‘Help yourself’; Supporting older people towards independence

Rudi GJ Westendorp, is Professor of Medicine at Old Age at the Department of Public Health and Centre for Healthy Ageing, University of Copenhagen. In this blog he discusses his recent Age and Ageing paper New horizons: Reablement – supporting older people towards independence.

The majority of older people wish to remain independent and live in their own homes for as long as possible. Instead maintaining a cruising altitude however, the process of ageing forces many to descend towards dependency and long-term care.

It’s never too late to learn new ways for coping by yourself and to make preparations for independent living in older age. But it is a shame that too often these good intentions are superseded by doubts and avoidance.

Many older adults still homebound after 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

A new study, published online in the journal Age and Ageing today, shows that the homebound status of adults over the age of 65 in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake is still a serious public health concern. Of 2,327 older adults surveyed, approximately 20% were found to be homebound.

AsiaTravel / Shutterstock.com

A team of researchers led by Naoki Kondo of the University of Tokyo’s School of Public Health studied data from the city of Rikuzentakata, an area that was seriously damaged by the disaster. Of its total population of 23,302 before the events of 2011, 1,773 people died or are still missing. Of 7,730 houses, 3,368 (43.6%) were affected with 3,159 “completely destroyed”. Much of the population had been concentrated in flat coastal areas, and since the community infrastructure was totally shattered, many people who lost their houses insisted on moving to areas in the mountains.

Living with frailty – Support and assets

Tom Gentry (@TomoGentry) writes for AgeUK from the perspective of older people who live with frailty. His latest article discusses research findings on how people are supported to maintain independence, and where support may be lacking.

The key to happy retirement… independence

Sarah Wallace, Head of Services at the Charity Crossroads Care CNL, talks about their Homeshare programme and how it is a scheme that helps older people keep their independence and remain in the home they love. 

I like to think that as I get older, I will be able to keep my independence.  But will increasing care costs mean that I’ll just struggle alone at home?  Recently, I met Felicity who has recently struggled with ill health, meaning that she has had to consider alternative ways to maintain her independence.  In this search, Felicity came across the new Homeshare programme which we run here at the charity Crossroads Care CNL.

Perfect match

The Homeshare scheme uses a ‘matching’ service which helped Felicity find someone to share her house with because her disabilities make it tough for her to live alone.  The Homeshare scheme has changed her life and that of her sharer.

EASYCare Project: A new world for older people

 

Judith Long is a Project Officer in Research and Development at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Here she introduces a new collaborative project to promote independence  in older age.

EASYCare is a collaborative project involving a large network of researchers, service providers, practitioners, volunteers and age advocacy partners throughout the world. Our mission is to extend healthy active life and maximise independence in old age using the EASYCare targeted approach to early identification of needs, and by providing a response according to the priorities of the older person.

Why does ‘integrated care’ matter?

The jargon of ‘integrated care’ is much-used in health policy and management circles. But why does ‘integrated care’ matter? And what will it mean for patients?

The Kings Fund have just developed a short animation designed to address these questions.  A large team were involved, including Prof David Oliver, President Elect of the British Geriatrics Society.  It aims to bring integrated care to life for anyone involved in improving patient care. If those working towards integrated care can share this vision with others in their local health and care system, then there is a real chance they can make integrated care happen.

Integrated care: making it happen

Too often, care is fragmented with services reflecting professional and institutional boundaries when it should be co-ordinated around the needs of patients. Delivering integrated, or joined-up, care for people with complex needs should be a priority for the NHS and core business for everyone working in health and social care.

We’d like to help make integrated care a reality across the country.

Our short animation aims to bring integrated care to life for anyone interested in improving care.

The full details can be found on the King’s Fund Website.

Read David Oliver’s recent article on the Making Health and Care Fit for an Ageing Population conference on 22nd October.

Making Health and Care Fit for an Ageing Population.

Kings Fund and BGS Conference: BGS President Elect, David Oliver, describes how this conference ties in to the work of the BGS and the Department of Health’s new proposals to improve care for vulnerable older people.

On 22 October, the Kings Fund is hosting a one day event on making health and care services fit for an ageing population. This event is supported by the BGS and several of our members are speaking. I am fortunate to have a foot in both camps as BGS president-elect but also as a Kings Fund Visiting Fellow. We have timed the event to coincide with the planned autumn announcement by Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP – Secretary of State for Health – of the Vulnerable Older Peoples Plan. Mr Hunt is due to speak at our event and announce some further details.

Driving with Dementia

 

Professor Joseph E Ibrahim (MBBS, GradCertHE, PhD, FRACP, FAFPHM) of The Victoria and Tasmania Dementia Training Study Centre and Monash University introduces his short animation about people with dementia who want to continue to drive. 

Assessing a patient’s fitness to continue driving a motor vehicle following a diagnosis of dementia presents an important personal, professional and community challenge. The revocation of a person’s license is a traumatic event that significantly impacts on their quality of life. This is especially so for patients who are living in regional and rural areas. This animated video addresses some of the complex issues involved in assessing whether a person with dementia is fit to drive.

Independence through technology – how far have we come?

Mark S. Hawley is Professor of Health Services Research, University of Sheffield.

Stuart G. Parker is Wm Leech Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Newcastle University.

Telecare and telehealth are being championed as important components in the response to the needs of an ageing population. What happens when you ‘open the black box’ and take a look inside? A review of a large scale piece of research suggests the answer might not be as clear cut as we might like.

May issue of Age and Ageing out now

The May 2013 issue of Age and Ageing, the journal of the British Geriatrics Society is out now.

A full table of contents is available here, with editorials, research papers, reviews, short reports, case reports book reviews and more. Hot topics this issue include:

• Pathogenesis and management of osteoarthritis
• Risk factors for abuse in older people
• The cost of stroke in Ireland
• Preventing iatrogenic illness
• Quality of life with advancing age

The Editor’s View article can be read here.

This issue’s free and open access paper are:

• Elder abuse: a systematic review of risk factors in community-dwelling elders
• Which part of the Quick mild cognitive impairment screen (Qmci) discriminates between normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment and dementia?
• Cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive decline in adults aged 50 and over: a population-based cohort study
• The transition to living alone and psychological distress in later life
• Prevalence of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older people in the UK using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) definition: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS).