Age Collective: London Seminar Report

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Age Collective SeminarLondon Monday 3rd September 2012

1.Age Collective - outline pages 2 - 4

2. Discussion points put forward pages 5

3. Key discussion points pages 6 - 7

4. Key action points pages 7 - 8

5. Priority Chart page 9

Appendix

6. Attendees page 10

7. Mind Map page 11

8. Discussion write-ups pages 12 25

Images from AgeCollectiveSeminar BritishMuseum, Sept2012

Community Partnerships:

Age Collective

Supported by


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1. Age Collective Seminar Series

The British Museum is supporting a number of cross-sector seminars in the UK to

explore how museums and galleries can better work with and for older people

in their communities in partnership with organisations from other sectors.

The British Museum will be working with National Museums Northern Ireland,

Manchester Museum and Glasgow Life. Each museum brings together local and

national practitioners and representatives from a cross-section of organisations to

discuss how, through partnership and collaboration, museums and galleries can

better support older people in their communities.

Age Collective is funded by the Esme Fairbairn Foundation.

Aim

The aims of the seminars are to:

Listen to the voices of older adults explore the needs of diverse

communities of older people and the varied provision for meeting these needs

across the UK.

Share good practice develop ideas to support museums across the UK to

better cater for the older people within their localities in partnership with other

organisations.

Develop inter-disciplinary partnerships encourage social care, health and

advice providers for older people to view museums as potential valuable

partners.

Formulate a shared action plan create a cross-sector network to drive

change, with the aim of increasing opportunities and wellbeing for the diverse

communities of older people in different parts of the UK. Research improve the work that we do; formulate new ways of collaborating

with other sectors and disciplines to locate new areas for collaborative

research.

Methodology

The seminars invite practitioners already working with older people with the aim of

bringing together strong voices to facilitate a discussion where all attendees canraise relevant issues and ideas.


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The seminars will use the Open Space1 technique to enable collaborative

discussion between museums working with older people, and stakeholders beyond

the heritage sector. With no pre-set agenda, the methodology ensures that the

meeting is collaborative and the discussions best reflect the interests of all attending

individuals.

Centred on the theme ofhow museums and galleries can better work with and

for older people in their communities in partnership with organisations from

other sectors,delegates raise the discussion points focusing on actions to be

taken forward. The discussion content and action points are then collated,

prioritised and distributed as the work of the entire group.

Using this document

The first Age Collective seminar was held at the British Museum on Monday 3rd

September. The seminar brought together over 80 delegates to represent local and

national organisations working with older adults. Sectors present included heritage,

arts, healthcare, hospitals, universities, research, social care, funding, charities, local

council and community organisations.

This document begins with a list of the questions put forward by the attending

delegates and an outline of the key discussion points drawn from the wider set of

questions. This is followed by a summary of the key action points and a chart of thepriority areas selected by delegates at the end of the seminar as matters needing

the greatest attention. The document ends with a more detailed outline of each

conversation, a mind map linking the discussion topics, and a list of organisations

represented at the British Museum Age Collective seminar.

This document will be circulated to all attendees and can be used by them as they

see fit to move this work forward. It will be made available online and on-going

debate and revision will be encouraged at every point. The main aim is to make a

change improve the work that we do, formulate new ways of collaborating betweenmuseums and galleries and with other sectors and disciplines and perhaps locate

new areas for collaborative research.

1Open Space is a way of facilitating a discussion as democratically as possible. Its methodology ensures thatthe meeting agenda and discussions best reflect the needs of all participants. Participants agree to attend to takean active part in a dialogue within a predetermined theme. All discussions focus on actions to be taken forward.


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Next Steps

The next three seminars will take place in spring 2013. The host partners will be

National Museums Northern Ireland, Glasgow Life and Manchester Museum (datesto be confirmed early next year). Each host partner will bring together local and

national practitioners to ensure the conversations are as inclusive and far-reaching

as possible. Each seminar is designed to gauge interest and explore the themes

partners feel are important in their local areas.

After all four seminars have taken place the resulting discussions and documents will

be analysed to draw out key recommendations aimed at dramatically improving

provisions and opportunities for older people. The recommended priority areas as

identified by the range of sectors at the seminars will also be collated to identify ashared action plan for the museum sector to work towards.

The final and key dissemination event will be a majorconference where seminar

attendees will present the most exciting outputs of the process so far to a wider

audience. The conference is the opportunity for individuals not yet actively working

with older audiences to learn from the experience of the seminar participants,

respond to the programme outputs and be inspired to join the Age Collective

process.

