Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 10 of 20
Explaining about ... day-to-day living with dementia
- Author:
- STOKES Graham
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 14(1), March 2010, pp.5-7.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
As life expectancy in the UK has increased, there has been a significant rise in the number of people diagnosed with dementia as a result of this ageing population. In this article, the author looks at some of the practicalities of coping with dementia, explaining the different types of dementia and providing advice for people caring for people with dementia about managing day-to-day tasks, such as cooking, personal care, and feeding, more easily. The article also briefly covers state benefits for carers and people living with dementia.
Family and friends care: "what if we said no?"
- Authors:
- WELLARD Sarah, WHEATLEY Benjamin
- Publisher:
- Grandparents Plus
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 25p.
- Place of publication:
- London
There are estimated to be around 200,000 family and friends carers in the UK looking after around 300,000 children because parents are no longer able to fulfil that role. This report provides the findings of a survey aiming to find out about the demographic, personal, economic and financial circumstances of family and friends carers, the children they are looking after, and the reasons for children coming into their care. The survey was carried out during August and September 2010, using both postal questionnaires and online. A total of 255 responses were received, mostly from grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. The findings show that grandparents’ financial situation and health suffers when they take on care of a child. A total of 57% gave up work or reduced their hours, 60% have a chronic health condition or disability, and 30% are also providing care for a disabled or elderly partner, friend or relative. The survey also provides information on the numbers of carers with a court order, those who have incurred legal expenses, and the proportion who receive allowances from local authorities for the children they are looking after. Finally, the survey gathers information about the support received from social services.
The distributional impact of reforms to disability benefits for older people in the UK
- Authors:
- HANCOCK Ruth, PUDNEY Stephen
- Publisher:
- University of Essex. Institute for Social and Economic Research
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 26p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Colchester
The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 and over. They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). This report investigates proposed reforms involving the withdrawal of AA and DLA. It uses data from the Family Resources Survey to simulate the losses which current AA and DLA recipients would incur if AA and DLA were curtailed. It also considers the extent to which these losses could be mitigated if the SDP were to be retained or increased. It examines how average losses vary across the income distribution using different definitions of income and investigates the impact of potential reforms on the proportion of older people with incomes below various thresholds. The report finds that the abolition of AA and DLA would have a large impact on the poorer parts of the older population. Retaining or increasing the SDP within means-tested benefits could mitigate these losses to some extent. The report also shows the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients’ capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.
Managing finances in later life
- Authors:
- HILL Katherine, SUTTON Liz
- Publisher:
- Loughborough University. Centre for Research in Social Policy
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 16p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Loughborough
Progress has been made in reducing pensioner poverty, however, around a third of pensioners do not claim the benefits they are entitled to. Older people have less opportunity to increase their income through paid work and have been particularly affected by rising energy and food prices and reduced income from savings. This project involved in-depth interviews with people (aged 65-84 at the first interview) 2 years apart to explore their changing needs and resources as they moved through later life. The research took a holistic approach to demonstrate the range of different structural, social and individual resources that people drew on to help them manage. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings that relate to how older people manage their finances and the interplay between finances and other formal and informal resources. This summary highlights the implications for policies surrounding older people’s financial well-being, benefit receipt and take up rates, and access to financial services and information. The paper examines the impact of changes in older people’s financial circumstances including: what helps or hinders older people in managing their finances; how access to resources can protect against the impact of or help to manage financial change; the difference made by benefit receipt; the effect of personal budgeting skills and attitudes to money/spending; and the need for information and support.
Older people's participation in disability benefits: targeting, timing and financial wellbeing
- Author:
- ZANTOMIO Francesca
- Publisher:
- Institute for Social and Economic Research
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 44p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Colchester
This report on the targeting, timing and financial wellbeing associated with older people’s participation in UK disability benefits is from the Institute for Social and Economic Research Working Paper series. Comprised of a non-technical summary, introduction, and sections entitled, ‘claiming and receiving Attendance Allowance’ (AA), ‘the British Household Panel Survey data’ (BHPS), ‘ empirical analysis of receipt: targeting and timing’, ‘the impact of AA’ and ‘conclusions’, statistical analyses, relating to 17 waves of data, on the same people over time, are presented. The effectiveness of AA in practice is assessed by measuring, firstly, how responsive benefit receipt is to changes to disability status, secondly, the delays to first receipt and thirdly by comparing later outcomes of those who were, or were not, entered onto the program. Findings showed that “entry is highly responsive to previous changes in disability, and that the program enhances persistently recipients’ financial wellbeing.” But, receipt suffered “considerable delays” - up to 4 years. Also, “evidence of characteristics unrelated to eligibility influencing the assignment mechanism”, such as other people familiar with the benefits system in the household, suggests that the AA cash support system of could be improved for those without such help.
