Get Going Together

Get Going Together was a three-year programme commencing in October 2013 which aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of older people with long-term conditions.

The programme delivered exercise-based health and wellbeing projects, enabling older people to be more physically active. As well as improving the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of older people, GGT aimed to reduce falls and unplanned GP and hospital attendances by working with healthcare providers to embed sessions within existing falls and COPD pathways. It also sought to reduce social isolation and have a positive impact on those living with dementia.

It worked with five local Age UK partners; Cheshire, Coventry, Leicestershire, Oldham and South Tyneside to develop exercise and fitness based programmes to meet the needs and interests of older people. Activities on offer ranged from one-to-one support in the home to group classes. These could include chair-based exercises, walking football, zumba and Nordic walking, amongst many others.

Activities were co-designed with older people, ensuring maximum relevance and take up, as well as offering opportunities for peer to peer support through volunteering – making participation less daunting.

Key findings

Between November 2013 and September 2016, GGT reached over 6500 older people through high and low level exercise classes. Evidence indicates that the programme had a positive impact on:

• Energy levels and fatigue
• Emotional wellbeing
• The level of unexpected healthcare appointments, saving the NHS tens of thousands as a result.

Evaluation

Download the full evaluation report

Local partner evaluations can be found here:

Download the Cheshire GGT evaluation report (474 KB)

Download the Coventry GGT evaluation report (720 KB)

Download the Leicester Shire & Rutland GGT evaluation report (483 KB)

Download the Oldham GGT evaluation report (632 KB)

Download the South Tyneside evaluation report (666 KB)

Funding

This programme has been funded by GlaxoSmithKline.