Further Information

For more information about the Age Collective programme please contact Harvinder

Bahra Community Partnership Coordinator at the British Museum on

[email protected].
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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How can museums and galleries better work with and

for older people in their communities in partnership with

organisations from other sectors?

2. Discussion points put forward by participants

Focusing on the theme ofhow museums and galleries can better work with and

for older people in their communities in partnership with organisations from

other sectors, the following questions were put forward by the delegates at the

London seminar:

1. Diversity: older people are not homogenous how can museums and galleries reflect

this in their practice?

2. How can museums and galleries reach out to diverse audiences?

3. How can museums and galleries include older adults more deeply?

4. How can museums and galleries promote choice?

5. Museums and galleries have family days should they have older peoples days

slower paced and possibly without children?

6. What can museums offer that is different? Do older people need something special or

have similar requirements to other audiences?

7. What can museums offer and how can we spread the word?

8. What do museums and galleries want to achieve in working with older people?

9. How can museums and galleries support each other in their practice?

10. How can we make our programmes more sustainable?

11. How can evaluation be conducted effectively?

12. How can we innovate through arts and heritage as beneficial for physical, emotional

and social wellbeing?

13. How can we bridge the gap between healthcare professionals and arts organisations?

14. How can museums better engage with care homes for older people?

15. How do we select groups/partners to work with? What about those that don't belong to

a group?

16. How do we work with experts/organisations who already reach older people?

17. How can museums support older people to continue to learn?

18. Can more active/independent/confident older people support those who are less so?

19. How should we fund activities for older people and are they rich enough to pay for it?

How can we differentiate?

20. How can we spread the word to the LGBT Community?

21. How do we engage older men in our programmes?

22. How can we ensure people with dementia are included in our discussions?

23. How can museums help improve perceptions of older people?


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3. Key discussion points

The key discussion points listed below have been drawn out from the wider set of

questions and present some of the recurring themes from the first Age Collective

seminar at the British Museum.

There is a perception that older people are well catered for but is this actually

the case? How is this known?

Should there be specific programming for older people, or more integration

into museum visit activities for all ages?

What are the needs of older adults that should be catered for? Are these

different from other audiences who face barriers to visiting?

Diversity: older people are heterogeneous, as are museums. We need toconsider how to reach, and what to provide for, older people who may face

barriers to visiting due to age related illness (mobility, dementia, isolation...)

and those who may face social or economic barriers (ethnic minorities, LGBT,

low income...)

What can museums provide that is different to other services?

How can museums build choice into their offer and programmes?

How can older people be supported to become active participants in museum

practice?

Can and should activities reach the most isolated groups, when working withestablished partners reaches more people?

How can activities support learning?

How does a museum choose which local partners to work with? Who are the

right partners? Who does this exclude?

How to use technology? Who can we learn from with the recognition that

technology can be inclusive and exclusive?

How can museums across the sector support each other?

Who are the key partners beyond the sector that museums need to interlink

with?

How can rigorous evidence-based research be built into this area of museum

practice?

There is a need for advocacy museums are not viewed by government,

health and social sectors as strong potential partners in their support of older

people within the community.

What are museums trying to achieve? How can we evaluate it?

Can museums support a perception change regarding ageing and older

people?

How can museums support programmes financially and sustainably?

How can we develop relationships with funders, tap into the wealth of some

older people (who are also current/potential donors, members/friends etc...)


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Can existing systems be used or developed to enable more

active/independent/confident older people to support visits by more isolated

older people? (What about 'buddies' of different ages?)

4. Key action points:

The key action points below have been drawn out from the wider discussions and

present some of the recurring points put forward at the first Age Collective seminar at

the British Museum.

This series of seminars and conference offers a good way of developing ideas

on how museums across the sector can support each other and develop

partnerships beyond the sector.

Museums need to be part of their local networks, advocating their value andsupporting better inter-sector services for older people museums, health and

social care providers, universities, community-based organisations, larger

older people's organisations and local government.

Work in clusters to develop research applications and funding bids.

If all museums did something small and resource-light, as a sector we would

create a huge resource for older people to tap into. We need to encourage the

sector to realise that it doesn't need vast resources to make successful

programmes.

Find and link with technology providers to start problem-solving find sharedinterests.

Museums need to be responsive, making an offer (or a menu of offers) but

also listening to what is wanted and offering active participation in the shaping

of the offer.

