Prisons Struggling To Cope With The Increase In Elderly Inmates

A Prison Reform Trust report says that prisons are struggling to cope with the increase in elderly, sick and disabled people behind bars.

It reveals that those aged 60 and over are the fastest growing population in English and Welsh prisons, with an increase of 146% between 2002 and 2014. Those aged 50-59 are the second fastest-growing group.

Longer sentences mean more people are growing frail in prison, but high rates of social and support needs are unmet, says the trust. It added that two in five prisoners over 50 now have a disability of some kind.

Trust director Juliet Lyon said: "In the last few years, prison has been reduced to a punitive holding operation for people growing older and sicker behind bars. Prisons are less safe and less decent than they were even a year ago when we published our last report."

The proportion of prisons whose performance is "of concern" or "of serious concern" according to the National Offender Management Service has risen from 13% in 2012-13, to 23% in 2013-14.

Upcoming Conference On Working With People With Dementia & Their Carers

 
The University is to host a conference on working with people with dementia and their carers on 26th March.

Speakers will include:

• Dr Schoeman, Acting Consultant Psychiatrist, Older People's Mental Health, from Sept
• Toby Friedner, BBC Three Counties Radio, Presenter of Shrinkwrap (Disability & Mental Health Show)
• Larry Gardiner "Living with Dementia"
• Sheila Hartnett, RGN Project Lead for Dementia Care

To reserve a place, please contact:
The Social Work Office at
The Centre for the Development of Social Care Practice
on 01582 743372

New Free Film & Resources For Working With Older People

Age UK Brighton & Hove and the University of Brighton have produced a film and learning resources which aim to develop ethical practice in supporting people to make decisions in later life, and contribute to their well-being.

The resources were produced as part of an ESRC funded Knowledge Exchange project. It brought together social care practitioners, older people and university researchers to develop the resources which are based on participatory research carried out by Professor Marian Barnes and Dr Lizzie Ward from the University of Brighton working in partnership with Age UK Brighton & Hove and a team of older co-researchers.

The research was designed to enable older people to talk in their own terms about what well-being means to them, and how it is produced. So the resources are based not only on findings about older people and well-being, but learning from the process of working with older people and with practitioners to generate and apply knowledge for policy and practice.


You can access the film and the accompanying handbook by going to:


http://www.brighton.ac.uk/sass/older-people-wellbeing-and-participation/

New Survey Suggests Adult Social Care Is Suffering Under Cuts

Care for vulnerable older people has been suffering - both in quality and quantity - because of funding cuts, a survey of 200 social workers suggests.


In the survey by Age UK and the College of Social Work, more than 85% of respondents said they had seen the impact of cuts in the past year.

Of those, 95% said the cuts in England presented "a risk to the dignity of their older clients".

The Department for Health says the care of older people is a priority. Councils across the country have been facing a funding squeeze under the coalition's spending cuts.

Since 2004, social care funding has stagnated, and then decreased, Age UK said. This is despite an increase of more than 250,000 people aged 85 or over, the group most likely to require social care.

The charity said the funding given this year was half a billion pounds less than when the coalition came to power in 2010.

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20566307

Councils Put Stricter Time Limits On Elderly Care

Most councils are imposing unreasonably short time limits on care for the elderly at home, according to the UK Homecare Association. 

In a survey, it found that an estimated 75% of councils expected carers to complete visits to elderly people in less than half an hour. Ten per cent imposed time limits of 15 minutes.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said it illustrated the financial pressures on the system.
Around 640,000 carers visit people in their homes across the UK on a daily basis, helping them with basic tasks like dressing, washing, and heating up meals.

But as budgets tighten, increasing numbers are being told to clockwatch; having time limits set on visits.
In its survey, the UK Homecare Association heard from 739 companies providing care at people's homes, representing 90% of all local authority areas.

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18347303

Social Care Plans Need Funding

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has said that legislation to change the funding of social care for elderly and disabled people in England could be introduced during this Parliament.

Last July, a review chaired by economist Andrew Dilnot put forward a raft of ideas for changes to adult social care funding in England. Chief among these was a £35,000 cap on what people should pay towards home visits or care home costs before they get help from the state.

But shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "A cap is meaningless if there is no plan to deliver it. How is it going to be paid for? What is the timetable to put it in place?"

Care Minister Paul Burstow said Labour had failed to make changes to the care system when it was in office, and that the coalition government would "spell out in detail how we will change the system to comprehensively reform it for the 21st Century".

The Care & Support Alliance says one in two people needs care in their lifetime costing more than £20,000, while one in 10 requires care costing upwards of £100,000.

You can read & listen to a brief video on this topic on the BBC News site here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18754431

On TV Next Week...

Coming up on TV next week:

• Britain on the brink: back to the 20s? - Panorama BBC1 8.30-9.00 pm, Monday 9th July. With Britain in its longest financial slump for decades, Adam Shaw investigates whether we can cope with a new age of austerity that might bring similar social and political upheaval to 1970s.
• Riots: the aftershock BBC3 9.00-10.00 pm, Monday 9th July. Gemma Cairney investigates how the riots in England last August changed the lives of those involved. Over nine months, cameras follow thre people who were arrested, as well as several victims of violent disturbances.
• The town that never retired (1/2) BBC1 9.00-10.00 pm, Wednesday 11th July.  In the first on two programmes (the second episode is at 9pm on Thursday 12th July) The Apprentice's Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford head up an experiment in Preston to see if men and women in their 70s can still cut it in the modern workplace. With life expectancy in the UK rising and the pension pot tight, the government is looking to raise the retirement age to reflect this societal change - and some would claim economic necessity. Part of the BBC's ageing season.
• June Brown: Respect your elders BBC1 10.35-11.25 pm, Thursday 12th July. Veteran Eastenders star, June Brown talks to older people about their varied experiences in the care system, including her former on-screen husband John Bardon, who had a stroke five years ago and now needs 24 hour care.

