The Ready for Ageing Alliance – a new charity sector coalition

We note and welcome a new coalition, The Ready for Ageing Alliance, formed to increase the pressure on Government and all political parties to face up to the major changes and challenges from our rapidly ageing society.

Like other commentators we wish it every good fortune but we have reservations. Some of those reservations have been adequately expressed elsewhere and we link you below to Dick Stroud’s excellent blog 50-Plus Marketing on the subject.

http://20plus30.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ready-for-ageing-alliance-will-it-make.html

We have long been asking for some statesmanlike approach to the subject of growing older but have seen very little so far. Indeed only this week we have seen major press coverage devoted to the exceedingly trivial issue of who should or should not receive free bus passes and TV licences. This does no credit to the media nor to the politicians involved but does highlight the very poor level of debate currently taking place.

Although the participating bodies in this new alliance are all much esteemed they do, in my opinion, have a fatal weakness – they are mainly concerned with today’s existing old, not tomorrow’s. As such they do not feature all that highly in most people’s consciousness.

The real way to get people involved in ageing issues is to make today’s young realise that this is coming for them, like it or not, and any change now will be for their benefit. And if they want improvement they must take personal and collective responsibility for their futures. Therefore, I would argue for a somewhat different mix of pressure groups to extend the sphere of influence.

Unready for ageing

Although there is nothing new in the House of Lord’s “Ready for Ageing” report published yesterday, it is a useful summary of the issues which our society now faces in relation to changing demographics. And, as the report highlights, it is not just society’s problem, or the government’s, but one about which we must all take greater personal responsibility.

The report recommends, amongst much else, that the 2015 government establishes two Commissions – one to consider the financial aspects of our ageing population and the other to focus on health and social care. However, having pointed out elsewhere in the report that employer and societal attitudes – and lack of flexibility – continue to impact older people’s ability to work longer, I believe there should also be a third Commission to focus urgently on this aspect.

We need a change in attitudes overall to ensure that older people aren’t seen as dependent, needy and a liability but are recognised for what the majority are – active, contributing citizens. Let’s hope that this report leads to action – and isn’t just yesterday’s news.

The report can be downloaded here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldpublic/140/140.pdf 

It can also be browsed here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldpublic/140/14002.htm

Age friendly products

I have recently been alerted, via Dick Stroud’s excellent blog site, (see http://20plus30.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/age-uk-is-launching-accreditation.html) to what appears to be the re-launch of the Age UK age friendly product/service accreditation scheme. It was previously called “Age OK” and now is called “Engage” but is still extremely low profile on the Age UK website. The cost to a company is not small, £1500 for the assessment exercise and accreditation, and £1000 a year for continued membership of the Engage network. Age OK did not seem to get many takers so we will see whether Engage captures the imagination.

If I am honest, my impression is that this is a bit of a money-spinning device for Age UK rather than the “age friendly” equivalent of what we might see from Which?, for example. As a huge charity existing to serve the older population I believe Age UK could be a bit more detached and objective in their approach to this very important area.

Also, at the time of the Age OK push I suggested that there was great scope for identifying products and services which were “age unfriendly”. I am not saying that the name I facetiously constructed “Negative Age Friendly Features” or “NAFF” should do anything other than fade away but negative publicity captures the attention of organisations faster than anything else and sends a serious shudder through the ranks of an organisation’s senior management.

This brings me to the topic of “greywashing”, a subject I have been meaning to write about for a while. This I will do shortly, in conjunction with stones and glasshouses.

 

Do you want it fast or do you want it right?

A recent report in Scientific American leads one to conclude that older people might be better going for speed rather than accuracy in workplace decision making in order to refute ageist stereotypes about declining performance.

Apparently scientists administered over 60 visual tests to both undergraduates and adults. In one, a computer screen showed an array of asterisks and the subjects had to choose as fast as they could whether there were between 31 and 50 or between 51 and 70. In a second test, the subjects saw a string of letters and had to quickly decide whether the letters spelled a real English word or not.

