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Living longer: caring in later working life: examining the interplay between caring and working in later life in the UK
- Author:
- OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS
- Publisher:
- Office for National Statistics
- Publication year:
- 2019
- Place of publication:
- London
As the UK population gets older, an increasing number of workers are providing care towards the end of their working life for family members. One in four older female workers, and one in eight older male workers, have caring responsibilities. In this article, we look further at the differences between men and women who work and care, and how who is being cared for drives the number of hours a carer provides and their ability to work. Nearly three in five carers in England and Wales are aged 50 years and over, and one in five people aged 50 to 69 years are informal carers – this is the most common age group for having caring responsibilities. A substantial proportion of older workers already balance work with caring responsibilities, particularly women: almost one in four (24%) female workers care, compared with just over one in eight (13%) male workers. There is also still a societal expectation for women, rather than men, to take on caregiving roles. Most of the care that men provide is to their spouse or parents, whereas women are more likely to provide care to a broader range of people including non-relatives. Overall, parents are the most common recipient of care by those of older working ages (29% of informal carers provide care to parents). People caring for parents are more likely to be in work than people caring for any other type of person. (Edited publisher abstract)
Meeting housing demand: 1st report of session 2021-22
- Author:
- GREAT BRITAIN. House of Lords. Built Environment Committee
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords
- Publication year:
- 2022
- Pagination:
- 108
- Place of publication:
- London
This report investigates the demographic and other trends shaping demand for new housing and considers how barriers to meeting demand can be overcome. It sets out the key factors shaping housing demand, including demographic trends (Chapter 2) and the expected shifts in the housing type and tenures required to accommodate these changes (Chapter 3). It then considers what can be done to address the depletion of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) housebuilders (Chapter 4) and how hurdles to meeting housing demand can be addressed. The report looks at the planning system (Chapter 5) and local government (Chapter 6) and considers what could be done to ensure the right types of homes can be built where they are needed. The report makes recommendations on how skills shortages can be addressed in the construction, planning, design and other industries (Chapter 7). Finally, the report considers how to promote quality new builds and encourage good design (Chapter 8). Key points highlighted in the report include: SMEs should be supported by reducing planning risk, making more small sites available, and increasing access to finance; the country needs more specialist and mainstream housing suitable for the elderly; more up-to-date local plans are needed, and these need to be simpler, clearer, and more transparent; skills shortages must be addressed, through broadening the base of talent, upskilling and reskilling, including for the green skills needed to address climate change. Government must change its approach to spending on housing. Over time the money spent on housing benefit should be invested in increasing the social housing stock. Right to Buy schemes are not good value for money: increasing the housing supply would be a more effective use of funding. The report focusses on England, as housing policy and the planning system are devolved. (Edited publisher abstract)
Managing medication: older people and their families need support to deal with the hidden burden of medication
- Author:
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH RESEARCH
- Publisher:
- National Institute for Health Research
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Place of publication:
- London
Being prescribed many medicines places a huge, often hidden, burden on older people in the community and on their families or carers. This affects whether older people take medicines incorrectly or not at all, which puts them at risk of harm and wastes medicine. The MEMORABLE (Medication Management in Older people: Realist Approaches Based on Literature and Evaluation) study aimed to understand the difficulties patients have in managing medication. To consider various points of view, researchers interviewed health and social care professionals, older people and family carers. They also reviewed scientific papers on the subject. One of the key findings was that medication management places a large burden on older people and family carers and that this burden is often hidden. The study recommends that doctors, pharmacists and nurses consider burden when prescribing or changing medicines. The researchers identified key areas of difficulty that could be tackled with simple interventions. One, a short questionnaire or aid, would help identify older people who are struggling. A second, a patient-led, personalised record, could help inform shared decision-making about medicines. The researchers identified five burdens that occur at medicine review and suggested ways of tackling these burdens: ambiguities – could be partly dealt with by clarifying the purpose and content of medicine reviews; concealment issues – increasing the personalised information given to older people and carers could increase their feelings of being in control and coping; unfamiliarity – addressed by seeing the same practitioner, establishing continuity and developing trust; fragmentation – could be reduced by improving collaboration between and across health and social care services; exclusion – could be reduced by taking the opinions of older people and informal carers into account via shared decision-making. (Edited publisher abstract)
