Good week/bad week

By Rebecca Law, Media and PR officer

This was a good week for the millions of tons of food that are unnecessarily binned each year. Now, instead, it’s the sell-by dates that are hitting the scrap heap.

Just as producers will no longer be able to mislead customers into thinking their food is off, we got to thinking, isn’t it time we applied the same principle to older people too, who often, are considered to have a sell-by date of their own?

Time and again, we see evidence of ageism and discrimination across society. From the health service to the workplace, older people are treated as though they have a shelf life. In fact, far from being second-rate citizens, older people make a disproportionately large contribution to society – their volunteering alone was recently valued at £10billion a year and the free care they provided to their grandchildren helps contribute £4billion a year to the economy. They are a wealth of knowledge and experience and they can, do, and want to continue making a valuable contribution to society. So shouldn’t we include a shift in the way we label older people too?


This was a bad week for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after a Select Committee report claimed the regulator in charge of inspecting hospitals and care homes had “distorted” its priorities. The CQC has been focussing on registering providers, which in turn, has led to a 70% drop in the number of inspections it conducts to check care standards and safety. The report states that some hospitals are not even visited every two years if they are deemed to be low risk.

Perhaps then, we might be unsurprised by this morning’s news, that half our hospitals and care homes are failing to look after patients. This is even further evidence of neglect of older people in hospital wards and care homes and comes just months after another CQC report, which found evidence of older people being overlooked, left thirsty, or not given the assistance they need to eat while in hospital. We have to ask ourselves whether children or younger adults would ever be treated in this way. Ultimately, though, this neglect damages not just the patients but the healthcare system itself: poorer care means older people take longer to recover and are more likely to be readmitted. And that, in the end, will cost us all.

Good week/bad week

Have this week’s events brought good news or bad for older people?

Director of Policy, Simon Bottery, is dismayed by the riots that swept the country this week; Media and PR officer, Rebecca Law, counts just how many happy returns we may be in store for.

This was a bad week for, well, just about anyone who lives in one of our major cities. The rioting and looting seen in London, Manchester and elsewhere caused despair to those directly and indirectly affected. In Tottenham 89-year-old Aaron Biber saw the barbershop that he'd run for 41 years totally destroyed. Well wishers have since raised £5000 to help him back into business.

As the week progressed it turned into a bad week for some of the rioters too. Swift arrests and sentences saw many, including care workers and teaching assistants, facing the consequences of their actions. In Manchester, 30-year-old Daniel Bell pleaded guilty to stealing a Macmillan Cancer Relief collecting tin from a looted branch of Maplin, an act the judge described as 'the most despicable and contemptible I have had to deal with all day'.

Despite the gloom, anger and fear, there was some good news to be found: this was a good week for youngsters who have a penchant for birthday parties as the Department for Work and Pensions released figures highlighting that one in three girls and one in four boys born today will live to 100.

Still, the good news does bring with it more than just the issue of how to fit 100 candles on the birthday cake: Gordon Burns would have a field day with that little Krypton Factor challenge (a joke there, for those of us who are a slightly further along on our journey to 100).

I don’t mean to rain on the parade but there are some out there who have gone so far as to describe the news as a “time bomb”. It does of course bring with it issues about how we are going to support an ageing population given the current budget deficit and an already pending pensions crisis. Certainly, Andrew Dilnot’s suggestions in his report of 4 July this year already go some way in offering sensible solutions to the future funding of long-term care; so long as the Coalition is prepared to take heed – and action.

Just for a moment though, can’t we do away with the pessimism and just embrace the fact that those born today are over 40 times more likely to turn 100 than those born a century ago? Yes, we’ll need to look at how to ensure that people are not just reaching old age, but a good old age. But just think of the difference the news would have made to those only three generations before us, who counted themselves lucky to reach their fiftieth.

Good week/bad week

Have this week’s events brought good news or bad for older people?

By Rebecca Law, Media and PR Officer

This was a bad week in the bus world according to an update from the Campaign for Better Transport. Tens of thousands of pensioners could be left without transport as 72% of local authorities target buses as a means of making savings. The cuts mean that hundreds of routes are being axed and the number of services slashed.

