While improvements to adult social care have been on the political agenda for many years now, the current state of the British economy has meant that the funding available to bolster an increasingly elderly population has been put into jeopardy.

The new legislation has taken into account economic obstacles and developed a plan to revise the way in which care and support is funded. Through the introduction of a £75,000 cap the government has drawn a strict line for people paying for their own care. This marks a clear step forward in advancing the empowerment of the elderly, as it creates for the first time a universal legal right to personal care.

Although, the Department of Communities and Local Government, the body responsible for the delivery of most social care services has budget allotted for care and support this has not been safeguarded. One of these services is preventative care, a way to help older people avoid reliance on the NHS.

There is a strong case for the Department of Communities and Local Government prioritising preventative care. It has the potential to show the strength of taking proactive action in remedying the social care problem. Ring-fencing budget for preventative care services like in-home adaption solutions that focus on upgrading the accessibility of homes can help people both physically and financially.

In fact, independent research carried out in 2012 by the London School of Economics’ Personal Social Services Research Unit in conjunction with Stannah helped identify the savings that could be made if the government were to choose spending money on adaptive technologies rather than placing people into care homes.

For every £1 spent on adaptive technologies there could be a net saving to the taxpayer of £1.10, which compares to a potential annual saving of £1,100 per person. Such examples demonstrate the strong case for personal and more independent care for Britain’s ageing population is getting stronger.

This was given the royal seal of approval last week when the Queen announced the government’s pledge to help the elderly. Hopefully, through strategic budget allocation, the government will chose to help them retain their independence and enjoy the comforts of home for a little while longer.

At some time most companies will have telephone conversations with people who find it difficult to make an informed decision about the choices offered to them – choices such as changing a utility supplier, selecting a product, general customer enquiries or making a charitable donation. This may be those who have a diagnosed condition like dementia; those who have an undiagnosed or temporary mental health condition such as severe anxiety; those with learning difficulties or literacy issues; or those who have problems understanding the language.

Ofcom research has found that disabled people have difficulty dealing with call centres. Under the Equality Act 2010 (formally the Disability Discrimination Act) it is illegal to discriminate. This means that when a call centre identifies that a consumer has a disability they must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate them – for example, proactively suggesting solutions that may help these consumers make informed choices, and taking steps to ensure that they fully understand key documents such as the quotation, the contract and the guarantee. Good service makes good business sense.

Contacting consumers by phone to sell, upsell, cross sell products or offer new tariffs is important for both parties. The company wants to promote its products, and the consumer wants to benefit from any improved offers. It is important that vulnerable consumers are not ‘locked out’ of these dialogues.

Normally in a commercial transaction there is the assumption that the buyer knows what they want and can make an informed choice about the most appropriate product or service. However, vulnerable consumers can be trusting and believe that a sales representative (whose motivation is to sell) is acting in their best interests in an advisory capacity – this leaves them at risk of being manipulated by unscrupulous operators.

The Silver Marque partners are especially aware of the vulnerable nature of some customers and meet regularly to share best practice in marketing and customer service and a common work ethic in treating the customer fairly.

Source: DMA

A study of reviews left on feedback website the Good Care Guide showed that many people viewed elderly care as needing improvement, with nearly three quarters (71%) of negative reviews on the site directed towards care provided by homecare agencies and care homes.

The Good Care Guide, launched a year ago, works like TripAdvisor, allowing people to find, rate and review care providers.

An analysis of more than 2,000 reviews – which grouped those with 0-3 stars as negative, and those with 4-5 as positive – revealed concerns for the care elderly people receive.

Almost a quarter (23%) of those left for homecare agencies rated them as having substandard care, with care homes close behind at 15%.

The biggest concern for more than 84% of people choosing a care home was cost and quality of care or specialist care, the reviews suggested. In contrast, the quality of care children receive was rated highly, despite being expensive, with 90% of those who wrote on the site about childcare leaving positive reviews.

But childcare providers were rated low for value for money – 8% of childcare reviews were negative specifically about the value for money, with comments including “horrendously expensive”, “costs most of my salary”, and “can’t afford full time childcare”.

Good Care Guide director Denise Burke said: “There are several interesting issues that arise from an analysis of the first 2,000-plus reviews left on Good Care Guide.

“Whilst childcare has consistently been better rated than eldercare, comparing childcare and eldercare is of course a bit like apples and pears – 24/7 care for older people, many with severe dementia, is quite different from nursery care whether it’s for 15 hours or 40 hours a week.

“Worst rated by families on Good Care Guide has been homecare. These services have perhaps been squeezed most by local authority spending cuts. Many complain about 15-minute appointments, about different carers turning up or carers who are poorly trained and paid.”