When I Get Older...

On TV this week a two part documentary When I get older looks at the harsh realities about the elderly.

Four famous pensioners: Tony Robinson, Gloria Hunniford, Lesley Joseph and John Simpson spend a few days living with old folk who are struggling.

John's time with an isolated OAP lays bare the reality of loneliness, while Lesly shares in the pain of a couple with ill health. Gloria joins a grandmother living in grinding poverty and Tony faces the anguish of a pensioner's bereavement.

When I get older is on Wenesday 4th July BBC 1, 9.00-10.00 pm. The second instalment which looks at life in care homes will be broadcast the following day Thursday 5th July BBC 1, 9.00-10.. pm.

It will alos be available to watch on BBCiPlayer.

Elderly Denied NHS Care Can Sue

Age discrimination by NHS hospitals is to be outlawed, ministers have announced.

From October, elderly patients will have the right to sue if they have been denied care based on age alone, says Care Minister Paul Burstow.

This will not mean patients can demand any treatment they want. Care decisions will still be judged according to clinical need by doctors. But NHS staff will have a legal duty to consider wellbeing and dignity.

You can read the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18407768

Number Of People working Past Pension's Age Doubled Over Last 20 Years

The number of people working beyond state pension age has almost doubled to 1.4 million in the past 20 years.

The Office for National Statistics said that numbers were relatively stable until 2000 but then increased to a peak of 1.45 million in 2010.

A third of older workers were self-employed, compared with 13% of those below the state pension age, while older employees were twice as likely to be working part-time than be in full-time posts.

The ONS said those remaining in the labour market over state pension age worked fewer hours, possibly helped by the financial support of their state pension and other pension arrangements, allowing them to fit their work around other engagements.

Of the 1.4 million older workers above state pension age, 39% were men and 61% were women.

Click here to calculate your state pension age.

Social workers 'may need powers of entry to stop abuse' - 6/6/2012 - Community Care

Action on Elder Abuse has launched a consultation on whether professionals need powers to enter homes and intervene where they suspect a vulnerable adult is being abused and access to them is blocked.

Existing powers in England may be inadequate for tackling cases where an adult with mental capacity, who does not have a mental disorder, is suspected of being abused in their own home by a family member who is preventing professionals from talking to the alleged victim, and coercing or unduly influencing the victim into staying quiet.

"Even if such situations are limited, the challenge for safeguarding remians as to how a situation can be assessed or judged if it is not possible to physically gain access to the alleged victim," said the consultation paper.

You can read the full news item on the Community Care website here:

Social workers 'may need powers of entry to stop abuse' - 6/6/2012 - Community Care

What Can Care Providers Do To Support Older Gay People?

May 17th was the International Day Against Homophobia. A recent paper by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Perspectives on ageing: lesbians, gay men and bisexuals by Sally Knocker shines a spotlight on the huge impact that prejudice has had on older people's lives and on the impact that the morms of their youth still have upon their present experience.

Sally found that many fear needing services, believing (rightly or wrongly) that their identity will become invisible or that they will experience prejudice from care professionals or their own peers. This is particularly true for those who are HIV positive. A national survey found that many HIV-positive older people fear that social care services, care homes and sheltered housing might be HIV prejudiced and/or homophobic. One in five reported experiencing age- or HIV-related discrimination in the past year, and HIV discrimination was worst in healthcare and goods and services.

Time For A Revolution In The UK Care Sector

John Kennedy, Director of Care Services for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Housing Trust has commented on last Monday's Panorama which looked at the hidden abuse which can go on in care homes. He argues that it's time for a 'revolution' in the UK care sector. You can read his comments here: Time For A Revolution in the UK Care Sector

Promtoting Well-Being For Older People

Recently added to SCIE's Social Care TV is a film about reducing loneliness for older people, especially in bereavement. You can view the video by clicking on the linki below:

http://www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv/video‑player.asp?v=promotingwell‑being&dm_i=4O5,S0PJ,ZMK3G,29UUV,1

Panorama: Undercover: Elder Care

Still very much on the issue of elder care - next Monday (23rd April) on BBC1 at 8.30 pm Panorama goes undercover to look at the way the elderly are treated in care homes. The programme reveals the appalling treatment of an elderly resident with dementia, captured on film after a concerned relative left a hidden camera.

You can see the details about the programme here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gybn7

Warning Over Social Care & the Elderly

Minsters have promised to reform the care system amid signs that local councils are stuggling to look after the elderly, according to social care chiefs.

However, Sarah Pickup, the new president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said changes in England would still be years away.Instead, she urged councils to look at new ways of providing services. In an interview with the BBC, she said the key was to end the traditional assumption that long-term social care support was inevitable as people aged.

Mrs Pickup cited the success her council, Hertfordshire, had had in helping to avoid that spiral of decline by offering intensive, short-term support following problems such as broken hips and stroke. The county has been running an enablement service for the past few years which offers the elderly six-week stints of rehabilitation. She acknowledged that such opportunities were not the "solution to the problem in its entirety" as the system was still under funded and in need of reform. She also warned any reform of the system was still a "way off", pointing out any new funding arrangements would have to wait until the next Spending Review period which is three years away.

Her comments come as campaigners have been upping the pressure on government.This week Age UK and the British Geriatrics Society released a joint briefing paper warning that the elderly were being "catastrophically let down". The two groups pointed out that councils had been increasingly cutting back on the services they provide so that there were now an estimated 800,000 people with care needs who were not getting any support.