POST CHRISTMAS & RESOLUTIONS

So the festive season is over and done. But is it? The Christmas tree has to be dismantled and all balls, baubles, lights and tinsels are carefully put back into their boxes.

So we have a bare tree which must be disposed of. No mean feat – it must be dragged outside and chopped into pieces that will fill up the bags to be re-cycled. This leaves the millions of ghastly pins which take about an hour to hoover up.

The Christmas cake is put in a tin for eating later in the year. The turkey has been made into a pie, a curry and enough sandwiches to feed an entire football team.

The New Year celebrations have sprouted an assortment of parties most of which go on and on. Although invited to many parties we prefer to stay at home to pacify the dog who is having a nervous breakdown every time a rocket is fired off.

The resolutions that people make for the New Year are generally broken as swiftly as they are made. I mean there are Sales which need to be visited in order purchase something which when you get home only to find you don’t like it. But they were a bargain so that is alright even though you have broken your vow not to buy any more clothes.

 Dieting is tricky. There are a myriad choices but finding one that you like or is endorsed by a celebrity is difficult. If you are clever you can find a diet that helps you lose the unwanted pounds which you have gained over the festive season. Attempting to find one that suits you and makes you think you are getting slimmer is difficult. You will find the family only want to eat their usual food and makes you vow never to try that resolution again.

Of course the only way to lose weight is to eat less. That is simple to say but hard to follow. In fact it will probably be about two days before your body is begging for some real food. But there is a saying - a minute on the lips goes straight to the hips.

You resolve not to shout at the kids/dog and husband. That usually lasts two days before mayhem ensues. So that is another one off the list.

Eating your five a day – fruit and vegetables is impossible to inflict on others. They look good but the only way you can get your children and husband/partner to eat them is to try and disguise them. Sadly you are left with a pile of veggies even if they have been juicing or pureed is out too. Another failure.

Resolution to exercise starts well. Jogging with the dog for twenty minutes doesn’t even get close to losing a pound. So off you troop to the nearest gym. You are asked if you would like a trial before signing up. I did and after ten minutes just wanted to lie down with a blanket over my head and die quietly.

Another ridiculous resolution is that you will only have two glasses of wine a day. Naturally if you go to a dinner party it is only polite to drink a little more apart from the poor person who has been designated to be the driver for the night. From their expressions this is something they do not enjoy. Sipping orange Juice instead of the lovely wine that everyone else is drinking doesn’t make them in the best of moods.

If you have teenagers a resolution is a mine of disasters. A curfew has been made but funnily enough they don’t stick to the time granted. What to do when they come in late and receive a ticking off - cue stomping upstairs and banging their doors very loudly.

Good luck for 2014!

Hands off universal pensioner benefits

‘Hands Off’ is the clear message coming from older people across the UK, as a new nation‑wide campaign is launched today defending the need for benefits such as the winter fuel payment and bus pass.

The ‘Hands Off’ campaign, which has already been backed by some of the most influential older people’s organisations in the UK, aims to safeguard benefits such as the winter fuel payment, bus pass, free prescriptions and TV licences after the 2015 general election.

Following comments made by the main political parties at Westminster indicating these benefits may be under threat, the campaign will emphasise their importance in achieving a decent standard of living for millions of pensioners across the UK, whilst also highlighting the costs and barriers associated with means-testing such benefits.

People of all ages are encouraged to sign the online e-petition and to email their local MP via the campaign website at www.handsoff.org.uk.

The ‘Hands Off’ campaign is being officially backed by the National Pensioners’ Convention, Age Sector Platform in Northern Ireland, the Welsh Senate of Older People and the Scottish Seniors Alliance.

Dot Gibson from the National Pensioners’ Convention said: 

"The real reason why pensioners need additional benefits such as the winter fuel allowance and the free bus pass is because our state pension is so poor. Yet despite this, every year older people add an extra £40bn to the economy in taxes, volunteering and unpaid caring.  Universal benefits help to keep people active, independent, warm in their homes, healthy and involved in their communities. Removing universal benefits isn’t about saving money or about stopping millionaires from getting a free ride on their local bus – it’s about undermining the welfare state and the principle that services should be available to everyone in retirement. Universal benefits need to be defended not only for today’s pensioners, but for the pensioners of tomorrow as well."