The news will be a real blow for thousands of older people, who, without their own transport are reliant on the bus network. It’s particularly bad news for those in rural areas where links are already poor. Access to public transport allows older people to continue leading active lives and to stay linked with their local community, when they might otherwise struggle to get out and about. While we accept that councils have to save money, we believe, with moves like this, they are targeting the wrong things. Cutting bus routes would have the worst impact on those who need them most and will simply leave a greater number of older people cut off.

National and local government needs to be much more joined up. It makes no sense for central government to require councils to give all pensioners a free bus pass, while at the same time allowing them to withdraw subsidies from the very routes that the most isolated older people will be using.

It’s a good week for all the 90-year olds out there who happen to have adopted a Stone Age diet since their thirties. According to Michael Rose, a professor of evolutionary biology, you can halt the ageing process for the next few years and enter a stage of “coasting” where the body won’t face any new problems beyond those already present. Sounds good – if a little like a Gulliver’s Travels narrative plot. But other experts remain sceptical claiming that “Professor Rose [has] dismissed solid evidence into the causes of ageing...it is misleading to hold out the hope that something remarkable happens to arrest ageing very late in life...” So, perhaps for now, the jury’s out, but, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, so for those who would like to give it a go for themselves, the full article is here: http://t.co/xposrzW

Good week/bad week

Have this week’s events brought good news or bad for older people?

By Rebecca Law, Media and PR Officer

This has been a good week for Centrica’s shareholders, after the company’s dividend was increased by 12%. This follows the news of £1.3billion profits in the first half of the year for the energy giant which owns British Gas.

This may anger British Gas customers who will justifiably feel this has been a bad week since they face increases in their gas and electricity bills of 18% and 16% respectively from mid-August. The increases are particularly bad news for older people, the majority of whom live on fixed or declining incomes.

Centrica’s explanation for the price hikes is that, while the figures may look good, British Gas profits are in fact down 54% in the first half, so, as they claim, if they didn’t increase gas and electricity prices in the second half, their profit could be entirely wiped out, or they might even run at a loss. This will however be of little comfort to all those currently living in fuel poverty – and the increasing number who will be pushed into it as a result of the price hikes. It may be an over simplistic way of looking at it, but profits of £1.3billion can hardly be considered negligible, so British Gas shouldn’t expect sympathy from their customers any time soon.

The pain may however be muted, if only a little, by those with pension funds - many of which contain British Gas shares. Whether this small gain will compensate for the almost eye-watering increases in energy prices, however, is questionable.

Good week/bad week

Welcome to our new, regular Friday feature Good week/bad week: a round-up of how the week is looking for older people.

Good week for economists: Andrew Dilnot's thoughtful review single-handedly raised the reputation of a much maligned group of academics this week, not to mention offering a glimmer of hope to thousands of people by reducing the anxieties that many feel about paying for care in later life. The suggested cap on the amount someone should pay for social care (around £35,000 or no more than 30% of their assets) is a much clearer way for people to know in advance how much they might be expected to pay. We don't agree with every single word (not quite convinced by the “granny tax” idea) but the almost universally positive response to the report made George Osborne's apparent intent to kick it into touch that much harder (and gave economists a temporary reprieve as we all have a bona fide reason to hold on the jokes about them, for now at least anyway.)

Bad week for Elaine McDonald and what her case says for the potential care of older people. The 68-year-old disabled ex-ballerina was denied the right for an overnight carer to help her use her commode following a stroke. Instead, she has been left to use incontinence pads overnight even though she is not incontinent. Elaine herself described the decision to be an "intolerable affront to her dignity". We have to ask ourselves, if going to the toilet is now regarded as a privilege in our overstretched social care system, what on earth are they going to cut next? We have to decide whether, as a society, we would rather have our older friends, parents and grandparents in incontinence pads, because we are not prepared to face the question of how best to pay for care. This is a clear warning of what care and support will become if the coalition fails to act on Andrew Dilnot’s recommendations.

The Final Countdown

By Claire Nurden, Research and Policy Officer

Of all the challenges that Dilnot has faced in his review of social care over the past year, the final key decision seems to have boiled down to this: do we or do we not compel people to contribute to the potential future costs of their social care?

