Category Archives: Independent living

Because a lot of caring is done by family members, it’s assumed anyone can do it.

April 21, 2013   Carers, Independent living, ukcuts

How carers are often left out in the cold

We should be taking care of carers

The Observer,

Elderly people sit on a bench by the seaside

‘Carers are, in terms of status, about where nursing was pre-Florence Nightingale: in a job that very few would choose above all other occupations’: Katharine Whitehorn on carers. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Carers come in all shapes and sizes, and as more and more of us fail to die on time, the demand for them is going to increase. But according to a survey, only a third of those working in the NHS believe they are properly supervised, and nine out of 10 want to be registered, as nurses are. Which might be a step in the right direction, but doesn’t address the basic trouble: that caring has no real status.

Some carers are little short of saints, but because a lot of caring is inevitably done by family members, it’s assumed anyone can do it, and too many are simply doing it because it’s the only job going, with no sense of vocation, precious little pay, and too often expected to fit half an hour’s care into 20 minutes. They are, in terms of status, about where nursing was pre-Florence Nightingale: in a job that very few would choose above all other occupations.

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Report recommends ways to get older people online

November 29, 2012   Carers, Independent living, internet, Older care
Family carers need the Internet
29 November 2012
By Rachael Fergusson

New report says older internet users are less isolated, lonely and feel more in control than non-users.

New report says older internet users are less isolated, lonely and feel more in control than non-users.

Older people who use the internet are more likely to feel in control, and be less isolated and lonely than those that do not, a new report has found.

‘Nudge or Compel?: Can behavioural economics tackle the digital exclusion of older people?,’ has recommended a number of ways to get older people online and tackle digital exclusion.

Published by the International Longevity Centre – UK, a leading think tank on longevity and demographic change, the report said that over 7.5 million adults had never used the internet, and the majority of non-users were older, had disabilities or were in the lowest social classes.

The report highlighted new analysis of data from the ‘English Longitudinal Study of Ageing’ on the behavioural traits that accompanied internet usage among older people. It showed that people who said they used the internet, tended to report feeling more in control of various aspects of their lives, and were also more likely to say they ‘hardly ever or never’ felt isolated, the same went with feeling lonely. While those that said they did not use the internet were more likely to say they ‘often’ felt isolated from others.

Those that did not own a computer were also more likely to feel they were unable to learn a new skill, while those that did were more likely to agree they could.

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Would the integration of health and social care promote independent living?

November 8, 2012   Carers, disability, DOH, Independent living

Medical intervention is appropriate for people who are sick, but not normally for people who are well – whether they are disabled or not

 

Independent living depends on the availability of funds and other resources, including peer support from disabled people’s organisations, to enable disabled people to participate in society as equal.

Norman Lamb has been the care services minister at the Department of Health for just a few weeks, and it seems that the integration of health and social care services is one of his key interests and policy aims.

But there appears to be scant consideration, by Norman Lamb, Dan Poulter or indeed the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, of whether such integration would actually deliver independent living for working age disabled adults – or, for that matter, for older disabled adults.

The pioneers of independent living, back in the 1970s and 80s, did not consider independent living support to have much in common with health services.

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