Action Diversity and Equality needs to make museums more accessible

practical change suitable seating, accessible toilets, mobility aids and staff

training need to build this into all design.

Information needs to be created for older people and training for older

people's group leaders is invaluable to give clear visiting advice such as

providing access information, suggesting collections that might be of interest

and a little quieter and places to eat.

Opportunities for museums to develop specific programmes including

grandparents days and befriending days as well as intergenerational and

social opportunities. One suggestion was times when the museum is quieter

or closed to non-older adults. This was however a contested idea during the

seminar.

Work up something modelled on the Kids in Museums manifesto and work

with older people to draw up a list of practical ideas that will make museums

better for older people advocate, publicise, encourage sign up andchampion.

Make links to current campaigns such as the Campaign to End Loneliness.


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Develop a friendly welcome.

Develop learning activities specifically for older people that are not simply

focused on reminiscence and the past. Older people require challenges and

opportunities to gain new knowledge and experience through activities that

are stimulating and unfamiliar.

Create a single source of information. Could this be a website (the Age ofCreativity?) to reach out to older people and develop partnerships? This could

be used to link to other resources, not all of which would necessarily need to

be uploaded on its site. Also need to think how this could be funded.

A single source of evidence-based evaluation of what older people want could

also take place (research library). Short case studies of good practice, how to

reach out to older people and how to develop partnerships, manifestos, key

information for staff (particularly front of house) and marketing advice could be

developed.

Challenge our perceptions of what older people want and possibly the

perceptions of their other service providers, families and carers. To do this we

need to ask a diverse cross section of older people and record responses

centrally for all museums, rather than museums having individual forums...

Could this be a place for shared evaluation? A way to find key indicators and

feedback findings from across the sector?

This can then be used to challenge more general public perceptions e.g. a

collection of frailties that requires support rather than a valuable community

resource. (Older people can be valuable for local history museums due to

their memories, though word of warning in discussions about only offering

reminiscence.)

Advocate for Age Collective and Age of Creativity through Museums

Association, Arts Council, Royal Society Public Health etc. Look for other

organisations to target to reach across different sectors?

Develop the idea of volunteer befrienders who could support visits for more

isolated older people. Especially in health and social care settings where staff

resource prohibits visiting. U3A, Time Banking, local befriending schemes and

volunteering organisations can be used as examples for this scheme. Social

care is also changing so older people are having more control over care

budgets - they could choose cultural offer... Create socialising opportunities in museums, specific to need. Example: the

Alzheimer's Association Memory Cafe idea. Create opportunities for dementia

sufferers and their family/carers; create conversation tables in cafes with

prompts so that visitors can chat to each other...

Develop roles for older people within activities voluntary or otherwise

value, responsibility and self-worth are key motivators.

Think about how family and youth activities (often easier to fund) can be

accompanied by an intergenerational element.

Advocate for greater funding opportunities and sector level interest in olderaudiences (Arts Council...)


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5. Discussion Points Priority Chart

At the end of the Age Collective seminar at the British Museum each delegate was

allocated 5 stickers to distribute between the wider set of discussion points toindicate which they felt were of the most importance to take forward.


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APPENDIX

6. Attendees at the London Age Collective seminarRepresentatives from the following organisations attended the Age Collective seminar

at the British Museum on 3rd Sept. 2012:

Age Concern

Age of Creativity

Age UK

Age UK Camden

Age UK Oxford

Alzheimers Society

Association of Education and

Ageing

Baring Foundation

Barnet Museum

BCOP - Broadening Choices for

Older People: West Midlands

British Museum

British Society of Gerontology

(University of Exeter) Building Exploratory

Camden Carers

Camden Council Strategic

Commissioner, Mental Health Care

Camden Intergeneration Network

Canterbury Christ Church

University - Department of Applied

Psychology

Coventry Heritage and Arts Trust

Creative Dementia Arts Network

Dulwich Picture Gallery

Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre

Geffrye Museum

Henderson Court

Holborn Community Association

Kings College University

Latin American Elderly Project

Leicester University Museum

Studies

Magic Me

National Museums Northern Ireland

Opening Doors

Oxfordshire County Council

Museums Service

Royal Academy of Arts

RSVP the retired and senior

volunteer programme Science Museum

SeNS (Seniors Network Support)

Leeds Library and Information

Service

Shape Arts

Social Care Association

Guys and St Thomas' Charity

Tate Modern

The Stroke Association

U3A University of the Third Age

Viewfinder Photography Gallery


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7. Mind map of themes

The mind map below presents the themes put forward at the Age Collective seminar in

London. They can be centred on two main points:

1. Museums are not homogenous

2. Older people are not homogenous

This understanding needs to be present when trying to address each of the discussion

points put forward the diversity of interests and needs for older adults and the varying

reach and capacity of Museums.