Care home residents on multiple medications have an increased risk of falling
- Author:
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH RESEARCH
- Publisher:
- National Institute for Health Research
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Place of publication:
- London
Falls among residents in UK care homes are commonplace. A new study examined whether multiple medications and drugs that act on the brain may contribute to the risk. The research, which included 84 UK care homes, found that residents taking multiple medicines had an increased risk of falling. Risk was also increased with a regular prescription for antidepressants or benzodiazepines (sedative drugs). Two-thirds of the residents in the study were living with dementia. Researchers suggest that care homes should emphasise non-drug approaches such as massage, music or art therapies. These interventions could help residents with depression and common symptoms of dementia such as agitation or sleep disturbance. Over a three-month period, the study found that: almost one in three residents (519 or 31%) had one or more falls; the risk was higher in those taking antidepressants and sedatives; older residents were more likely to fall than their younger counterparts; men had more falls than women; residents with dementia had 75% more falls than those without dementia. (Edited publisher abstract)
Strategic moves: thinking, planning and delivering differently: strategic commissioning services for older people
- Authors:
- SUFFOLK FILMS, (Producer)
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Department of Health. Health and Social Care Change Agent Team
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- CD ROM
- Place of publication:
- London
Strategic Commissioning for Older People's Services is a Workbook/CD designed to help partnerships develop better commissioning to fit the outcomes they want to achieve. It builds on 'Preparing older people's and housing strategies' ODPM and DH 2002, and 'A Catalyst for change: commissioning non acute services for older people'.
Continence, dementia, and care that preserves dignity
- Authors:
- IMISON Candace, KWINT Jemma
- Publisher:
- National Institute for Health Research
- Publication year:
- 2022
- Place of publication:
- London
This themed review brings together the evidence on dementia and continence problems. Continence problems can have a profound and distressing impact on the lives of people living with dementia and their carers. There is evidence of an over-reliance on "containment" and the use of products such as pads. Staff in all settings often lack training, not only to promote continence but to manage incontinence sensitively and well. Recent evidence highlights the demeaning language and behaviour among some hospital staff. The review explores the impact of continence problems on people living with dementia and their carers; strategies to support continence in people living with dementia; the evidence on improving continence care for people living with dementia at home; the evidence on improving continence care for people living with dementia in care homes; and the evidence on improving continence care for people living with dementia in hospital. The paper concludes with a set of key messages for policy makers and commissioners, service providers, care regulators and the NIHR, calling for the prioritisation of continence care in all settings as a key component of high quality care. (Edited publisher abstract)
Evaluation of co-produced research: briefing
- Authors:
- WARD Lizzie, RAY Mo, TANNER Denise
- Publishers:
- Wellcome Trust, University of Lincoln, University of Brighton, University of Birmingham
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 14
This briefing draws on research findings from the Ethical Issues in Self-funded Social Care: Coproducing knowledge with older people project. The participatory research project explored how older people experience the process of finding and paying for personal care from their own resources in three local authority areas in England. The research incorporated an evaluation of the processes of co-production used in the study, motivated by an interest to learn from the experiences of older co-researchers, other partners and our own reflections. The evaluation was undertaken by a research fellow independent of the project. This briefing summarises the main findings from the perspective of the co-research teams, stakeholders and academic teams in each of the three research sites. Four major themes were identified from analysis of the research interviews and written responses: shared foundations – interest in the project stemmed from a mixture of professional, personal and academic experiences; working together (the co-researcher experience) – co-researchers were expected to take part in regular team meetings; working together (the academic experience) – across sites, academics expressed appreciation of the time and commitment co-researchers gave to the project; learning – co-researchers spoke positively about what they had learnt regarding academic research, including: coding; interviewing; analysis; speaking at conferences and knowledge exchange meetings; and engaging with stakeholders. (Edited publisher abstract)
