Ageing is a strange and foreign country described mostly in negative terms in guide books for those whom, much to their surprise, find themselves lost in its hinterland, often unsuitably dressed and without a compass. A youth-obsessed society that makes a mint from mining the alleged horrors of growing older – all sag and no sagacity – has locked us into a set of taboos that means millions of us are moving from middle age into possibly decades of allegedly unproductive, dependent, parked-up old age without sufficient armament or attitude of mind to challenge prevailing prejudices. Except that today we may literally have been thrown the semblance of a lifeline.
Monthly Archives: March 2013
A special kitchen for adults and children with learning difficulties
Charity kitchen to boost work skills is opened
Dean Steele – Smith with his support worker Vanessa Barber.Photo: Steve Adams
By sophie wyllie
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
12:00 PM
Children and adults with learning disabilities will be able to learn work skills after a storeroom was transformed into a kitchen.
The new space for the About With Friends charity, based on Holt Road, Cromer, was officially opened by North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb.
About With Friends was started 11 years ago by Helen Dalton-Hare and it allows children and adults with learning disabilities from across Norfolk to develop skills including cooking, gardening, horse riding, communication and computer technology.
A smaller kitchen, especially for young people, was opened by Dean Steele-Smith, 17, from Suffield Park in Cromer.
Dean has Down’s Syndrome and traits of autism and cannot speak because of his condition.
His mother Julie Steele-Smith, 49, said: “The new kitchen is fabulous. Cooking has given Dean a purpose. He loves it here.
Old age should not be approached with horror
Old age should not be approached with horror
A new report provides a passport for older life that does not treat over-60s as liabilities
Ageing is no longer an orderly chronological process; anarchy rules. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
Why is the NHS 'biased' towards mental health patients?
Paul Burstow: NHS is ‘biased’ against treating mental health
The NHS is “biased” against treating patients with depression and other mental health problems, wasting billions of pounds a year as their conditions grow worse, a former minister is warning.
By Tim Ross, Political Correspondent
6:00AM GMT 14 Mar 2013
Paul Burstow said families were paying the price as government figures showed spending on mental health services fell by 1 per cent last year.
Patients are suffering a “postcode lottery” in services across the country, with some areas spending three times more than others on therapies and treatment, he said.
The Lib Dem MP, who was the Care Minister until September’s reshuffle, is to lead a new Commission on mental health, backed by the think-tank CentreForum, which is launched today.
Writing for telegraph.co.uk, Mr Burstow said: “The NHS default remains stubbornly biased towards physical health – a terrible false economy at the expense of people’s lives, as well as the public purse.