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8. Discussion Write-up:

Pages 12 to 25 are the notes taken from each conversation during the Age

Collective seminar, including additional comments placed on the discussion wall foreach conversation. The discussion/action points for each question can be used as

stand-alone suggestions for your own research in these areas.

1. Diversity: older people are not homogenous how can museums andgalleries reflect this in their practice?

Practical access issues seating, wheelchairs, toilets, expensive refreshmentsand audio guides.

Develop new programmes in collaboration with community groups.

Encourage groups to run their own programmes (and offer support to findfunding).

Develop more creative approaches i.e. Youtube films.

Build on 100 objects idea but for different communities (i.e. History of Women in100 objects) online?

Older people should be enabled to participate in exhibition development.

Exhibition designers need to think about access throughout design which shouldform a consistent part of their design brief.

The learning that results from partnership working with community audiencesneeds to be fed back throughout the organisation to support its work at all levels.

2. How can museums and galleries reach out to diverse audiences?

Utilise already existing newsletters and mailing lists.

Join up with libraries.

Publicise through faith networks.

Link with Campaign to End Loneliness.

Support community volunteer programmes.

Work out who is not visiting; build relationships, set up user groups and runoutreach visits.

Tackle the issue of transport perhaps with the local authority? Offer a Museummini bus?

Training for Front of House staff through to curators to ensure older peoplereceive a welcome and positive experience.

Training needs to be provided in areas of Diversity and Equality law and in

access needs throughout all organisations.

Special activities on special days.


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Appropriate seating and opportunities to sit down with things to see/do.

Appropriate signage and labels size matters in terms of font as well as label.

Cultural awareness.

Flexibility.

We can't be tokenistic work into permanent collections as well as temporaryexhibitions and special events galleries should reflect the community aroundthe museum.

Local language resources could be made available (i.e. on audio guides,leaflets).

Support for grandparents and carers.

Focus on ancestry.

Use local council older people's groups.

Use handling objects, take collections off site, use replicas, encourage touchand other senses wherever conservation allows.

Encourage people to think about their ancestry and share their own stories.

List parts of the museum (collection or physical spaces that may be of particularinterest to older people due to the content/being quieter/having better seating...)

3. How can museums and galleries include older adults more deeply? (i.e.exhibitions)

Mobile projects.

Put on plays about exhibitions.

Link to other activities that older people are participating in (e.g. gardening).

Should focus be depth of engagement or breadth of engagement?

Make a film about how to engage with local museum and use as promotionaltool direct people to YouTube.

Provide friendly visit support volunteers, transport and language.

Provide social opportunities enable older visitors to develop their networks.

4. How can museums and galleries promote choice?

Work with small groups and develop ideas with them.

Use free newspapers to reach those living in isolation.

Older people tend to prefer leaflets rather than online information so the move todigital information is an issue.

Provide ear pieces and microphones for tours.

Museum education is an important way of continuing education educationbased on interest. There is less of this available through universities. Museumsare often the only way for older people to continue their learning interests.


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Actions:

Museums could lead educational tutorials for older people/promoted to olderpeople.

Volunteers trained to be guides for small groups develop a list of volunteersinterested in supporting older visitors.

Need member of staff to coordinate visits.

Need a central info point supporting museums to know what channels are bestfor getting information to older people.

5. Museums and Galleries have family days should they have older peoplesdays slower paced and possibly without children?

Be aware that family days don't exclude other visitors.

Also be aware that many older people visit with children and take pleasure in

being around children.

6. What can museums offer that is different? Do older people need somethingspecial or have similar requirements to other audiences?

- Question was explored in relation to Question 7 below.

7. What can museums offer and how can we spread the word?

Discussion points: Group leaders have difficulty finding the relevant information

on museum and gallery websites and they are the key to informing the groupsthey work with

What museums can offer is too broad a question how do we break it down.

Do we have to distinguish between what an older audience needs in the firstplace? Is it helpful to create tailored offers or does this reinforce group asdifferent and hard to reach?

