yourcarehome.co.uk blog

Elderly care news round-up for Friday 27th April

LGA: 'Councils from all parties' want elderly care reform

The ITV News reports that local councils across the country have called for the government to reform funding for elderly care immediately or risk a reduction in other local services such as leisure centres, road maintenance and parks.

 

Care home inspector arrested over bribery claims

The Daily Telegraph reports that a woman who worked for the Care Quality Commission as an inspector of care homes has been arrested on suspicion of bribery and money laundering

 

Elderly care funding will force closure of libraries, councils warn

The Daily Telegraph reports on calls from local councils for the government to act immediately on reforms for funding care for the the elderly

A government white paper on care funding was due to be published in December last year, but has been postponed, and council leaders say that unless decisions are taken, the care reform debate will be set back many years and the councils will be forced to fund care that they cannot afford.

 

Louis Theroux on dementia - tonight, BBC 2

In part 2 of this series on 'extreme love' Louis Theroux visits those with Alzheimer's and dementia and asks what it is like to care for those you love day in and day out even though they may not live in the same reality and may not even remember who you are.

Louis Theroux - Extreme Love: Dementia is on BBC 2 tonight at 9pm.

Coming up this week on radio and TV ...

Two things to look out for on the television and radio this week...

Thursday 20 Jan - Radio 4 afternoon play, " Notes to Self" ... Doreen has been in a care home for two years. Her son Robert visits but finds it hard to have a meaningful relationship with his mother, unlike his partner Karen. A performance at the home reveals music to have a powerful effect on Doreen. Can it offer an opportunity for Robert to make a new connection with her? A drama about Alzheimer's disease based on real experiences and interwoven with recordings of music sessions carried out in care homes and day centres.

Friday 21st Jan - BBC Two - Can't Take it with You ... Sir Gerry Robinson helps two families torn over what to write in their wills, exploring favouritism and the effect that can have on tearing families apart.

Our interview on BBC Radio 4 with Eddie Mair

Yourcarehome was asked to appear on IPM with Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4 this week, to comment on the realities of finding a care home and on attitudes towards care homes.  Hear our interview here!

Free home care bill defeated in the Lords

Earlier this week, the governments proposal for free home care for the elderly was delayed by the House of Lords due to a very real lack of clarity about how this massive scheme was to be funded. Along with this, the government have this week also shelved plans for what has been called their "death tax" - a tax on peoples estates after they have died in order to fund their care. 

Not a great week for the government then, but the worrying thing is that there seem to be no other proposals for funding care that are any better thought out.  This is a long term issue needing a long term solution - and a cross-party agreement about how funding will work over the next few decades is the only way forward.

yourcarehome interviewed on BBC Radio about the CQC report

Today, the Care Quality Commission released a report about the quality of councils' adult social care in the UK.  

yourcarehome.co.uk were interviewed this morning on BBC Radio Wiltshire about care homes, the state of the industry and finding a care home for yourself or a relative.

We will post a copy of this interview as soon as it is available.

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

The Social Care Funding proposals - what do they mean?

So the Government Green Paper on adult social care funding is now published, essentially giving three options for future funding.  This now opens a debate which will continue until 13 November, then a white paper establishing what is actually going to change will be published in 2010.

There has rightly been a fair amount of press coverage and analysis as well as bloggers comments - we have sifted through all of these to bring you the best and most informative of these articles and opinions:

The Government's Green Paper on Social Care - how will this affect me?

by yourcarehome.co.uk's financial expert, Andrew Dixson-Smith

Social care green paper: reaction in quotes

by the Guardian

Care funding: pros and cons of the options

by the Telegraph

Q&A: Social care plans

by the BBC

Elderly 'give up their memories'

by The Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

You pays your money and you take what’s given

Decline and Falls (blog) - Peregrine Pickles, Guest Blogger for yourcarehome.co.uk

Decent, brave and bold. But the backlash has already begun

Polly Toynbee for The Guardian (comment)

What are your thoughts about the proposed care funding options?  email us at info@yourcarehome.co.uk and let us know...

Alzheimer's on Woman's Hour

This week on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, there was a piece all about the effect Alzheimer's has on a couple's friendships and social lives.  With 700 000 people living with dementia in the UK, this is an aspect of the illness which is rarely touched upon but affects hundreds of thousands of people.  Well worth another listen...

Listen to "Why are we so afraid of Alzheimer's", 22nd June 2009

Listen to "Dementia Feedback", 23rd June 2009