The researchers found little difference in accuracy between the younger and older subjects, although undergraduates had significantly faster response times. But the older participants’ slower response times were not all the result of a decline in skills. In other tests, the older subjects were encouraged to decide faster, and their response times greatly decreased with hardly any loss of accuracy.

The researchers think that a greater desire to avoid mistakes therefore may make the elderly (“older folks” as they are charmingly termed) more deliberate. Or, one wonders, is it a generational thing – a result of having the old adage: More haste less speed drummed into us from an early age?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=the-elderly-react-slowly-because-th-11-12-31

Stating the b******* obvious

A report in today’s Daily Mail says that people should only be counted as elderly once they reach the age of 75.

The article is based on a report by the charity the City Bridge Trust developed with the help of what the DM calls “Labour-leaning think-tank” the Institute for Public Policy Research.

“75 is the new 65”, it says. “Many in the traditional pensioner age group – those over 65 – continue to lead lives similar to those of younger middle-aged people.”

The report said that efforts to help the vulnerable elderly should be adjusted and “a simple but blunt way of targeting those most at risk could be to focus on the over 75 age group rather than the over 65 group as most programmes and benefits currently do.”

I hope in these straitened times that it didn’t cost too much to produce this report.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047683/Why-youre-really-old-youve-hit-75-pensioners-continue-live-like-middle-age.html#ixzz1aSTLSqgh

So how old is older?

Two recent developments in the “older” marketplace accentuated a persistent problem which the great and the good seem blithely happy to overlook (aren’t they listening? We have highlighted it many times previously …).

First, The BIG Lottery Fund last week announced it was to make its biggest single investment in older people with a £110 million package of Lottery funding to be used on voluntary and community initiatives.

Second, the government – through the DWP –launched The Age Action Alliance, an initiative designed to “improve the lives of older people and help transform communities into better places to grow older”. 

The latter initiative was launched to coincide with Older People’s Day – in itself a third example of the problem.

The press releases announcing these initiatives are both littered with the phrase “older people” with no explanation as to who exactly this means. Only a statement from the Daily Mail – which is helping promote the Big Lottery fund handouts – threw light on the situation by referring to its “previous campaigns on behalf of the elderly”.

In general parlance it is recognized that the phrase “older people” relates to anyone over about 50. Yet the 50 -70 age group is a whole generation below today’s “elderly” population and has a vastly different – although arguably equally pressing – set of needs.

Our requirement for a new vocabulary to clarify who exactly we’re talking about couldn’t be more urgent. Using a blanket term such as “older” in relation to today’s demographics meets no one’s needs at all.  

http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_silver_dreams_fund.htm?regioncode=-uk

http://ageactionalliance.org/

 

 

 

Old attitudes towards age

Ageist stereotypes are alive and well according to a recent depressing survey from financial services company Engage Mutual. They conducted a study with 2,000 people of all ages in Great Britain looking at perceptions of age and what people think are the ‘give-aways’ of getting old.

The top three signs of ageing highlighted by the poll were: falling asleep in front of the television, feeling stiff, and groaning when you bend down. Others included struggling to use technology, choosing clothes and shoes for comfort rather than style, and starting to drive very slowly.

Although some indicators such as forgetting people’s names, and losing hair (baldness) – while at the same time becoming more hairy (ears, face, eyebrows, nose etc.) – are regrettably unavoidable, the majority of the factors are behavioural. They can be overturned by older people making the effort to do things differently such as stopping groaning when you bend down/stand up, not talking about “senior moments”, and ceasing unnecessary complaining.

Why should we? Well, it would be good to pass this off as a light-hearted survey of older people’s charming idiosyncracies (perhaps no 21 was lacking a sense of humour about ageing?) –  but unfortunately the problem goes deeper than that.

If people of all ages still think of older people in these terms (including older people themselves), no wonder our prospects on the job market are so poor.

top 20 signs of getting old

1.       falling asleep in front of the television

2.       feeling stiff

3.       groaning when you bend down

4.       losing your hair

5.       hating noisy pubs

6.       thinking teachers / policemen / doctors look really young

7.       becoming more hairy – ears, face, eyebrows, nose etc.

