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.

Big Society: what does it all add up to?

By Simon Bottery, Director of Fundraising, Policy and Communications

I only narrowly passed my Maths GCSE but for some reason I think the Cameron concept of 'Big Society' is best framed as an equation:

Volunteers +Carers x (Third Sector + state - (inefficiency+bureaucracy)) = Big Society.

For the non-mathematicians (including me) this translates as:

Big Society is the combined activities of unpaid volunteers and carers, multiplied by the actions of government and the third sector, minus their inefficiencies and bureaucracy.

I think Cameron would definitely have the equation this way around, with the actions of volunteers and carers coming first and the role of the state and the formal third sector coming second. And I think he would see the main role of the formal third sector (the bit that gets paid to be here) as a multiplier (perhaps magnifier or even facilitator would be a better word) of volunteer and carer activities, rather than as a provider of fully paid-for, contracted services like the corporate sector.

I think he shares the view of much of middle England that there is a lot of inefficiency and bureaucracy in the state sector (and perhaps in the charity sector too. We wouldn’t seriously argue with this, would we? Would we?).

A critical issue might be whether he sees the government 'x' as a big multiplier or a small one. How much positive effect does government really have on the activities of volunteers and carers? Doubling their output? Trebling it? Increasing it by only a small percentage? Is it in fact more of a brake than a boost, detracting from their effort (volunteers + carers x third sector - state = big society).

We hope to do some work on what the Big Society might mean for older people in particular in the coming months and are looking for partners. If you’re interested, let me know.

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

Whatever happened to aftercare?

Some revealing research on falls and hip fractures was released today, after an annual audit showed that one in five older people with broken hips don’t get surgery quickly enough. Concealed behind these findings was actually some positive news – that standards were improving compared to previous years. But this is of little comfort given that administrative problems and staffing shortages can currently prevent people from receiving the basic care they need, leaving some to endure avoidable disability and/or a loss of independence.

But what really struck us about these findings was the lack of reported aftercare. Ways to prevent more problems arising after a hip fracture are well known, and it makes sense that prevention is better than cure. But the audit highlighted that a third of the people who were treated for hip fractures did not have a falls assessment – essential to organising necessary home modifications and exercise regimes, and a quarter were not assessed to see if they needed drug treatment to strengthen bones. At Independent Age we know how debilitating a fall can be for an older person, having a massive impact on their quality of life. Failure to make the most of treatments and prevention techniques already available, not only puts older people at risk but will undoubtedly cost the NHS more in years to come.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons User:Scuba-limp,used under Creative Commons license

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