Project supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
December 2022
At the end of July, the closure of the mPower project was marked with an event celebrating and showcasing the successful output of the €10m, five-year project. Delegates from across the three project jurisdictions – Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – heard from a number of speakers from government, partner organisations and funders who commended the project’s cross-border working and the effectiveness of solutions which have enhanced community supported healthy ageing models.
The closing celebration event saw the release of the final evaluation report, delivered by project evaluation partners, University of the Highlands and Islands. The key findings demonstrate that beneficiaries found their interactions with mPower to be positive experiences and specifically beneficiaries highlighted feeling decreased social isolation, decreased loneliness, increased feelings of empowerment and confidence, increased digital literacy and a facilitation of self-management behaviours.
Over the lifetime of the project mPower worked with over 6,900 older people and exceeded the original targets to deliver more than 2,700 personalised wellbeing plans which focused on supporting self-management and included more than 5,500 digital health interventions.
The event was attended by a wide range of stakeholders, from senior officials and policy professionals across the three governments to health and social care professionals and clinicians, as well as senior representatives from the third-sector and community groups, all of whom work with older people living with a long-term condition. In addition, the event saw the first public airing of the project’s impact films. These four films showcase the achievements of the partners and most importantly hear the voices of the many people who benefitted from the project.
For further information and to view the final evaluation report and the impact films visit the mPower legacy website: https://mpowerhealth.eu/
July 2022
A two-day Festival was held in Belfast at the end of April to share the learnings from the mPower project. Over 500 delegates attended, both in-person and virtually, to hear 90 speakers from the three jurisdictions deliver a wide range of sessions celebrating the success of the mPower project and share learning.
mPower was a five-year project supported by the EU INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The project was a cross-border collaboration to support older people (age 65+) living with long-term conditions across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The project started in late 2017 and ran until May 2022. mPower worked with communities to enable people to take the steps needed to live well, safely and independently in their own homes by self-managing their own health and care in the community.
Community Navigators were employed to work with people referred from health and care services to develop wellbeing plans connecting them to activities in their community as well as connecting them to technology to enhance support for health and wellbeing.
As research and evaluation partner for mPower, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Division of Rural Health and Wellbeing team has collected qualitative and quantitative evidence on the impact of mPower on beneficiaries and other key stakeholders.
There is much evidence that beneficiaries have found their interactions with mPower to be positive experiences. They particularly discussed decreased social isolation, decreased loneliness, increased feelings of empowerment and confidence, increased digital literacy and a facilitation of self-management behaviours.
mPower continued to support beneficiaries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic through the adaptability and resilience of mPower staff. Quantitative data shows no decrease in most mPower beneficiaries’ levels of physical health, loneliness or life satisfaction at a time when general population health indicators were showing decreases.
The evaluation work has demonstrated some of the contextual factors and mechanisms associated with positive impact generation within mPower, including strong links with local health care and third sector services and a patient-centred approach delivered by Community Navigators.
Read more at https://mpowerhealth.eu/
Project Overview
The Special EU Programmes Body for EU INTERREG VA programme granted funding up to the value of €7.9 million for the mPower project. The project aims to stimulate transformation in older people’s services in the border counties of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, enabling people to live well, safely and independently in their own homes, supported by a modernised infrastructure for healthy ageing. mPower will champion a preventative approach to care, supporting societal change by empowering more people to self-manage their health and care in the community.
For more information on the mPower Project visit www.mpowerhealth.eu
Project Governance
This INTERREG VA funded project is managed by a Project Board which is responsible for ensuring that their project delivers on its objectives and targets within the agreed timeframe, budget and to a predefined quality standard.
The Project Board is comprised of nominated representatives from the CAWT partner organisations and other appropriate partners and is chaired by a representative from the Project Board.
The Project Board directs the work of the Project Manager who reports directly to the CAWT Development Centre. The Project Board is ultimately accountable to the CAWT Management Board through the CAWT Development Centre and CAWT Secretariat.
| Alan Connor, mPower Project Manager | E. alan.connor@nhs.net |
* NHS 24 Scotland leading on this project