Actions

Spread the word it is the responsibility of museums and galleries to distributeinformation to group leaders to pass on. A monthly email or newsletter to include

practical information on opening times, parking and access etc. but alsoinformation on free tours, special exhibitions and programmes specifically fortarget groups and how they can get involved.

An umbrella website listing all of the relevant information for 55+ adults to findout what is available and to connect museum and gallery staff with new partnerorganisations. Museums and galleries can also connect with other organisationsto recommend guides/sessions that have worked particularly well.

Local radio.

Capitalizing on child and family activities: perhaps a sleepover where children

are encouraged to bring their grandparents. Adults will then recommend themuseum to their generation.


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Awareness that entry is often free!

Gatekeepers taster sessions or off-site visits so that group leaders haveopportunity to find out more and discuss the specific needs of their groups.

What can museums offer be honest about who you are and what you canoffer You cannot be everything to everyone and you must be realistic about

what you can offer.

Getting the balance right between tailor-made sessions which use the groupsown frame of reference so it is familiar and personal and sessions whichintroduce something alien and new.

Collaboration and participation involvement from the beginning, from decisionmaking about projects and exhibitions, so that they can see their input and thefinal output.

Funding applications to include posts for older individuals to be employed aspart of a project working with target groups opportunities within an organisation

to optimise long-term and expanding relationships. Changing focus on youth-based work to include other groups. Museums and

galleries could benefit from an advisory board made up of 55+, this is somethingreally lacking from organisations. They can bring us fresh ideas as well as alifetime of skills and knowledge while developing new ones.

Research partnerships particularly where wellbeing is concerned andevidence-based learning required

Contacting transport schemes which need support as their funding has been cut.They can connect people with museums and different groups with one another.

8. What do museums and galleries want to achieve in working with olderpeople?

Desire to support and emphasise older people making a contribution to society.

Motivating older people to engage socialising, enjoyment, getting out of thehouse.

How can we set up opportunities for older people to make a contribution tosociety through a museum/gallery?

Encourage contributions to social history collections older people asspecialists, volunteers, support staff for other older people/audiences.

Need for mechanism/method to inform people of opportunities and resourcesestate agent packages, GPs, prescriptions for art...

Supporting older people to be confident participants.

Museums more actively, where possible, encouraging visits from older people.

Museums taking care of visitors: suitable refreshments, access, seating.

Creating spaces for conversations i.e. a 'common table' at cafs specifically forthose who want to engage others in conversation perhaps with conversationstarter tools. Or special rooms for community to hold own events in collaborationwith the museum cross-promotion.


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Actions

Caf conversations opportunity provided for conversations to start in museums interconnects with Alzheimer's society's 'Memory Caf' idea.

9. How can museums and galleries support each other in their practice?(Particular interest in outreach and new technologies.)

Would be good to share knowledge in a central place short case studies ofwhat different organisations are doing so that others can get in touch and useideas.

Interest in developing intergenerational work museums and galleries are goodplaces for people to come together share ideas on this too e.g.intergenerational and cross-cultural projects where young Muslim boysinterviewed older local residents worked well.

Using younger people to encourage older people to get online.

We Are What We Do Historypin project is a great example of that workingwith schools and older people to share skills and local stories through uploadingold photos to Google Maps.

Class divisions and resentment issues still apparent.

Technology as a way to bridge these barriers. Lending technology such assimple laptops to care homes, day centres etc. rather than in-house handlingsessions? Train local befrienders to get more tech savvy?

This would be very accessible but expensive. Accessible printed marketing still

very direct and efficient way of engaging older people. Staff from British Museum can help send out to networks?

Need to educate funders too.

Museums and galleries can join together for lobbying could use website asway to initiate that.

Use of volunteers sharing volunteer resources? Valuing volunteer resources.

Museums and galleries need more guidance: a place to find more artists, ideas,facilitators and people with the same interests and other galleries with similarprogrammes. Again, Age of Creativity is a way to help with that.

To engage older people outside gallery space, maybe educators and staff couldmove like handling collections do?

Joining up models of best practice sharing work would be positive and couldlead to longer-term work.

How do you bring the museum to the centre? Have one visit to exhibition thenwork off-site? Important for brief/grounding of workshop.

Varied audiences, transport expense barrier.

You can still take the gallery out to the people. Transport budgets cut, staff cuts,

more resource heavy need funding for off-site projects.

50/50 bring people in and external visits. Use own materials ideas and


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concepts approach first.

Peer-led participants define own learning.

Online model workshops/resources as toolkits.

Trainer training volunteers trained for workshops.

