21 June 2007 - Publication of DWP research report 441: Helping older people engage with benefits and services: an evaluation of the Partnership Fund
New research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions presents the findings from an evaluation of the Partnership Fund.
The Partnership Fund is part of Government strategy to ensure that pensioners claim the benefits they are entitled to and access the services they require. Following a selection process, the Fund identified 172 community schemes, and four national initiatives to receive funding to develop innovative approaches to deliver services to older people and build up partnership working.
The evaluation had two components: qualitative case studies and a quantitative survey. The qualitative component involved in-depth case studies of 13 purposively selected projects and the quantitative 167 telephone interviews.
This evaluation has generated valuable learning about the key characteristics of good practice in services for older people. The report includes numerous examples of good practice particularly concerning how best to target and engage those that are ‘harder to reach’. The report also identifies a number of key principles underpinning effective partnership working and different approaches to developing dynamic, flexible service partnerships. This learning will feed into the development of the LinkAge Plus strategy. The findings of the research will be collated in a good practice guide in consultation with third sector organisations and Partnership Fund projects and will be published by the end of 2007.
The Department for Work and Pensions commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to undertake the evaluation.
The main findings are:
The context of older people’s lives
- Barriers to take-up of benefits were complex, and it was not uncommon for one customer to refer to multiple barriers and needs. To meet these needs and successfully increase take-up of benefits and improve access to services, projects had to tailor their support to the individual customer.
The foundations of the Partnership Fund
- Funding was pivotal as it influenced a project’s capacity to deliver services to older people. The range and extent of a project’s existing funding sources as well as stability of their funding base influenced the project’s ability to innovate and develop services.
Targeting potential customers
- Projects described six broad methods of targeting older people: 1) using existing databases to make contact with older people 2) distributing printed materials (such as leaflets or posters) 3) engaging the local and specialist media 4) transmitting details of the service through word of mouth 5) undertaking community outreach and 6) using the telephone. It was rare for projects to use specific targeting approaches in isolation.
- The Fund enabled organisations to utilise targeting methods and work with people in a way that would otherwise have been beyond the scope or capacity of their parent organisation.
Delivering project services
- Some projects provided benefits advice only, whereas others combined this, to a greater or lesser extent, with access to social care services that aimed to increase a customer’s quality of life.
- Older people were motivated to become involved with funded projects: to gain financial support; to maintain their independence, for example by having mobility aids fitted in their home; and, because they were simply curious about what the project could offer them.
- Staff delivered services to customers by: explaining to customers how the process would take place; structuring customers’ expectations about what the project could do and how long the process may take; assessing the customer’s need for benefits and social care services; completing the benefits application form with customers; sign-posting or referring customers to other services where a need was identified; following up the customer once the application was submitted.
Partnership working
- Partnership working was evident across more than three-quarters of the projects surveyed and projects that reported partnership working mentioned a wide variety of partner organisations. The effectiveness of partnership working was underpinned by several factors: the appropriateness of the style of partnership working adopted; the clarity and synchronicity of partners’ motivations for working together; partners’ understanding of each other’s services; the local context of partnership activity; and, the profile of partner organisations.
Impact of the Partnership Fund on older people and project staff
- Outcomes for customers included successful applications for a range of benefits and this had a range of immediate impacts on customers. These included improved awareness of benefits eligibility, income maximisation, and reductions in debt. Combined, these impacts enhanced financial security, laying the foundation for further secondary impacts on other aspects of customers’ lives including health, social networks, housing, levels of independence, and emotional and psychological wellbeing. Outcomes for project staff were evident in the development of benefit-related and ‘soft’ skills, the development of expertise in delivering services to older people, and personal fulfilment.
The organisational impact and the legacy of the Partnership Fund
- An aim of the Partnership Fund was to generate good practice that would survive after it came to an end. An important component of this legacy was the range of skills and expertise in providing services to older people acquired by project staff. The impacts identified for the Partnership Fund project parent organisation are also important because they signify the development of services for older people upon which future initiatives can be modelled.
Notes to Editors
- The research is based on in-depth interviews and observation work with 13 Partnership Fund projects. Interviews with staff, customers and project partner organisations were carried out between November 2005 and November 2006. Respondents were sampled and recruited via staff at each of the case study projects and, for PSLS staff, via lists provided by DWP. Interviews with customers generally took place in their homes and those with staff took place at their offices. All 173 schemes were invited to participate in the quantitative element of the study and 167 interviews were achieved between June and September 2006. In-depth interviews were analysed by the National Centre for Social Research using “Framework”, a thematic content analysis method for analysing qualitative data. Descriptive analyses of the survey data were produced using SPSS.
- The aims were to: Assess the extent and type of services and support offered to older people; understand the key successes and difficulties in setting up the schemes; understand the barriers and problems schemes face in achieving their objectives; explore staff experience of and attitudes towards joint working with partners; explore customers’ experience of accessing and using the schemes and; assess how effective (selected) schemes are in meeting the needs of the customer.
- Research Report 441 – Helping Older People Engage with Benefits and Services: an evaluation of the Partnership Fund is published on 21st June 2007. The report is available on the DWP website and hard copies can be obtained from Paul Noakes, Room 4-26, The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT.
DWP Press office 0203 267 5144
Out of hours 07659 108883
Public enquiries 020 7712 2171
Website www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5