*express.co.uk

But while they might have been spared the worst, British seniors still feel deeply disconnected from the government and do not believe that it has their best interest at heart, as Stannah’s latest Silver Census reveals.
The survey paints the picture of a generation that is disenfranchised with government policies – and very conscious of the need for bolstered State support in the latter years of their retirement.

68% of those aged 65+ questioned by Stannah think that the government doesn’t have their best interests at heart or is disconnected from their generation, but when questioned, a majority of them expect the State to be their chief source of funding for future elderly care, far ahead of family, pensions or savings.
Respondents were dubious about government measures already introduced to ease the financial strain, with one in ten going so far as to say existing government policies are irrelevant to them.

The new flat rate pension scheme, due to be introduced in 2017, represents the biggest overhaul of the pension system for decades, but almost half questioned by Stannah believe it will have no impact, with one in five claiming this move will actually leave them worse off.

Overall, almost 40% of the over 65s fear they will not have enough money to live on in the latter years of their retirement, despite widespread efforts to make retirement planning easier. The recent Budget does not scratch the surface of managing these fundamental issues.

It becomes clear that even though the elderly might not have been hit as hard in the Budget as they may have expected, a lot more needs to be done to get this growing demographic engaged and more reassured about their future.

Silver Line, fronted by Mrs Rantzen, will provide a helpline in the same way which ChildLine works for young people.

Mrs Rantzen said: “I really believe the service will improve the quality of people’s lives.”

The service will offer help and advice as well as providing links to local charities and social care options.

Mrs Rantzen founded ChildLine in 1986, a charity which helps children deal with issues including abuse and bullying.

The Isle of Man has been chosen alongside Manchester to pilot the scheme before the national launch this summer.

Chief Minister Allan Bell said he was “delighted the Isle of Man was chosen to take part”.

In the 2011 census, 17,847 people of retirement age or over were living in the island.

Mrs Rantzen, 72, said: “We appreciate that the Isle of Man already has a vigorous and creative support network for older people, and I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the inspirational staff and volunteers working in this sector.

“I know that those responsible for care of the elderly are well aware of the hugely damaging impact loneliness can have on health and wellbeing. However, there is a stigma attached to loneliness which all too often prevents older people asking for help.

“The Silver Line will signpost them to local services and charities which could transform their lives. There is no need to be alone.”

Mrs Rantzen said she had received a “tremendously warm response from the government and local charities.”

*Source: BBC

So why are 40% of disabled people left to fend for themselves?

Why are elderly people encouraged to wear incontinence pads before they actually need to do so when what they really need is a person to assist them to the toilet?

Why are the wards filled with people with urinary infections and complications (including accelerated confusion leading to dementia) because no one visited them at home? No one proactively gave the clinical care to avoid this undignified, distressing and expensive situation.

We are told it’s all about the recession but surely even basic economic common sense shows that it is obviously more expensive to cut back on daily community care and support than it is to take preventative action.

The Dignity Action Day on February 1^st 2013 must act as a wake-up call for us all including those in authority of whatever political persuasion. With the right respect and provision of aids for daily living, practical support, time and clinical care, our elderly and disabled neighbours will manage their daily tasks. This will conserve their health and wellbeing and our economic resources. Dignity is the most basic of human rights. It is also economic logic.

The insurer’s sixth annual ‘Class of’ study, which tracks the future plans and aspirations of people entering retirement, found that those retiring in 2013 expect average incomes of £15,300 per year – £200 less than the Class of 2012’s expectations.

According to the research, expected retirement incomes have fallen in four of the past five years, and are now £3,400 lower than they were in 2008, when a typical person entering retirement anticipated an annual income of £18,700.

Yet, the real-term fall in incomes is even higher due to rises in living costs. Since 2008, inflation has caused prices to rise by 14.7 per cent. Someone who retired last year would therefore need an annual income of £21,400, to have the same buying power as an average person entering retirement in 2008.

Despite expected retirement incomes falling nationally overall, they actually increased in certain areas of the UK. The most significant year-on-year increases were in Scotland, where they increased by £800 to £15,000. Notable increases also occurred in the South
West, where an average 2013 retiree’s estimate was £500 more than that of their 2012 counterpart – £15,600 compared with £15,100. Yorkshire & Humberside, the North West and London also saw increases in expected retirement incomes.

Vince Smith Hughes, retirement expert at Prudential, said: “People entering retirement this year are continuing to feel the squeeze as their expected incomes have fallen for the fourth time in five years, to a new low.

“The continuing trend is even more concerning, when you consider that rising inflation is eroding pensioners’ spending power in real-terms.

