yourcarehome.co.uk blog

The Elderly Rebellion

Roy Hattersley is refusing to be old - or rather refusing to be labelled as 'old', 'elderly' or any of the other terms which he claims will brainwash him into  

"believing that dignity, as well as potential angina, requires me to walk slowly, drink sparingly, go to bed early, avoid stress and make a living will."

He states in this week's Times that although Dame Joan Bakewell's role as "Czar for the elderly" is a valid one, he worries about such a role creating the impression that nobody over 65 can take the top off a boiled egg.

According to the reader's comments, many feel as strongly as he does, but for every person who is fit, well and wanting to roar around Britain on a Harley Davidson, there is another who is struggling to make ends meet, coping with illness or living without family or friends.  These are the people who surely justify just why there needs to be a czar for the elderly - Unfortunately, rights for the elderly do have to be fought for and in the days of celebrity as currency, Dame Joan Bakewell is just what they need. 

Does having choices help you live longer?

In 1976, a study took place in a care home to see whether being given control over aspects of their lives would affect the residents.  

Residents on two floors of the 360 bed care home were given plants and film shows.  Residents on one of these floors were able to control these events - choosing the plant and looking after it themselves, and choosing which night of the week to view the film.

Eighteen months later, the psychologists discovered that twice as many of the elderly residents in the group which had been given choice were alive compared with those on the other floor who had been told which night they could watch the film and had not been able to tend to the plants themselves.  It appeared that taking control made you live longer.

The BBC Radio 4 series Mind Changers will be revisiting the care home Arden House and will take another look at the investigation and its findings and will be considering the implications for today's care of the elderly.

The programme will be aired on Monday 17th August at 11am on Radio 4