General speculation has certainly pointed in the direction of an insurance scheme to help people protect themselves against the cost of future care and support needs, but as the ABI suggests, the general public currently have little awareness of the need, or indeed willingness, to pay into a scheme of this sort, especially if a state funded option is available as a safety net.

A serious anomaly exists here. Without making contributions to an insurance scheme for social care compulsory, the most effective incentive to encourage people to sign up is to make the state funded option unattractive. But not only would this be unfair to people that have been forced to rely on the state funded option as a result of financial hardship, but deliberately constructing a sub-standard system of social care is unacceptable, if not immoral, in a civilised society.

Plastic fantastic

By Claire Nurden
Research and Policy Officer

Apologies in advance for ranting about this! But is it any wonder so many women resort to surgery? Two articles in the Daily Mail this morning, one describing a 68-year-old, dare I say it, natural, Jean Shrimpton as “grey-haired, prim, and almost severe”, while the other proclaims “Sexier than ever at 73”, and plasters photos of Jane Fonda’s surgically enhanced face and body across the page.

There are a hundred different issues here, but I’ll try and keep it brief. The first thing that springs to mind is how dangerous it is for us to constantly uphold images of beauty in older age that depend almost entirely on expensive, and invasive, surgeries to hold back the years. But moreover, I have to ask, why are we so ashamed about showing our age in the first place? What is everyone so afraid of? It is sad to think that so often older people are not judged by their achievements, but how effectively they have erased the markings of the experience that makes them who they are. Lines are simply the signs of having a life, and if we’re lucky we’ll make it to our later years, so why deny it? If nothing else we will save ourselves a huge amount of money.

Hmm I really hope I don’t change my mind about all of this when I get to 40...

Are you ageless and amortal?

By Claire Nurden, Research and Policy Officer

Interesting piece in the Mail this morning. Sitting right at the top of the gossip column, at first glance it seems like yet another article feeding the public’s fascination with looking younger (note the photos of cosmetically enhanced Demi Moore). But on closer inspection the message is actually very different. While yes, some of the discussion is about how we look, it goes on to recognise that looking ageless is more than skin deep, and that more and more men and women are now challenging the stereotypes they are faced with in their older age – and reaping the rewards.

Granted, the fact that they have led with the headline, “Can you believe this woman is 65?” (and some of the less than pleasant reader comments!), is evidence of how far we have to go in terms of challenging ageist ideas of later life in this country, but as a whole it does seem like a positive step in the right direction.

Multitasking Myths

By Claire Nurden
Research and Policy Officer

Now I’m no scientist, so I can’t question the validity of the research findings on older people’s ability to multitask, which have been widely reported in today’s media. But we can question the nature of the reporting of these findings, and the skewed impression it gives about people’s capabilities in their later years.

The headlines (unsurprisingly) seize on the evidence that older brains are ‘less nimble’ in their ability to deal with more than one situation at once, and that the ability to multitask ‘wanes’ with age. But surely the point here is not how many tasks you do at once, but how well you can do them. The added skills and experience many older people bring to bear on the situations they are faced with could, in fact, counter any supposed decline in pure processing ability. This point is made very strongly in the recent Lewis Wolport book on ageing.

While some changes in brain functions might occur as we age, we shouldn’t be reporting this as if it was the only thing – or even the most important thing – about getting older.

New Campaign Encouraging People in the North West to Seek an Early Dementia Diagnosis

We’re welcoming today’s launch of a new Department of Health pilot campaign in the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber, to help people recognise the signs and symptoms of dementia and urging them to seek advice from their GP.

According to the campaign, there is an estimated 82,661 people living with dementia in the North West, over half of whom are undiagnosed and are consequently missing out on access to treatment and support which could help improve their independence and quality of life.

It can be tough, or even frightening, to admit that you, or someone close to you, might be suffering from dementia. Or you might just not be aware of the signs, but the sooner you discuss it and seek help, the better, since, as the campaign highlights, early diagnosis is key to enabling people to access advice, information and support from social services, voluntary agencies and support groups.

For further information on how to recognise the signs and symptoms of dementia, visit: www.nhs.uk/dementia

Ending digital exclusion for older people

Today Chief Executive Janet Morrison will be speaking at the Tackling the Social Exclusion of Older People Conference, presented by Capita. Her presentation will be on Empowering Older People through Digital Technology.