Nixon Armstrong from Age Sector Platform commented:

  

"During the last year, pensioners have felt under constant attack. The myth that older people have escaped any austerity measures is totally groundless, and we will fight to ensure there are no further cuts or means-testing of vital benefits such as the winter fuel payment, bus pass, free prescriptions or TV licences. We call on every individual, regardless of age, to support us in our campaign to ensure these benefits are maintained for pensioners now and in the years to come."

John Vincent from the Welsh Senate of Older People commented:

"We are very conscious of the unfair allegations that pensioners are not touched by austerity measures.  We obviously are affected in many ways. People who make these allegations seem to conveniently forget that many of today's pensioners experienced real hardship during the war years and all of us can remember the austerity of the post-war period. Pensioners are tired of feeling like a burden on society; we make a huge contribution and that surely should be recognised?"

Agnes McGroarty from the Scottish Seniors Alliance said:

"All of the main political parties at Westminster have indicated that universal pensioner benefits may be under threat following the next general election, so we must make our voice heard now. Millionaire pensioners have been used as justification for further cuts or means-testing, but this campaign represents the views of real pensioners who are already struggling to make ends meet."

For more information on the campaign, visit www.handsoff.org.uk

To sign the petition visit www.handsoff.org.uk/e-petition



Upper age limit for jurors is set to rise to 75

The upper age limit for jurors is set to rise to 75 from next year to reflect how “active” older people are and to ensure the changing face of Britain is included in the justice system. The limit, which has been set at 70 since 1988, will be changed next year as part of plans announced by the Ministry of Justice.

The proposal comes in a drive by the Ministry to make the criminal justice system more inclusive and to accurately reflect modern society.

Damian Green, Justice Minister, said:

“It is absolutely right that older people play their part in making justice happen. The current limit doesn’t reflect how active older people are – the proportion of employed 64-69 year olds has doubled since 1992. I look forward to seeing jurors aged up to 75 in our courts shortly, as this will make the justice system more flexible and efficient.”

Each year about 178,000 people in England and Wales undertake jury service a number which is expected to rise by two million, with up to 6,000 over-70s expected to be called up every year. With the number of people aged 65 plus projected to grow by nearly 50 per cent in the next 20 years – to over 16 million – the move has been greeted well.

Jane Ashcroft, Chief Executive of older people's charity Anchor, agreed with the measure and dubbed the views of older people “invaluable”

She said: "I welcome this move by the MOJ to increase the upper age limit for jurors. Older people have already contributed a great deal to society and their experiences and views are invaluable, which is why at Anchor more than 300 of our workforce is aged over the traditional retirement age. I'm pleased that more older people will now be able to share their wisdom and participate in the criminal justice system."

Michelle Mitchell of Age UK said: “Judging someone on the basis of their date of birth alone risks overlooking a person’s unique skills and knowledge. While it's true that increasing longevity brings its challenges, there is also extraordinary human capital within our older population – older people are working, volunteering and contributing a huge amount to communities and the wider marketplace. We welcome all ways of including older people into the different aspects of society including eligibility to sit on a jury."

The maximum age limit for jurors was set at 65 by the 1974 Juries Act, this was then increased to 69 by the 1998 Criminal Justice Act - meaning anyone can be called until their 70th birthday. Every year, about 178,000 people serve on juries in England and Wales having been selected at random from the electoral register. The service usually lasts two weeks but can take much longer for complex or lengthy criminal trials. Anyone who fails to turn up can be fined up to £1,000.

The move, which requires primary legislation, is expected to come into force next year.

Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales

Age Concern Morgannwg were the subject of an unannounced focused inspection between 11th March & 28th March and the report from that inspection has now been published by the Care & Social Services Inspectorate Wales. We are particularly delighted with the outcome of this report given that we are currently in the process of developing our domiciliary care services.