8.       struggling to use technology

9.       forgetting people’s names

10.   not knowing any songs in the top 10

11.   choosing clothes and shoes for comfort rather than style

12.   you start driving very slowly

13.   drinking sherry

14.   when you start complaining more about things

15.   joining the Women’s Institute

16.   misplacing your glasses / bag / car keys

17.   you talk to colleagues who are so young they don’t know what an opal fruit is

18.   listening to the Archers

19.   moving from Radio One to Radio Two

20.   allowing yourself a mid-afternoon nap

 

 

Let’s have a Minister for Older People who understands being older

Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing is running a national campaign to petition the UK government to appoint a Minister for Older People.

Despite having a Minister for Women and another for Children and Families we have no government minister representing older people even though we make up 40% of voters.

Many governments around the world, including Ireland and Canada, have such a minister while both Wales and Northern Ireland have an Older People’s Commissioner.

At face value this seems a worthwhile campaign. As the number of older people increases a single minister could help ensure that the views and interests of the over 50s receive the attention they deserve.

However if such an appointment is made, it is vital that the post goes to someone with a genuine interest in and appreciation of the entire, diverse range of issues that relate to the 50 year or so time span that comprises “older”. Merely considering only the challenges of the elderly will not do. In addition, such things as pensions, caring responsibilities and continuing inherent age discrimination in the workplace are just a few of the key issues for those at the younger end of the “older” spectrum.

Allowing much-needed ongoing policies to be sabotaged by party politics will also not be helpful.

We also need someone who is older themselves (not difficult to find amongst government ministers) but who, for once, is prepared to talk about “us” and not “them”.

Visit http://www.gopetition.com/petition/44649.htmlto  to sign Anchor’s petition.

 

The reality of 21st century Isolation?

In June, the UK charity Friends of the Elderly ran a social experiment – ‘Isolation Week’ – that saw ten volunteers aged 22 – 50 years experience social isolation as if they were themselves an isolated older person. This involved the individuals being confined to their own homes for a whole week during which they were not allowed any human contact.

The participants also used special equipment such as gloves and vision-impairing glasses to let them experience the effects of physical ageing. Their experiences were recorded on video diaries, twitter, blogs and daily questionnaires. The final questionnaire gave them a chance to reflect back on what they had learnt from the whole experience.

In less than a week, the majority of the participants started describing experiences and feelings similar to those described by housebound older people. They felt lethargic and tired, struggled to find motivation to do things or get out of bed, became ‘uncharacteristically’ emotional, weepy and lost concentration. The days seemed to drag on with nothing apart from the tasks to break up the monotony. Several participants mentioned feeling abandoned by friends and society.

All mentioned boredom and some felt that this triggered further negative feelings, while others talked about the difficulties of combating boredom and the frustration and anger this often resulted in. They dealt with this by giving themselves tasks, e.g. housework, cooking and doing the laundry. They read books, watched films, played computer games and wandered around their house/flat. One person even mentioned counting the tiles in their bathroom! A couple of people got drunk to try and numb the feelings of abandonment, but concluded that this did not solve the problem.

However two of the volunteers seemed to cope better with the isolation than the other eight. Although they also experienced boredom and problems with motivation, they focused on what they were able to do rather than on what they had no control over. One used yoga and meditation to combat negative feelings and the other planned and prepared elaborate meals and used the time to enjoy hobbies and other activities that external pressures would normally not allow. A third volunteer also mentioned ‘getting on with an enjoyable task’ that they had not had time to do previously as a positive experience. However, all three admitted that they did not enjoy the prolonged isolation from human contact.

In itself this study tells us nothing new; we know intuitively that most people dislike and do not cope well with isolation (hence using solitary confinement as a punishment).  But it does raise the interesting question of how much the advent of social media will contribute to overcoming such problems for older people in the future. In this study participants were not allowed to speak to anyone on the phone or communicate in a two way conversation via the internet. Yet with the increasing use of the internet and webcams by people of all ages – alongside texts and emails – it is difficult to imagine why the older people of the future should, in general, be as socially isolated as those of the past.   