Social isolation and the feelings of loneliness it leads to are common problems for older people living in the UK today. Recent research reveals that a fear of being alone is a major source of anxiety as people grow older and that some older people go for days without seeing another person. However, communications technologies can help prevent and alleviate social isolation and loneliness. Despite this, nearly three in four over-65s have never used the internet.

'Too many older people are excluded from the benefits of online society,' says Janet Morrison. 'With the right support, older people will have the opportunity to use online services, offering them the chance to renew and develop social contacts and engage actively in their communities. The real and urgent need is for more appropriate services that reflect older people's interests and respond to their needs, including sustained, community-based training and support. This should lead to improved face-to-face contact and involvement in the community and a better quality of life.'

It never rains but it pours

by Claire Nurden, Research and Policy officer

Now the dust has begun to settle after the spending review, it seems that the effects will be more far-reaching and complex than many first thought. A broader understanding of the context that specific cuts will made in is essential to get a full grasp of the potential impact, and an idea of how devastating they could be for the most vulnerable older people in our society.

We already know that half of the £2billion earmarked for social care is not ring-fenced and could well be used to plug the gaps in other council funding. But questions are also now being raised about the other half – allocated as part of the health budget. While the NHS has been promised protection, in reality it has seen the smallest budget increase for fifteen years - and that in the face of the challenge of a rapidly ageing population and increasing need. What guarantees are there that the money for social care will be safe when demands for healthcare are rising?

And demand is indeed the issue here. We face a situation where unmet need resulting from cuts in social care and local services such as housing and leisure will drive demand in the health service, and vice versa. All of these services are inter-dependent and must be seen as such when gauging the full consequences of the cuts. Better integration is needed to properly weather the storm, but who will deliver this when cuts to middle-management make change a daunting prospect? It never rains but it pours...

Questions questions – what would reform of the state pension mean for us all?

By Claire Nurden, Research and Policy Officer

News of proposed reforms to the pensions system hit the papers in the last few days, and as we all get our heads around the possible changes only one thing is clear – we need more information!

At Independent Age our initial reaction was that, of course, any moves to transfer the cost of bureaucracy into older people’s pockets are welcome. But we mustn’t forget that pension credit currently plays an important role in passporting people through to other support, like council tax benefit. If these reforms go ahead then thought must be given to ensuring the poorest older people still receive everything they are entitled to. Or could this signal the end to means-tested benefits altogether?

And what of the Government’s calculation that the money saved from eliminating means testing will be enough to fund the change? Some personal financial experts are already expressing concern about the effect this could have on the state second pension. Will it just be rolled into the single £140 payment? And will all pensioners feel the benefit of the reform or will it only affect those retiring under the new rules? In which case, can it really be the case that there will be no losers, only winners? If funding a move like this is really so simple, then the question must be raised, why on earth hasn’t it been done before?

Only one thing is certain - it was a very timely announcement given that many of this week’s winners (women and carers) were last week’s losers in the spending review.

The cuts: smoke and mirrors?

We were left facing a bit of a conundrum after yesterday’s spending review. In the case of social care, the chancellor seemed to be giving with one hand but taking away with the other. An extra £2bn appears to have been earmarked for the care and support of elderly and disabled people, but the money is not ring-fenced and councils are under no obligation to use it for this purpose. The reality is that while any extra funding is welcome, most is likely to be used to plug the holes left by huge cuts in other council funding.

The social care system is already at breaking point. In most areas help is already restricted to those with the most severe needs, leaving many others alone and without very basic support. It has never been more important for communities to mobilise and put pressure on their local councils to use the money in the way it was intended, and protect the most vulnerable people in our society.

Good to grumble?

Today's story on people failing to act on the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis is sadly unsurprising. Pain experienced when we are young is rarely accepted as something ‘normal’, but there is a worrying tendency for some older people to assume that a degree of pain is an inevitable part of the ageing process. This, however, is simply not the case.

In our experience as an older people’s charity we have come across a “mustn’t grumble” attitude among a number of those we support, forcing us to ask why it is sometimes considered acceptable to suffer? Does this acceptance come as a result of negative attitudes towards ageing in our society, and a feeling that older age automatically means death and decline? And what are the consequences?