Summary

About the service

Age Concern Morgannwg, registered since August 2009 to provide domiciliary care, provides a range of services in a home environment,particularly of a short term nature. These have included, since the last inspection, providing short term care for those released from hospital.

What type of inspection was carried out?

This unannounced focused inspection considered the quality of life theme and the experience of people using the service. Information for this report was gathered from the self assessment of service documentation, sight of three care files, sight of two staff files, a sample of other documentation, discussion with service user's families, the quality assurance report and a discussion with the registered manager.

What does the service do well?

A thorough assessment of needs is undertaken prior to the service user's discharge from hospital which includes a hospital and home visit. Service user's families and professionals praise the service for being prompt, professional and caring.

What has improved since the last inspection?

Support plans are person centred and enable service users and families to be involved in care planning.

What needs to be done to improve the service?

The service is in ‘transition’ currently, and continues to strive to maintain high quality service provision. They have recently begun providing domiciliary care services for a local authority and there is a need to ensure staff are able to deliver the service required. Staff files need to meet recruitment procedures so should include DBS (CRB) information and any gaps in employment history.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Overall people have a good quality of life, where a thorough assessment of needs is
undertaken and where the service received is prompt, professional and caring.
People are able to exercise their rights, have a voice and are encouraged to speak up,
are listened to and are treated with dignity and respect.

Families, Health and Social care Managers, service users and families are able to be
involved. Needs and preferences are known and reflected in the care given. Care files
were viewed and evidenced person centred planning where specific requests from
families and service users,for certain elements of the care were included. Service user's
families were very pleased with the service provided. One commented: ‘… they do what
my husband needs’. She added that when someone came to find out about the service
required, they spent a long time assessing the needs. The co-ordinator of the outreach
team ensures that the service user is seen within the context of the environment and
asks for input from the service users and family. A stake holder commented that staff
were:‘very courteous and professional and understanding of my concerns for the
service user’.

People using the service experience well-being, feel their diverse needs are catered for
and the service is prompt and diligent in delivery and people are able to be involved in
the review process.

The agency provide a personalised service based on the needs identified in the
assessment process. Furthermore, support plan review procedures are in place to
ensure the service delivered meets ongoing needs. Care files examined indicated that
reviews are conducted and continue to involve the service user and family in the
process. The support plans indicate that they take account of any needs particular to the
individual. A service user's family spoken with said that the needs of her relative were
taken into account. Dependent upon the nature of the service provided, service users
are encouraged to be as independent as possible. We (CSSIW) were informed their staff
support service users and families to access community activities or day centres, helping
them to reduce social isolation.

The physical well-being of service users is being maintained and they have access to
health professionals if required and appropriate.

Particularly for the hospital discharge scheme, service users are supported and
encouraged to look after themselves and exercise control over their own care. Care files
indicated that service users have contact with appropriate health professionals and
service users relative felt that they were helped as much as they required. In all three
care files viewed, the service didn’t include administration of medication as this was not
applicable. Training for staff should be appropriate to the needs of service users and the
agency should monitor and audit staff training dependent upon these needs. Evidence
indicated that the agency liaise with hospital medical staff and agencies such as ‘meals
on wheels’,in order to ensure a ‘safe’ discharge from hospital and that appropriate
facilities are in place on the service users discharge.

People are supported because their needs are anticipated;they experience warmth and
feel recognised by others. Person centred planning and a thorough assessment of needs try to ensure that,within their home environment, service users and their relatives feel supported and recognised by others. Domiciliary services, we were informed, include support with shopping,
access to advocates, liaising with health and social care professionals and helping people be able to talk to support staff. Comments from professionals include: ‘I have been very impressed with the service given to my client’ ‘efficient staff and very prompt response’
In a quality assurance questionnaire to professionals (referrers) 9 out of 9 responded
positively when asked if they were happy with the service delivery and respectful of the
needs of the service users.