“It can be tempting to go for whatever product offers the highest initial income, but this might not be the best value in the long-run as it could leave dependents at risk, or fail to protect you against rising living costs.

“Those who are still working should think about saving as much as possible as early as possible, to give themselves the best chance of building up a decent pension pot to help to ensure a comfortable retirement.”

“So the secret is out, perhaps not the biggest surprise given that heirs to the throne do tend to have children pretty soon after marriage, but it’s exciting news for the country not just the family. This particular baby may spark a huge legal debate if it turns out to be a little princess that Kate is carrying. If so, the little girl will become the first royal female to be guaranteed her place in the succession line to the throne. Even our dear Queen could have been usurped if little sister Princess Margaret had turned out to be a boy.

That turned me to thinking about the numbers in the Royal family. Nothing unusual about them, but when a family has four children who go on to marry, remarry and all produce multiple offspring it’s remarkable just how many members it jumps to in just three generations. The little bundle of joy currently in Kate Middleton’s tummy will be the Queens 2nd great grandchild. Just for the record, her Majesty currently has eight grandchildren (and that doesn’t include Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall’s five grandchildren by her previous marriage) so the final total number for great grandchildren is going to be pretty impressive.

Now let’s mix in the wealth. This extended family have a few more assets than most of us, but who owns what and who will be entitled to what as the older generation pass on? Now, clearly the House of Windsor has some pretty switched on legal advice to call on but they would need to have. Just think about it. Three of the Queen’s children have married more than once and remarried after divorce, separation or bereavement. How do they sort out which family member gets what? Not easy and although it’s never happened publicly what would happen if one of the children didn’t like the settlement and chose to fight for a larger share.

Families are complicated and even if yours is simpler and has fewer assets than the Windsors, sorting out who gets what inheritance is not always easy. Take the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips as an example. Her mother and father divorced and her mother remarried so if Princess Anne were to die her estate would normally fall to her husband; Tim Lawrence. On Mr Lawrence’s subsequent demise his estate would go to whom? Well without a specific will in place it would go to his children, and of course Zara Tindal, as she is now known is his step daughter so any children of his own would take precedence. Probably not what Zara’s grandmother has in mind. Doesn’t seem fair does it? But this is called sideways disinheritance, and it affects thousands of families every year.

I’m sure that steps have been taken to ensure that Mrs Tindal is not left on her uppers, but have you thought through what could happen in your own family?

Asset protection trusts, wills, probate plans and powers of attorney are all ways in which families can mitigate sideways disinheritance and several other risks relating to ensure that your assets end up in the hands of those family members that you intend to leave them to. You don’t need to be as big or wealthy a family as the Windsors to benefit but it is wise to check.

Wills and Kate just don’t know what they’ve started!”

HIWCF aims to raise £25,000 to help those at risk heat their homes, keep healthy and even to buy cosy slippers and blankets.

Former ITV World of Sport presenter, Dickie Davies, supports this important campaign explaining:

“As the UK gets its first wintry blast this weekend and another energy provider announced last Friday price increases in excess of 10%, now more than ever our elderly will be at risk of death during the winter ahead.”

This is the generation that survived the war, survived rationing in the 50’s and have gone without for their families, and now a combination of poor living conditions, bad diet, and circulatory or respiratory diseases, which are worsened by the cold, makes it difficult for many of them to survive the winter.

It is estimated that there are 7 million people living in fuel poverty throughout the UK – and 80,000 of these live in our communities across Hampshire.

There were 23,700 preventable cold weather related deaths in England during 2010/2011, of which 1,070 were in Hampshire.

Many of us know someone  for whom we can make a difference. Help them survive this winter by sharing this video with them via the Silver Marque blog.

Dr Kurt Krauchi and his team at the Sleep Laboratory in Basel monitored the body temperature and functions of a group of young, healthy men as they nodded off. In every case, they fell asleep immediately after a shift in blood flow to hands and feet.

The study, published in the journal Nature, seems to indicate that as we approach the threshold of sleep, the body’s temperature regulation system moves heat from its core to our extremities i.e. our hands and feet.

The phenomenon is closely related to the release of hormones such as melatonin, which regulate sleepiness and wakefulness.

Poor circulation can mean wakeful nights

The researchers say that bed socks or a hot water bottle at the feet may not directly cause sleep, but it can trigger widening of the blood vessels, which in turn switches the body’s sleep mechanism on.

If your extremities are cold, it inhibits the free flow of blood and your sleep hormones fail to kick in which can cause insomnia.

The scientists speculate that some sleep disorders associated with old age and illness may be caused by poor circulation and an inability to widen blood vessels in the hands and feet.

So next time you can’t sleep, ask yourself are your hands and feet are warm?