It was also interesting to note that those who managed best were those who had interests and activities that they could do. A warning surely that with impending old age we must all develop coping mechanisms in terms of finding ways to occupy ourselves and things we are able to do rather than just holding up our hands and assuming we are powerless.

It should be recognised that this social experiment could not mimic the true reality of socially isolated housebound older people with few resources. However, the week did illustrate in the words of one of the volunteers ‘how easy and quick it is to become isolated and feel out of society’.

Further information can be found at www.isolationweek.com

Glad to be old

I was heartened to read, within one day, two media articles in which our new found mass longevity was considered “A Good Thing”.

Quite why, when in general people seem to think that being alive is desirable, living longer is consistently positioned as a huge social problem is a bit of a puzzler. Okay, so it may mean we need to change some of the ways we do things, but that aside we should all be rejoicing much, much more than we seem to be about the fact that, in general, we can all contemplate many more years of drawing breath and eating cake.

Andrew Dilnot, Chairman of the Independent Commission of Funding of Care and Support, interviewed by Ros Altmann in Saga magazine summed it up rather well:

“I’d love people to have a more positive attitude to the provision of care. To get everyone, including policy makers and the media, to stop thinking this is a terrible burden and reflect instead that it’s fabulous and exciting that people are living into their eighties, nineties and even hundreds, and having independent fulfilling lives.”

His comment followed an interesting article read earlier in the day in the business journal Management Today reviewing the ongoing influence of the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (Why Jung still matters). Whilst highlighting many areas in which Jung’s legacy still forms an integral part of contemporary business practice, the author was also at pains to remind us that in relation to today’s ageing population Jung would have had plenty to say. Unlike many psychologists (including Freud) Jung believed that middle age was precisely when life gets interesting, commenting: “A human being would certainly not grow to be 70 or 80 years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species”.

Perhaps it’s time then that we all focused on what that meaning is and how to use it for the greater good instead of associating this time of life solely with decline and decay?

Have you seen? – Predictors of attitudes to age across Europe

Research published today (17 May 2011) examines the interaction of differences between individuals and differences between countries in the European region (28 countries) on people’s attitudes toward old age (i.e. beyond the age of 70), and on their experiences of ageism.

To see report click below:

http://www.inmyprime.info/Have%20you%20seen/hys05.html

BBC “Living longer” week – this week

Hardly a week goes by now without some aspect of the huge demographic change taking place capturing the headlines. One week it is retirement age, another week pensions, another unemployment, or maybe age discrimination. The issues are all vitally important and ever more pressing. This week the BBC is devoting itself to exploring a number of issues.

BBC ‘Living Longer’, a week of special programming on all Local Radio, on-line and regional television in England is running from Sunday, 7 November. Through specially commissioned research and grass roots reporting in the English regions, BBC Living Longer examines, in depth, the issues and opportunities facing an ageing population including social care; impact of caring on families; the cost to the NHS; work, retirement; and the opportunities of ageing.

Forty local radio stations, 12 regional television news programmes and a number of regional Politics Show programmes, as well as 44 local websites are working together on the editorial. And 40 BBC local reporters will file reports throughout the week.

A Facebook page has been specially created at www.facebook.com/bbclivinglonger for people to contribute or you can visit www.bbc.co.uk/livinglonger to keep in touch with what is going on and being said.

As part of the week of coverage BBC Local Radio has carried out research into the future of social care provision by local authorities in England and will reveal the number of complaints about elderly care services in the last 3 years. An indication of the best and worst places to grow old will also be provided through a specially commissioned report from Experian.

David Holdsworth, Controller BBC English Regions said:

“Living Longer is tackling an issue that affects all of us. No matter what age. Either as carers ourselves or the care we are likely to receive when we are elderly. BBC Local Radio will bring together its radio, regional television and on-line services to deliver a comprehensive picture of what the future holds for growing old in England today. This will tap into grassroots public reaction providing an England-wide picture in a week of extensive coverage that links into BBC network output.”