In addition to providing direct care and emotional support to all service users, the agency
offer,to every referred service user,a benefit check to maximise their income.

The wife of a service user commented that ‘the service is excellent, they cater for my husbands
needs, the carers are very, very helpful and supportive and I have no complaints at all’.

The importance of "healthy" life expectancy



Increasing life expectancy has been one of the wonders of the last century or so.

Throughout the 1800s it hovered around the 40 years of age mark in the UK, but since the start of the 21st Century it has almost doubled. This can be put down to a number of factors including improved health care, sanitation, immunisations, access to clean running water and better nutrition.

It means about a third of babies born today can expect to celebrate their 100th birthday.

But are we thinking about the issue in the right way?

Ministers have responded to the challenge of the ageing population by increasing the age at which people qualify for the state pension to 68 in future years. This has been done to maintain the ratio of working-age adults to pensioners.

At the moment there are 3.7 20 to 64-year-olds for every person over 65. If the current trend in life expectancy continues, by 2050 it will be down to 2 to 1. It will come as no surprise that increasing working lives to 68 almost completely counteracts this.

But it is not quite as simple as that.

People can only work if they remain in good health - and currently the average "healthy life expectancy" is 63.5 years of age, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The problem is that a rise in life expectancy does not automatically lead to a similar rise in years spent in reasonable health. Over the last 20 years the gap has been getting wider. Life expectancy has risen by 4.6%, but healthy life by only 3%.


So what can be done about it?

Summer Romance on the rise for 50 + group!

• 1 in 10 mature holidaymakers have had a holiday romance since turning 50
• Sizeable minority planning holidays with love in mind
• But 61% wouldn’t mention a holiday liaison to other

Romance is in the air as the summer holiday season gets underway, with research from specialist over 50s insurer Staysure revealing a new trend emerging among the more mature holidaymakers who are using their travel plans to look for love.

While holiday romances may have traditionally been seen as the preserve of the young and reckless, data released today found a fifth of people aged over 50 say they’re actually more likely to have a holiday romance now than when they were younger, with one in ten admitting to having had a holiday romance since turning 50. A sizeable minority even admit they’ve planned a holiday with a single friend with the specific intention of trying to find love while away.

Alongside this new trend for romantic getaways, there’s a distinct air of discretion emerging, with few over 50s keen to shout about their escapades. Half of those questioned felt a holiday romance was just harmless fun, but 61% said they wouldn’t mention it to anybody else, with a quarter saying they’d be too embarrassed to discuss it. One reason for this reticence may be their less than favourable prospects for the relationship to become long-term. While half of mature holidaymakers said the relationships continued after they had returned home, the vast majority put the maximum length as only a few weeks.

It seems getting out of the UK is the best recipe to romantic success: over 60% of over 50s travellers had their holiday relationships overseas, although ironically their most popular choice of partner (41%) was another UK holidaymaker, with only a quarter of those questioned having had a fling with a local resident. Of those who felt it was easier to meet somebody on holiday than at home, 85% said a lack of inhibitions on holiday was the most likely reason.

Ryan Howsam, Chief Executive at Staysure, commented: “The conversations we have with our customers on a daily basis tell us that the ‘coach trips to the south coast’ stereotype of over 50s holidays is long gone. As well as engaging in more daring activities like bungee jumping, scuba diving and trekking, our new research finds romance is increasingly on the cards for these adventurous holidaymakers.

As ever we want people to enjoy and have fun on their holiday, but recommend that all holidaymakers err on the side of caution and take extra care when meeting new people and spending time with them. Their own personal safety should be the number one priority. Before going they need to be properly insured, declaring all medical conditions to their insurer at the time of taking out the policy.”

Not all holiday romances are doomed however. While many relationships may end a few weeks after returning home, nearly a quarter of the over 50s questioned said they knew somebody who had met their husband or wife on holiday.

Older people feel stereotyped

 

A pioneering three-year research project, involving older people themselves, Shaping our Age, whose report is published today, has found that older people have a great deal to contribute to the debate around well-being and services for older people and yet 71 per cent say that they are rarely or never consulted on services that impact their life.

