Free resource for care homes
Application template for the conférence des financeurs
A section-by-section outline for asking your département's conférence des financeurs to fund a life story workshop. To be adapted to the current year's specifications.
A4 PDF, free, no email address required.
The conférence des financeurs in brief
The conférence des financeurs de la prévention de la perte d'autonomie des personnes âgées (funders' conference for the prevention of loss of autonomy in older people) was set up in every French département by the law of 28 December 2015 on adapting society to ageing. It is chaired by the president of the departmental council, with the director general of the regional health agency (ARS) as vice-chair.
It coordinates and funds prevention activities for people aged 60 and over, including group activities, using funds provided by the national solidarity fund for autonomy (CNSA).
Each conference publishes its own calls for projects, with its own timetable, priority themes and criteria. The rules for activities run inside care homes vary from one département to another: read the specifications before filling in this template, and contact the departmental council team that runs the conference if in doubt.
This template is not an official form. It gathers the information calls for projects most often ask for; then copy it into your département's application.
The template, section by section
1. Project lead
Who is applying, and who will run the project.
- Name of the home, legal status (public, private non-profit, private for-profit) and FINESS number
- Address and contact details
- Name and role of the project lead
- Capacity and number of residents
2. Context and needs
Why this workshop, here and now. Rely on what the team has observed rather than on generalities.
- Observations: isolation, withdrawal, few group activities based on conversation, weakened ties with some families…
- What already exists in the home, and what is missing
- How it fits the home's overall project and activity programme
3. Objectives
One general objective, three or four measurable operational objectives.
- General objective: maintain social ties and value residents' life stories
- Encourage spoken expression and autobiographical memory
- Create exchanges between residents
- Strengthen ties with families
- Keep a record of the stories, with the people's consent
4. Target group
Conferences fund activities for people aged 60 and over.
- Expected number of participants (6 to 8 per group, times the number of groups)
- Selection criteria: voluntary participation, care team's opinion
- How cognitive and sensory impairments are taken into account
5. Description of the activity
Use the format, standard outline and themes from the workshop plans.
- Format: 45-minute sessions, once a week, total number of sessions
- Standard outline of a session
- Planned themes
- Facilitators: activity coordinator, psychologist, volunteers, external speaker
- Venue and practical arrangements
6. Timetable
The dates must fall within the period covered by the call for projects.
- Start and end dates
- Preparation (forming groups, informing families, collecting consents)
- Sessions
- Interim and final reviews
7. Resources and partners
What the home contributes, and who it works with.
- Staff: hours devoted to the workshop
- Materials: prompts, objects, printing
- Digital tool for recording stories, if any
- Partners: families, volunteers, library, archives, a school for an intergenerational meeting
8. Provisional budget
A balanced budget: total expenses equal total income.
Expenses Item Amount Staff time devoted to the workshop … € External speaker … € Materials and prompts … € Printing (booklet, newsletter) … € Digital tool … € Total expenses … € Income Item Amount Amount requested from the conférence des financeurs … € The home's own funding … € Other funding … € Total income … € 9. Evaluation
Plan from the start how you will measure results. The grid from the workshop plans can serve as a tool.
- Quantitative indicators: number of sessions held, number of participants, attendance, number of stories collected
- Qualitative indicators: observation grid per session, satisfaction of residents, families and staff
- How and when reviews will take place
10. Communication and showcasing
Conferences often ask for their support to be mentioned on materials.
- Planned outputs (booklet, the home's newsletter, exhibition), with residents' consent
- Informing families and staff
- Acknowledging the conférence des financeurs' support
The workshop plans
Format, standard outline, six themes and the evaluation grid: everything you need for the "Description of the activity" section.
See the workshop plansAnd to keep a record?
With B.ond, staff can save the memories collected in the workshop in each resident's space, share them with their family, and include them in the home's newsletter with the person's consent.
Today's stories are tomorrow's bonds.