Elderly bias, new social risks and social spending: change and timing in eight programmes across four worlds of welfare, 1980-2003
- Authors:
- TEPE Markus, VANHUYSSE PIETER
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 20(3), July 2010, pp.217-234.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Over the past decades, all affluent welfare states have been coping with two major new trends: population ageing and new social risks resulting from de-industrialisation. This article aims to investigate how these demand-side trends, and their timing, have affected welfare spending. The study investigates up to 21 OECD democracies with respect to 8 separate programmes and 2 composite indicators of aggregate welfare spending bias towards the elderly and new social risks. It finds that welfare regime logics still matter crucially in accounting for variation between countries, as does the timing of the large-scale arrival of new social risks. Both Southern European welfare states and countries that entered the post-industrial society comparatively late spend less on programmes such as education and family allowances, and more on survivor pensions. However within countries, contemporaneous levels of new social risks conspicuously fail to affect spending on programmes that deal with these risks. These findings defy simple neo-pluralist expectations of social policy responsiveness: on their own, even dramatic demand-side trends influence welfare spending relatively little in advanced democracies.
The impact of the use of the social welfare services or social security benefits on attitudes to social welfare policies
- Author:
- MUURI Anu
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 19(2), April 2010, pp.182-193.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article investigates the attitudes of citizens and clients to social welfare services and social security benefits in Finland. The article starts by overviewing the previous welfare-state studies relating especially to the theoretical perspectives of self-interest and legitimacy. This is followed by empirical analysis of data from a Finnish national survey entitled ‘Welfare and Services in Finland’ conducted at the end of 2006, measuring responses to questions on attitudes to social welfare services and to social security benefits. This results indicated: that a different operation of self-interest can only weakly explain the differences in attitudes between services and benefits; that there is general support for Finnish social welfare services and social security benefits, which, however, is mixed with growing criticism among women and pensioners who are supposed to benefit most from the welfare policies; and that such determinants of attitude as gender, use and, to some extent, lifecycle have become as important as class-related factors such as income and education.
Can equity release help older home-owners improve their quality of life?
- Authors:
- TERRY Rachel, GIBSON Richard
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 15p.
- Place of publication:
- York
Around a million older home-owners have £100,000, or more, of housing equity, yet they can’t afford the practical help they need to enjoy a good quality of life at home. This document outlines how the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has been working with local authorities, the equity release industry, voluntary bodies and relevant government departments to develop equity release packages that help older people access funds without threatening their entitlement to benefits. Three local authorities (the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Maidstone Borough Council, and the London Borough of Islington) are now piloting these equity release schemes, independently assessed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and are expected to run until summer 2011.
'Active ageing': a qualitative study in six Caribbean countries
- Authors:
- CLOOS Patrick, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 30(1), January 2010, pp.79-101.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This study explored the experiences of older people in six Caribbean countries relating to ‘active ageing’. Data were collected principally through 31 focus group discussions conducted in both urban and rural areas; most participants were urban-based women aged 60-70 years, of lower socio-economic status. Large disparities in the responses of Caribbean societies to population ageing were indicated, as well as unequal opportunities to obtain health care and social services, public transport, income and food by both socio-economic status and location. Home-care services are either insufficient or non-existent. Some older people receive social and financial support from relatives while others fear isolation and face deprivation. It was concluded that a comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach using the ‘active ageing’ framework should be implemented to ensure a healthy ageing process.
The long-term care system for the elderly in England
- Authors:
- WITTENBERG Raphael, MALLEY Juliette, KING Derek
- Publisher:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 46p.
- Place of publication:
- Brussels
Produced as part of a project on the future of long-term care for the elderly in Europe, this report focuses on the long-term care system for older people in England. It provides an overview of the current system, looking at assessment of care needs, availability of and eligibility for long term care services, management and organisation, integration within the system and with health and social services, and funding. It also examines demand and supply of long term care, including the need for long term care and demographic characteristics, the role of informal and formal care and the role of cash benefits, and demand and supply of informal care, formal care, institutional and home care. It concludes with a discussion of policy goals, recent reforms and current policy debate, and a critical appraisal of the long term care system.