Past Campaigns - 'Tell Me!'

Published on 09 April 2018 09:46 AM

The 'Tell Me!' Campaign has now come to an end. To find out about our current campaign to make London an Age-friendly City, please click here.

'Tell Me!: Improving Information Provision for Older Londoners' was a campaign to improve the information older people get from Councils and the NHS to help access vital services. Age UK London worked with older people and local organisations to develop this campaign, which came from our Your Priorities consultation on older Londoners' top asks for change.

As part of this campaign we:

Found out more about the exact issues older Londoners experienced when trying to find important information

Held participatory 'Information Scavenger Hunt' events where people in different places looked for the same information in different places against the clock!

You can download the campaign report here.

'Tell Me!: Improving Information Provision for Older Londoners' outlined recommendations for public bodies to provide older people in London with better information, including the need for 'Information Open Days'.

The report, looked at access to information from public bodies such as Local Council, NHS Trusts, and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in the capital, and was based on findings from older people in 25 London Boroughs.

While public bodies try hard to communicate with their communities, the report showed that - of those who tried - 35% couldn't find information about home care, 29% couldn't find information about specialist transport options, and 27% failed to find listings of local health support services. A key finding was that some older people found obtaining information online or over the phone particularly difficult.

Reasons cited for older people not being able to find information included: Not having internet access, websites not enabling east access to information, and answer-phone automated response systems not having relevant options, resulting in long periods on hold.

Sam Mauger, Chief Executive of Age UK London, said:

"We know that much more can be done by public bodies to provide older Londoners with the very best information which can empower them to make decisions, use services and help others."

“While we found some encouraging examples of good practice which meant finding information was much easier for older people, we would ask London’s Councils, NHS Trusts and CCGs to take action after our findings and we hope they will all commit to hosting Information Open Days."

“An Information Open Day where, for instance, trained Council staff answer questions face to face and demonstrate how to find information in the future, would have real benefit to older people and the whole community.”

Other recommendations included involving older people in the design and testing of websites to ensure suitability, as well as ensuring that various printed forms of information are available.

Age UK London also found some ‘best practice’ examples of information from around London, including Freedom Pass applications which were found to be particularly easy to navigate.

The 'Tell Me!' Campaign has now come to an end. To find out about our current campaign to make London an Age-friendly City, please click here.