Shaping our Age, supported by the Big Lottery Fund, is a joint project between the Centre for Citizen Participation at Brunel University, the Centre for Social Action at De Montfort University and older people’s charity the Royal Voluntary Service [RVS](formerly WRVS). The research challenges the common perceptions of ageing and seeks to question the portrayal of older people and the assumptions that those providing services for them often make.

To coincide with today's launch, Shaping our Age commissioned new quantitative research amongst over 65s which is also being published. This highlights older people's own concerns about their position in society; 61 per cent of over 65s think that society sees them as a burden and the majority (57 per cent) think that the media encourages the idea that older people are a problem for society. Two-thirds of older people (66 per cent) feel that they are stereotyped and, worryingly, well over half (56 per cent) think that older people are ignored. Despite the views of others, the vast majority (62 per cent) of over 65s do not feel as old as they are and two-thirds (61 per cent) don't see age as important.

Shaping our Age illustrates the huge contribution that older people have to make to the debate around their own well-being and how best to provide services and support for older people and yet only a third (33 per cent) of older people feel that the contribution that older people make to society is recognised. The report shows that traditional services for older people, whilst addressing important practical needs, can also encourage passivity and dependence. Many of these services do things "for" older people rather than working alongside them, involving older people and responding to what they themselves would like.  Older people reported being patronised or not sufficiently involved or valued. These findings are echoed by the survey results which found that although a majority of over 65s (57 per cent) do not use services specifically for older people; for those that do, one in ten feel that the services provided are not really what they want nor are they interesting or stimulating enough. Sixteen per cent say that the services are the stereotypical ones that people think older people would like.

David McCullough, Royal Voluntary Service Chief Executive, said:

"The fact that, as a society, we are living longer is a wonderful thing but the challenges that this brings with it has led to older people being seen as a burden. This report lays out what many of us already know: that older people have a huge amount to give back to society and we should harness that expertise and enthusiasm to make services better for older people by involving them more in decision making. Shaping our Age is an exciting and innovative research project which should act as a wake-up call for those of us providing services for older people.”

Professor Peter Beresford OBE, Director, Centre for Citizen Participation, Brunel University, said: "The biggest issue older people see as needed for improving their well-being is more social contact and they want to play a bigger part in changing things for the better. Services for older people have to shift from a paternalistic ‘doing-to’ model to the ‘involvement-led’ approach older people value. What’s needed now are the twenty-first century equivalent of the old ‘Darby and Joan’ clubs, not just more of the same”.

Jennie Fleming, Reader in Participatory Research and Social Action, Centre for Social Action, De Montfort University, said: “Shaping our Age clearly demonstrates the need to involve older people more in both the debate around their own well-being, but also the actual services that they use. Participation in activities makes a massive difference to an older person’s sense of well-being and that in turn can have a positive effect on loneliness, which we know has a knock on impact on mental and physical health.”

Shaping our Age defines what constitutes well-being for older people by consulting with the project's participants. Key factors which determine well-being were found to be good mental and physical health; achieving and accomplishing in life; and leading an independent life.

Keeping fit and active and being involved with other people were also seen as important. Relationships and social contacts with friends and family are essential and participating in groups and clubs, as well as volunteering, were cited as important. Through a national consultation with older people, as well as five local projects carried out as part of Shaping our Age, the report suggests a future model for services for older people which would involve older people themselves in helping develop the kind of services and activities that will contribute most to their well-being. Key factors include starting with the older people and using their expertise and knowledge, having small groups for activities and actually doing what older people want to do rather than dictating what they should do.

Royal Voluntary Service  supports over 100,000 older people each month to stay independent in their own homes for longer with tailor made solutions. Through its army of 40,000 volunteers, the charity runs services such as Good Neighbours, Meals-on-Wheels and Books-on-Wheels that alleviate loneliness and help older people. Royal Voluntary Service also provides practical support for older people who have been in hospital through its On Ward Befriending and Home from Hospital services.