Use networks that museums and galleries already have to spread informationand go for funding in clusters.

Develop ideas in partnership for collaborative research.

Try to give support to those who have less resource.

Difficulty of funding for older audiences younger prioritised.

Use of technology to engage older audiences (i.e. Wii Fit in exercise class)engaged younger not older people.

Different museums and galleries have different partnerships. British Museumworks actively with 50 or so organisations, trying to bring these together to sharebest practice.

Good to share knowledge, form a menu of these ideas i.e. Tate, Dulwich PictureGallery, Royal Academy etc., then use these partnerships to go for fundingtogether, research and collaborate and support other museums and gallerieswho may not have these resources.

Diverse and vast audiences open to ideas of something new and to sparkinspiration.

Research into what museums and galleries provide for older people.

Encourage others to see this work as resource light if all museums in UK didone thing once a month for older people there would be a huge amount on offerand a really diverse range of opportunities. The British Museum programmeruns on tea and biscuits with a small amount of staff time nothing resourceheavy as have never had external funding for it.

Keeping resources very light: tea, coffee, cake, biscuits and core staff are all youneed! No need to be flashy with materials.

Often need to work off-site which has time and resource implications.

Encourage groups to develop their own learning makes it individual theydecide what they want to do start with concept/idea and define own learning.

Develop ideas for workshops from this that others can use and can makeavailable online? This may mean training for care staff etc.?

Volunteers can be trained to deliver outreach if unaffordable.

Actions:

Offer museum space for under-funded local groups in return for focus groups.

Age of Creativity website as single hub of information relating to museums andolder people.

Staff, freelancers, volunteers and objects move around share knowledge,ideas and reach out.

Develop ideas with straightforward laptops/technology accessible to everyone.


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Try to partner with a technology specialist encourage their support via CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility).

Volunteer sharing and training discuss challenges around that.

Museums and galleries can join together to lobby for new partners. Jointcollaborative grants/doctorates/research etc.

10. How can we make our programmes more sustainable? How can we buildrelationships with funders to support long-term working relationships?

- Question was explored in relation to Question 11 below.

11. How can Evaluation be conducted effectively?

Could museums start evaluating using methods that can be cross-referenced?

Can we work with funders to develop methods that we all accept? Can we work on clinical applications evidence-based rigorous?

Can the Arts Council support?

Establish frameworks that cross into different sectors i.e. health and socialcare and museums/arts.

Collaborate and use mixed methodologies.

Need to accept that the idea of wellbeing is subjective.

Design research using tried and tested questionnaires.

Use verbal and non-verbal data collection i.e. posture, eye contact andnumber of minutes participant speaks.

Randomised control trials needed to get medical people listening.

Work with other organisations to gather baseline data before a project startsi.e. GP helps particularly with small groups.

Integrate qualitative and quantitative methods language sets these againsteach other.

Actions:

Find key words/terms in qualitative data and collaborate across the sector todevelop a framework.

Create a working group of healthcare, museum, gallery and libraryprofessionals.

Network of people who work towards a set of shared projects to design aframework to evaluate arts and health to effectively measure impact andsustainability.

The 3 questions put forward below were explored in one conversation.


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12. How can we innovate through arts and heritage as beneficial for physical,emotional and social wellbeing?

13. How can we bridge the gap between healthcare professionals and artsorganisations?

14. How can museums better engage with care homes for older people?

Innovate each other and learn from each other.

Promote each other's worth to each other.

Support each other with training.

Engage with and talk to current staff and trainees.

Better to work with a small number of care homes and do so sustainably.

Linda SargentWords and Wings.

NIACE (the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education)EnhancingInformal Adult Learning for Older People in Care Settings project.

15. How do we select groups/partners to work with? What about those that don'tbelong to a group?

The conversation began around the question of how to work with individualswho do not belong to any group or organisation.

Who are these individuals? What is the barrier? Healthy and physically fitindividuals whom the museum doesnt appeal to; physically or mentally isolatedpeople with no capacity to link to family, friends or groups and therefore with no

way to access the museum or who do not think of the museum as being part oftheir lives.

If we raised the presence of older people in museums, would this attract oldervisitors? How?

Consultation in exhibitions, museum design etc.

Older people can offer museums lots too volunteering, ideas, experiences,knowledge of past, donations; National Trust has 4 million paying membersmany of these are older people why? How?

We should look at the partners we have and older visitors who do come what

stops older people from coming? What makes older people visit? What are wedoing that works/doesnt work? Grassroots evaluation of our offer.

