Prynhawn Da a Creoso, good afternoon and welcome to this Drink wise Age Well Programme launch event for their “Calling Time” Charter - and thank you to Richard Broadway and the Calling Time for Change Advocacy Group for inviting me to sponsor and speak at today’s event.
Richard Broadway is the Locality Manager for Drink Wise, Age Well, a Big Lottery funded Programme delivered in the Cwm Taf UHB area as well as in 4 other UK regions.
The Programme has been delivered since 2015 and is a 5 year delivery programme, supported by 7 years of research.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest there has been a continued increase in the number of alcohol-related deaths in recent years.
A Health Inspectorate Wales report on Substance Misuse Services in Wales, published last year, stated that, while people were said to be happy with the treatment they received, they had "difficulties in accessing these services due to long waits and limited funding for placements".
The report recommended the Welsh Government should improve the equity and availability of provision.
However, only three weeks ago, we heard here from Brynawel, the leading residential centre for the treatment of alcohol and drug dependencies in Wales – which can accept referrals from all parts of Wales - that there remain surplus treatment places and that all the other residential rehabilitation services receiving statutory referral in Wales have now closed.
Speaking in February’s Assembly Debate on the Welsh Government’s ‘Substance Misuse Annual Report 2018’, I noted that alcohol specific deaths in Wales were up 8% on the previous year, and that Public Health Wales also reported an increase in alcohol deaths of over 7% in 2017.
The Drink Wise, Age Well Programme is delivered locally by some of the Developing a Caring Wales (DACW) members, led by Barod, which supports people in South and West Wales affected by alcohol and drugs. Other delivery partners include The Royal Voluntary Service and Addaction who manage the Programme centrally.
An important ethos of the Drink Wise, Age Well programme is that people should not merely be passive recipients of support, but active participants in their own and other’s well-being and recovery.
In each of their UK delivery sites, programme participants and volunteers are actively involved in the planning and delivery of programme activities and receive regular training and support.
Influencing and affecting change in policy is a key outcome for the programme and Drinkwise, Age well states it is vital that its beneficiaries are empowered to have a stronger voice on a more public influencing platform and that they ensure the principle of co-production is embedded in all their practice.
The Innovation Foundation, Nesta, describes co-production as “delivering public services in an equal and reciprocal relationship between professionals, people using services, their families and their neighbours.
Where activities are co-produced in this way, both services and neighbourhoods become far more effective agents of change.”
Key characteristics to co-production are:
• Recognising people as assets.
• Building on people’s existing capabilities.
• Promoting mutuality and reciprocity.
• Developing peer support networks.
• And breaking down barriers between professionals and recipients.
Co-production Wales itself was set up to transform Wales into a society that places co-production principles at the heart of its public services, its communities, and the lives of its citizens. The Co-production Network for Wales grew out of this ambition and has now taken over from Co-pro Wales.
The Mission of the Drink Wise Age Well Programme is to help people make healthier choices about alcohol as they age.
Their Vision – is the for the harms caused by alcohol to reduce in our older population and for older people to live longer, healthier lives.
Their Values are based upon the principle that by giving people factual and credible information, they can make informed choices about their health and wellbeing; that we are never too old to make changes and people over 50 can and do make positive changes in their lives and that all people should be able to enjoy a quality of life in later years with good health and wellbeing.
They work at multiple levels with individuals, families, workplaces, communities and stakeholders.
They are asset based, which means working in a bottom-up way with communities which focuses on Communities strengths and assets rather than deficits and problems.
People aged over 50 and their communities are part of the solution.
Drink Wise, Age Well are innovative and credible.
Their work is based on research and theory but they encourage innovation.
They are sustainable, by providing skills and new learning, co-producing activities and recruiting peer educators.
Their goal is for their work to live beyond the time they are funded for.
Drink Wise, Age Well will:
• Raise awareness of the issue of alcohol misuse among people over 50, change attitudes, combat stigmatisation, convey harm reduction messages and influence community norms about the use of alcohol;
• Increase individual and community resilience to alcohol problems in people over 50 and also reduce hazardous, harmful and dependent drinking and related harm in this age group;
• Increase the extent to which community service providers and employers who have regular contact with people over 50 are able to recognise and respond to risky drinking;
• AND disseminate a body of evidence on how to prevent alcohol misuse in people over 50 which will inform future prevention work in Wales, the UK and internationally.
The Drinkwise, Age Well “Calling Time” report, “Addressing ageism and age discrimination in alcohol policy, practice and research”, found that more than 4 million Britons over 50 think they should cut back on the amount of alcohol they drink.
A UK survey of 2,120 over 50s found 24% of 50-54 year olds sometimes think they should cut down, compared with 20% of 60-64 year olds and 10% of over 75s. Overall, 17% think they should cut down.
In the UK, harmful drinking is declining among every age group except the over 50s.
Asked which age group is most likely to experience negative consequences of alcohol, a majority of respondents (36%) said 18-29 year olds, while 22% said 50-69 year olds.
In England, those aged 65-74 are the only age group where daily alcohol consumption is increasing.
In Scotland, harmful, hazardous and binge drinking is increasing amongst those aged 65-74 but decreasing in other age groups.
In Northern Ireland, the most noticeable increases in alcohol consumption in recent years have been amongst those aged 60-75.
In Wales, those aged 65 and over are the only age group where drinking above the daily guidelines is increasing.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows people over 45 are most likely to drink at hazardous levels, while younger generations are drinking less.
The number of alcohol related deaths for over 50s has risen 45% since 2001 and Public Health data shows that alcohol is now the sixth biggest cause of disability among people in their 50s and 60s, up from 16th in 1990.
The survey found 20% of older 50s (about 4.8 million people) don’t drink alcohol and 10% - (about 2.4 million people) are actively cutting back.
The survey coincides with the publication of “Calling Time for Change”, a Charter for politicians and policy makers in Wales about how to reduce alcohol harm among people over 50.
The Charter was co-designed with people and families affected by alcohol problems and experts in alcohol and ageing.
Key recommendations in the Charter include:
• Challenging practices which demonstrates direct or indirect age discrimination;
• Removing age-related barriers from alcohol treatment and support services;
• Commissioners, funders and service providers to work collaboratively to ensure the needs of older adults are met in service planning, provision and delivery;
• Digital solutions and innovative methods to reach older adults who may be more hidden, including online appointments to supplement, but not replace physical services;
• a ‘treatment levy’ to be placed on alcohol producers and retailers of alcohol, and invested directly into helping people affected by harms caused by alcohol;
• Challenging stigma and negative attitudes of health and social care professionals through shared good practice;
• and raising awareness of the factors affecting older adults such as retirement, bereavement and loss of purpose.
As their report concludes, “Ageism is rarely a result of malign intentions or motives, and practitioners are often not even aware of the prejudices they have. Nevertheless, ageism can be a major barrier to developing good strategy, and also seriously impact the quality of care and support that older adults receive for alcohol problems.
“In the worst-case scenario”, it says, “age discrimination may result in preventable deaths.
“Alleviating it will require action across multiple sectors so that action can be coordinated and balanced and will need to encompass the great diversity of older populations”.
“The recommendations are intended to be a starting point.
“The overarching message is optimistic: with the right policies and services in place, there is no reason why older adults should be left behind in terms of progress towards reducing alcohol-related harm”.
I am now pleased to introduce and pass on to Caroline Phipps Chief Executive of Barod, Representative of the Drink Wise, Age Well National Strategic Board and the Chair of the Advisory Panel on Substance Misuse established by the Welsh Government.