“The Care of Older
People in Norfolk” Conference Report
A conference on ‘The Care of Older People in Norfolk:
Experiences of social engagement, informal care and volunteering’ was held in
the Assembly Rooms Norwich on the 16th September 2011.
The conference was organised by Mayumi Hayashi from the
University of East Anglia. There were delegates from Norfolk, Cambridgeshire,
London and Japan. The aim of the conference was to present the findings of a
piece of research by Mayumi Hayashi, looking at community care and social
engagement for older people and their carers. The research has received
international recognition and looked at 21st century care of elderly
people in both the UK and Japan.
The event was held in association with CUE East (Community
University Engagement) at the University of East Anglia which supports
community-university engagement across all disciplines and is funded by the UK
Higher Education Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust.
CUE East helped with the funding of the research. The interviews for the
research are being turned into a sound archive.
The research emphasised older people are undervalued in
policy terms. The informal and the voluntary sector are very important to the
care of older people. The research showed the importance and benefits of social
engagement for older people, and the existence of unknown numbers of excluded
older people, left isolated and struggling financially, physically and
emotionally. There is a clear need to enhance services for older people to meet
further demands and to compensate for the loss of public provision despite
challenging circumstances. There is a mutual help network among older people. Considerable
care is given by older people to other older people and care is also provided
by other family members. However funding from the public sector is seen as
vital. One contributor said that the Big Society cannot be funded on the cheap.
There is a need for enhanced services for older people. The good practice identified
has been fed into engagement activities and one-to-one befriending of isolated
older people. The ‘voices’ collected have been shared through public talks,
local carers’ meetings and school visits, enhancing links between the community
and UEA and reaching a wide audience.
In Norfolk people are consulted via the Older People’s Forums
across the county and there is the Norfolk Older People’s Strategic Partnership
Board. This is a multi agency group with a third older people’s
representatives. There is a need to plan for 20 years ahead and the projected
increase in older people. The government says that being an “older person”
starts at 50. The implications of this are that with people living longer they
could spend most of their lives as an “older person”. However most people who
are 50 do not see themselves as old. There is an Action Plan which aims to help
people to live independently for as long as possible. The Action Plan is for
2011 to 2014, however its implementation has been delayed because the cuts have
to be factored in. In Norfolk the budget of adult social care has to be reduced
by £16 million which is on top of a £11 million cut last year. Research is
needed to see if older people are still able to live tolerably well after the first
year of cuts.
The speaker from Age UK reported that there is considerable
activity by many groups but it is fragmented and there are few links between
different groups. They are also indentifying groups to work in partnership
with.
Age UK splits older people into four groups. The first group
are fit and healthy, with a pension and they tend to be self sufficient. Age UK
could not function without the help of this group as they are the bulk of their
volunteers. At the other end of the spectrum are older people who are in need
of 24 hour care and they tend to be in residential care or possibly being cared
for at home.
In between these two groups are those who are living on
their own and are beginning to need some support and the other group are those
who are less affluent but are surviving. Age UK has decided that they are going
to focus their attention on these two middle groups to keep people out of the most
needy category for as long as possible.
The Age UK review highlighted two key groups of excluded older
people. The first group is Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender people (LGBT).
They may be resistant to speak up because of past laws. Age UK found that residential
care providers are only now becoming aware that there are now older LGBT
people.
The other notable excluded group is offenders and ex
offenders. There is an increasing percentage of older people in prison. There are
now units in the prison estate that are designed for older people. There are a
number of older ex offenders of working age with limited legitimate work
experience which hinders them from finding employment.
It was pointed out that as some men do not feel comfortable
going to day centres it is sometimes better to have a meeting with men in a pub
as there are opportunities to socialise and there is food available. It is also
important to get young people and older people together. There is less contact in
comparison to previous generations. There is also less contact between grandparents
and grand children for a variety of reasons.
In Norfolk there are transport issues. How do you move
people, especially those who are in wheelchairs, around the county in a cost
efficient and sustainable way?
The Carers Forum has found that caring has an impact on the
mental wellbeing of the carer. Many carers are over 65, with a substantial
number over 75. Many provide over 50 hours of care a week, with some on call 24
hours a day, and consequently suffer from a lack of sleep. 81,000 people in
Norfolk were identified as carers in the census. 11.6% of carers experience
more ill health than would be expected. As well as providing care the carer
also has to deal with other roles that they may not be used to such as finance
and paying bills which can also increase stress. Carers can be fiercely
independent and can refuse external help. There is a change in the relationship
with the person cared for and carers have to cope with loss. There is an
extended grieving process for the loss of the other person’s old persona. There
is also grieving for the plans and hopes that are gone. The biggest step is making
the decision that you cannot care for the person anymore. This often triggers
more grieving. After the time of caring, there is stress caused by the loss of
the person as well as the loss of a ‘job’. There is more psychological distress
the closer the carer is to the person cared for. Support is needed at an early
stage.
Three points made in the discussions were:
Those supported by Social Services have an average age of 84
years. How do you help those who are aged 50 to 84 to age well?
How do you increase the quality of life for people in care
homes? They are ‘paying customers’ and have a right to quality services.
It is important not to lose sight of preventative services
as they will save money in the long run.
This event had a live twitter feed with #copn in the tweets.
Thanks to all those who responded and sent retweets.