Self funders, the invisible lynchpin of the social care system: briefing
- Authors:
- WARD Lizzie, RAY Mo, TANNER Denise
- Publishers:
- Wellcome Trust, University of Lincoln, University of Brighton, University of Birmingham
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 10
This briefing draws on research findings from the Ethical Issues in Self-funded Social Care: Coproducing knowledge with older people project. The participatory research project explored how older people experience the process of finding and paying for personal care from their own resources in three local authority areas in England. Older self-funders are an essential component of the social care landscape but are largely invisible in debates about social care policy and practice. Self-funders tend to pay more for care than people getting publicly funded care, sometimes ‘cross-subsidising’ publicly funded care, thereby making important financial contributions to a financially vulnerable care market. Ensuring that they had sufficient funds to cover their care needs was a major concern for many older people in our study who worried about the implications of running out of money. When self-funders’ resources reach the financial threshold, local authorities are usually approached to meet their care and support needs. Uncertainty is created for local authorities as they lack reliable data on the numbers of self-funders within their jurisdiction. This means they cannot anticipate or plan for the numbers of people who may reach the capital threshold in any given year. Self-funders currently function as lynchpins that help to sustain a social care system characterised by fragile care markets and insufficient public funding. But, if their self-funding status changes, their position alters radically and they are often left with little choice but to change care arrangements to accommodate to locally commissioned rates. This raises crucial questions about equity, fairness and the uncertain and shifting line between private and public responsibilities. (Edited publisher abstract)
Six myths about paying for care: briefing
- Authors:
- WARD Lizzie, RAY Mo, TANNER Denise
- Publishers:
- Wellcome Trust, University of Lincoln, University of Brighton, University of Birmingham
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 16
This briefing draws on research findings from the Ethical Issues in Self-funded Social Care: Coproducing knowledge with older people project. This participatory research project explored how older people experience the process of finding and paying for personal care from their own resources in three local authority areas in England. Older people who pay for their own care remain almost invisible in policy and practice. Little is known about the ways in which they navigate and negotiate buying care in a complex and fragmented care system. In the absence of evidence, misplaced assumptions are often made about self-funders which mitigate against them getting the support they need. In this briefing, we highlight some of the ‘myths’ about self-funders identified in our research and the implications of engaging with evidence rooted in older people’s experiences. These myths are: self-funders have choice; self-funders have control; paying more means better quality; self-funders are nothing to do with local authorities; self-funders are well-off; self-funders need ‘a little bit of help’. Most significantly, engaging closely with the lived experience of older people reveals the chasm between stated adult social care policy objectives and the services received by older people purchasing care from the ‘care market’. (Edited publisher abstract)
Loneliness is strongly linked to depression in older adults in a large, long-term study suggests
- Author:
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH RESEARCH
- Publisher:
- National Institute for Health Research
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Place of publication:
- London
Summarises findings of large, long-term study investigating the link between loneliness and depression in people aged 50 or older. The research team analysed data on 4,211 people included in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). They were all aged 50 and above. Two-thirds (2785 or 66%) were unemployed or retired. The study reveals that the higher the loneliness score, the more severe the symptoms of depression. The researchers found that: each one-point increase on the loneliness scale was linked with a 16% increase in average depressive symptom severity score; loneliness was linked to nearly one in five (18%) cases of depression one year later; the effect of loneliness decreased with time but was still associated with one in ten (11%) cases after 12 years; depressive symptoms increased over time among people with greater loneliness scores, indicating that loneliness was causing future depression. The researchers had taken account of depression and loneliness at the start of the study. This reduces the possibility that depression was leading to loneliness. They concluded that it was the other way round, and that loneliness was increasing the risk of depression. (Edited publisher abstract)