Access to information: a collaborative project between university, local authority, and the community to develop a website for community information

Following last year’s presentation on the PEOPPLE (Putting Evidence for Older People into Practice in Living Environments) Project methods, we present one of the implementation projects. The PEOPPLE project was a collaboration between the university, older people in the community, and local statutory, voluntary, and community groups to identify and prioritize research questions tailored to meet older people’s needs.
Throughout the consultation phases of the project, access to health and social care information, as well as information about local groups and organisations, was a priority for our stakeholders. They wanted to know the best way for this information to be presented to and accessed by older people, especially if online. At the time of the project, Portsmouth City Council (PCC) were developing a website to home the large amount of information concerning community groups, advice, and activities that was currently interspersed in an existing database alongside information from PCC and the NHS. This website would become the Portsmouth Independent Living Network (PILN). The PILN would be tailored to local people, of all ages, to help them to remain living independently, and our interest was in meeting the needs of older people in Portsmouth to help promote health and wellbeing. The PEOPPLE team and PCC worked together conducting surveys and focus groups to gather information about information needs, preferred format, and how to improve accessibility. Methods and results will be presented.