Webinar Flyer - Nov 2023 (1)

Download programme 

TURAS Update Webinar – 5 October

TURAS Update Webinar – 5 October

Thurs 5 Oct 2023, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Online via Microsoft Teams

This webinar is hosted by our Workforce Policy & Practice Lead, who will be joined by colleagues from the Scottish Government. This session is following on from recent communications on changes to the Safety Huddle Tool. It will give you an overview of what has changed and why. This will be followed by a question and answer session about the tool and the new questions.

This webinar is for Scottish Care members only. The meeting link is available on the Members Area of this website.

Social Care Emergency: Seeking future designers – 1 November 2023

Social Care Emergency: Seeking future designers

Please join the RSA and Scottish Care for this exciting event in Glasgow

Wed, 1 Nov 2023 09:30 – 12:30 GMT

The Lantern, Hamish Wood Building
Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road,Glasgow G4 0BA

Register for this event here.

The RSA and Scottish Care invite you to collaborate on designing a better tomorrow.

In 2018 Scottish Care worked with the European school of innovation and design at Glasgow School of Art to explore the future of social care. The methodology incorporated Megatrends cards developed by Finish sustainable future organization Sitra and led to the creation of revolutionary new roles in social care such as the Care Technologist. More information on the first phase of this programme in 2018 can be found here.

Taking a future-orientated and ‘pop-up design’ approach (Teal and French 2016) Scottish Care hopes to engage participants in an informal space, enabling creative conversations about the potential of the future based upon the fundamental question “What If?”. This will result in outcomes based upon an understanding of what objects, technologies and ideas will be important and which actors will make up social care and support, shaping the direction for how it will look and feel in 25 years.

People will have grown up in different technological, economic, and social climates, with different family structures, friendships, and relationships. People will hold different opinions on what it means to ’live well’ These differences are very important to consider and may result in multiple futures to map in answer to the question ‘What next?’.

It’s now 2023 and a shifting global landscape has led to a social care emergency, but we are not defeated. Sitra has released an updated set of Megatrends offering us the opportunity to revisit this design methodology in search of a better tomorrow.

We invite you to join us in a human-led design process for all our futures.

We want this work to have legacy in the way that the 2018 version did, to change how and what care and support we access as we age. This time we want to go wider and see tying in with the RSA Design for Life three focus areas as a real opportunity to do this. Building capabilities: we will work from an active citizenship model, bringing together people from beyond the traditional boundaries of the health and social care system because futures thinking that enables us to live healthy lives for longer affects every one of us. Growing hubs: we will build knowledge networks of imagination in the social care space to enable design-led thinking with legacy by enabling space for creative conversations. Developing Infrastructure: we will work in the open, hosting the tools for design and the outputs from the work on our website. We will consider and make recommendations for addressing the implementation gap aiming to create the conditions for lasting and regenerative change. You can find out more about the RSA’s Design for Life mission here.

Register for this event here.

Scottish Care Modern Slavery Roundtable Event – 26 October

Save the date:
Scottish Care Modern Slavery Roundtable Event

Thursday 26th October 11am – 12pm
Microsoft Teams

Scottish Care are hosting a Modern Slavery Roundtable Event for the social care sector in partnership with Scotland Against Modern Slavery to share best practice standards and experiences around the international recruitment of staff.

This discussion will focus on highlighting the potential risks involved for individuals from overseas who are seeking employment in the Scottish social care sector, give employers an insight into some of the red flags that could indicate illegal trafficking of individuals and to show examples of good practice to follow and reduce those risks involved.

Agenda

Scotland Against Modern Slavery Introduction – Shan Saba (Founder – Scotland Against Modern Slavery (SAMS))
Legal and Strategic overview – Dame Sara Thornton (Ex Anti Slavery Commissioner UK)

Care Sector, risks and investigations/red flags – Phillip Cain (Director of Operations – Gang Master and Labour Abuse Authority)

Scottish overview and How to report in Scotland – DSU Steven Bertram (Police Scotland National Human Trafficking Unit)


Please register below for this roundtable, registrants will be sent details to join nearer the time of the event.

Scottish Care Modern Slavery Roundtable - 26 October 2023

Scottish Care Modern Slavery Roundtable - 26 October 2023

Care Home Awards 2023 – Deadline Extension

Entry deadline extended – 18 September 

We have extended the deadline for making a nomination to our annual Care Home Awards to 9:00 am on Monday 18 September 2023.

Nominations need to be completed by this time and date. If you haven’t already done so, please take a look at the guidelines and categories to help us celebrate and acknowledge the exceptional skills and commitment of those working in the care home sector across Scotland.

There are 13 award categories covering organisations, staff and residents.

Please ensure you read the guidelines before completing your nomination, any submissions that do not follow the guidelines may not be accepted by the judges.

Judging of the awards will be in September and the Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday 17 November at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow.

Find out more and enter the awards here