Some people just dont want to visit and thats fine! Some people may visit once,have a great experience and not want a long-term relationship we can makemuseums accessible and welcoming and thats our role.

Public image of museum is very important.

Partnerships can provide an answer also many organisations are working toreach out to these individuals.


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The conversation then moved onto partnerships. We considered what the we inthe questions means museums selecting audience groups as partners; olderpeoples groups selecting museums as partners; museums selecting institutions,stakeholders, funding bodies etc. as partners.

There is a cost in creating and maintaining relationships.

Importance of advocacy in attracting partners.

Who approaches who?

There is a danger in partnering with inappropriate partners; it is important tonegotiate outcomes and needs of all partners, set up and agree on a clearstructure for partnership.

Funding bodieswhy arent older people prioritised? There is a Ford Centre forYoung Visitors at the BM why not a centre or designated space for olderpeople?

How can we secure funding for long-term sustainable relationships (not just

projects)?

What are the museums priorities? This affects who museums partner with location of partners, overall mission statement

Think positively about partnerships people are willing to help each other!

National Care Forum.

NIACE (the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education)EnhancingInformal Adult Learning for Older People in Care Settings project.

Joseph RowntreeDementia without Walls project individuals suffering from

dementia are able to wander freely around spaces.

Can we team up with healthcare organisations better? Trust in GPs.

Can we partner with places where older people might already visit? E.g. Workingtogether across heritage sector.

How can we be more open and accessible? We need to be very clear aboutwhat we offer.

Designated time for older people to visit galleries and exhibitions, possibility ofwhole range of support to assist visitors e.g. sign language support, audioguides, provisions for guide dogs, tours designed to appeal to older people.

Train Front of House staff.

More tasters e.g. outreach, afternoons.

Timings of special views can be restrictive availability of care support,transport is much better in the daytime.

Change is coming we are living in an ageing population we need to addressthese issues now!

Action:

Review offer.

Review current partnershipswhats working? Whats not?


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Identify potential large-scale partners and stakeholders.

Consider day/afternoon/time and space takeovers.

Training of FOH staff.

Communication across departments.

Greater presence of older people around in museums.

Pilot and test things!

16. How do we work with experts/organisations who already reach older people?

Edo/Tokyo museum Genki project.

Encourage and develop behind the scenes visits to encourage collaboration.

17. How can museums support older people to continue to learn?

Use museums as a way of encouraging older people to use the web librariescan support this.

Can older people teach within museums? - peers, younger audiences? -community learning.

U3A is a good source of examples.

Older people want to keep learning oral history and reminiscence just a part ofthis.

Offer learning that doesn't necessarily call itself learning too other motivations(i.e. socialising) .

Do not always focus on evidencing learning can be organic and informalwithout lots of predetermined outcomes.

What needs to be free? If free, then often unsustainable.

Reach out and widen successful offer to others: partnerships, silver surfers,GPs, community organisations.

Museums often seem to focus on schools, children and families. Capitalise onthis with a 'bring your grandparents/grandchildren day'.

Intergenerational elements are really important.

Need to think about people in small towns, villages, rural locations.

Hints and advice could be distributed to make visiting more pleasurable i.e.quiet galleries, places to take the grandchildren, local amenities...

Actions:

Focus on 'quick wins' an build on those that work.

Access needs to continue to improve.

Encourage each other to use facilities collectively 'take someone with you'could be facilitated through befriending services and volunteers.

Respond to needs of a generation used to making its own mind up.


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Must be relevant and meaningful not just about visitor numbers.

Collaborate with FE museums could be alternate site for learning as FEopportunities are less accessible now due to cost.

18. Can more active/independent/confident older people support those who areless so?

Valuing expertise and experience.

Recruit through partner organisations.

Be flexible recognise older people have other commitments.

Support intergenerational programmes.

Time banking proven way of rewarding volunteering.

Networking/social schemes.

Develop programmes from the ideas of older people use their motivation andmomentum.

Actions:

Identify partners from other sectors (i.e. Time bank) develop a directory.

Lead taster sessions to recruit and share ideas.

Identify advocates/champions.

Adult Social Care is providing personalised budgets get onto menu ofopportunities and develop a menu with partners develop relationship to reachmost isolated.

Encourage confident older people to disseminate information.

Include some activities where children can come with grandparents.

19. How should we fund activities for older people and are they rich enough topay for it? How can we differentiate?

Many older people are low income particularly women.