Over half of our beneficiaries endure pain on a daily basis, which has an inevitable impact on their quality of life. It is worth considering whether a proportion of the vast numbers of older people currently failing to claim their benefits and entitlements, view their own disability as a natural limitation accompanying older age, and not something which entitles them to any help.

There is a broad expectation that the generation of baby boomers will expect more from their later years. But in order for this to happen they must not only challenge negative attitudes about the type of life they can expect to lead, but the type of life they will be able to lead. We must address our current versions of what is natural and what is not.

Young at heart

After reading the results of the latest study on older people and physical activity published in the British Medical Journal and appearing in the Daily Mail today, we can safely say that the findings are unsurprising. The news that staying active is good for you is nothing new, and it makes sense that building and maintaining strength and mobility helps to prevent falls and guard against ill-health. The issue is that many people don’t realise it’s never too late to get started. Older age doesn’t have to mean decline. At Independent Age we’ve met people in their nineties who push their physical boundaries to the limit. From sky-diving and pole-dancing to Tai Chi and gardening, those we support remind us there’s always a way to stay young at heart.

Some older people may feel that when arthritis and other ailments take hold, exercise is no longer for them. But gentle activity can make the biggest difference to those who believe they’re least able. Its benefits extend beyond the physical – it’s a great excuse to get out and about and meet new people, helping to combat the isolation and loneliness that can be so common amongst older people.

Council cost-saving leaves older people in the dark

Reports of a worrying new practice by local councils emerged today, revealing attempts to save costs by switching off or dimming street lights. This practice ignores the needs of older people in local communities, as do the comments of Matthew Lugg, Leicestershire County Council's Transport Director - that crime will not increase because, 'even criminals need lights to see what they are nicking'.

Not only are these moves of serious practical concern to those with visual impairments, disabilities or at risk of falling, but research shows that large numbers of older people are already fearful in their local communities, and avoid going out at as much as they would like, particularly in darkness. Reducing street lighting to an even greater extent will only enhance this fear. Good lighting is essential to enabling older people, many of whom are already at risk of social isolation, to get out and about in their local area.

Read more from the Daily Mail.

stock photo by sarka_s from www.sxc.hu

Changes to winter fuel payments: will older people be left in the cold?

Rumours abound today that the winter fuel payment is set to be limited to those on the lowest incomes, and that the age limit will rise. This is a tricky one – while we can see that focusing the payment on those with genuine need does make sense, and it is reasonable to raise the age at which people receive it to when they retire or reach State Pension Age, we also know how essential this allowance is to so many older people. At Independent Age we have witnessed first-hand how older people can be extremely vulnerable in cold weather.

Means-testing the payment could mean it won’t reach all of those that need it most. We already know that too many older people don’t claim their entitlements, and surely the most vulnerable should be protected. But fuel costs have also risen so dramatically in recent years that they have disproportionately affected many older people, including those on middle as well as lower incomes. Removing the payment for people in both these groups could too easily mean the choice between fuel and food.

Independent Age speaks out against the Default Retirement Age

Independent Age was quoted in a Department of Work and Pensions Report titled Review of the Retirement Age: Summary of the Stakeholder Evidence. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we do not support the default retirement age, when there are many healthy older people who want to carry on contributing in the workplace.

No one should be forced into retirement because of their date of birth--that's ageism. Our full position is up on our website here, or you can read the full government report here. (It's 61 pages--we're on page 44 and page 58.)

Older than what?

By Simon Bottery, Director of Fundraising, Policy and Communications

Went to an interesting seminar today run by the nice people at Forster on communicating with older people. ‘Older people’ seems to have become the most common way of describing people who a few years ago would have been ‘pensioners’ or ‘senior citizens’ or just ‘old people’.

But it struck me today that I have no idea what it is that they are ‘older’ than. I thought at first it must be older than the average age but The Office for National Statistics says the average age in the UK is 39. Since no one includes 40-year-olds in the category ‘older people’ (Independent Age helps those over 70 though some organisations set the bar as low as 50) we are clearly not meaning ‘older than the average’.

So what do we mean? Older than me? Older than you? Older than the age a typical police officer looks? I have a terrible suspicion we mean ‘old’ but are saying older’ because it sounds nicer.

photo posed by model, courtesy of hortongrou at www.sxc.hu