Securing Care for Ethnic Elders in Scotland (SCEES)

Securing Care for Ethnic Elders in Scotland (SCEES) is the first dedicated project for Minority Ethnic Older People funded by the Scottish Executive Multiple and Complex Needs Initiative.

The main objective of SCEES is to improve and manage dignified and active ageing life for Scotland’s black and minority ethnic (BME) elders where the presence of multiple identities gives rise to multiple and complex needs and to support service innovations and identify and promote good practice development.

SCEES works with four case study sites chosen from four health boards in Scotland: Glasgow; Lothian focusing on Edinburgh; Forth Valley covering Sterling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire and Ayrshire & Arran. Click here to download a map.

SCEES will assess existing information available to BME elders in Scotland to identify good practice and further develop information and methods appropriate to the multiple complex needs of the BME elders. Through training and events SCEES will engage BME elders and age organisations with mainstream service providers in design and delivery of the services to the BME elders, hence influencing policy in the care of BME elders in Scotland and contributing to the implementation.

The project looks at three areas in health and social care services for BME elders:

1. Active ageing - Physcial and Mental Wellbeing

• Survey on BME elders and service providers
• Information awareness events
• Recruitment of BME champions
• Showcase events

2. Patient Centred Care - Managing Long Term Conditions

• A self assessment tool - Personal Health Diary will be developed for BME elders, families and carers in managing long term conditions. The diary can help BME elders in self care, improving their skill and knowledge in managing long term conditions so that they can maintain a good quality of life in mental and physical wellbeing and prevent unscheduled admissions.

3. End of Life Issues

• Raising awareness in the BME elderly community through training delivered by SCEES and mainstream providers

SCEES will make use of PRIAE's works in England to develop these themed approaches in Scotland, with specific attention to local issues and access to professionals, policymakers and BME communities. The innovative models developed by the PRIAE England's team are Ageing Actively in Minority Communities (AIM), Hospital Care and Palliative Care, Older People & Ethnicity (PALCOPE). SCEES will draw on parallels from these models in its Scotland specific development.

PRIAE's works in Scotland

PRIAE has worked in Scotland since 1998 as a result of the Royal Commission on research on BME elders: Prospective in Long Term Care.

Findings and recommendations from the research have set the scene for SCEES:

i) How to improve BME elders in accessing health and social care services

ii) Alternative models of care for BME elders in active ageing and wellbeing

iii) Future model of care to include BME elders 'under one roof' but still catering for person-centred requirements

In 2005 PRIAE held a Conference on Report on Delivering Quality Minority Ethnic Elders' Health and Social Care in Europe, which has further underpinned SCEES development in Scotland.