Reaching isolated is much more resource intensive.

Volunteers still cost an organisation as staff time is needed to administer andorganise.

Museums run courses mainly subscribed by older people that are veryexpensive can one balance the other? Some older people are obviouslycapable of paying.

Mind-set might be a barrier rather than money.

Issue of refreshments often being expensive packed lunch areas often only forchildren/families.

Need cost analysis social return on investment demonstrate tangible

outcomes.

Need to utilise regional profiles of older people though not forgetting that there


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can be pockets of deprivation in wealthy areas.

Map Friends/Membership schemes and value to museums vs. cost and againstage of membership.

Give opportunities for older people to give donations.

Bequests need to be part of this conversation though difficult!

Passports to leisure.

20. How can we spread the word to the LGBT Community?

- Question put forward but not explored as a separated conversation. The issuemay have been address in Questions 1 and 21.

21. How do we engage older men in our programmes?

Ask them what they want from museums.

Invest time and target them - be very specific 'this is for men'.

Men seem to prefer something with an outcome not just socialising topic-based practical tasks.

Men attract men to programmes.

Who is an 'older man'? Need to consider diversity and exclusion issue.

Computers are a good draw for many, as are certain topics such as transport,money, industry and making topics linked to their employment history, where

they hold knowledge. Music.

Resource implications through targeting like this.

Is there a bigger issue regarding stereotyping what older people might like andthe skills of those available to provide it i.e. older people are linked to knitting,gardening, cooking, TV, bingo, shopping trips but is this more to do with what'savailable perhaps many women are also uninterested in these things, but thestaff working around them are comfortable resourcing and providing it.

Particular health/age related ailments affect proportionally more men than

women. These may be charities/groups to approach.

22. How can we ensure people with dementia are included in our discussions?How can we make museums and galleries more dementia friendly?

Constraints of museum visiting due to staffing and transport transport essentialfor later stages.

Shortage or reaction/coping mechanisms of those with severe dementia.

Need to be flexible and go with the flow.

Better seating.


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Could visits happen when museum is closed?

Visits require extra resource transport and staff costs and preparation to dealwith anxious participants.

Visual and tactile object handling is a very effective tool no need for a directednarrative but need to be sensitive re: object choices and responses.

There is perhaps too much emphasis on reminiscence need opportunities fornew learning.

Need to distinguish between different stages of dementia and their needs oftenthose of different stages don't want to come together attracting those at anearly stage means a relationship has developed before later stages of illness.

There is a difference between people who have been regular museum visitorsand those who haven't.

Could offer activity with carers/family and also for them specifically.

Could volunteer befrienders reach those who are more isolated? I.e. shelteredhousing?

Look at examples such as Meet Me at MOMA, Dulwich Picture Gallery, BritishMuseum's outreach and community previews of exhibitions and Liverpool'sHouse of Memories.

Use Age UKs Opening Doors resource, Arts for Dementia resources, Inmind.

Action:

Museums and galleries to share ideas and information on effective sessions.

Offsite work is most effective at reaching those in later stages, but encouragingvisits is a realistic goal need to support staff to be confident in bringing groups.

Lots of resources and staff/volunteers.

Need to think about BME and languages etc.

Regular drop in for different stages.

Also more awareness how do we support those with dementia visitingalone/with carer? Carers should go free.

Need to reach least stimulated those in care homes.

Need to raise older people's expectations. Need to be clearer about how museums are dementia friendly what does this

entail? Clearly communicate the offer.

Potential for museums and galleries to provide space and activities as part ofAlzheimer's Society's 'Memory Cafs' [email protected]

Engage locally through local Dementia Action Alliances.

Training for gallery staff in communication and access support.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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23. How can museums help improve perceptions of older people?

Celebrate their knowledge and achievements.

Give them opportunities to self-represent.

Different kinds of volunteering using wider range of skills/experience/knowledge.

Think of older people as more than a set of frailties.

Give a role something valued, relevant and worthwhile.

Think about language 'capability groups' not 'older people's groups' or a setage such as 55+.

Labelling activity for 'older' people could be a barrier.

Action

Celebrate their knowledge and achievements.

Think holistically about access i.e. not only older people who need to sit down,

may have hearing/sight issues.

Road test design with older people.

Focus on the positives engage with skills and experience of older people.

Wider volunteering opportunities use their creativity and skills.

Value placed on role of older people.

Documents

Age Collective: London Seminar Report