Category Archives: Older care
Loneliness is ‘major health issue’
It is also associated with poor mental health and, more surprisingly, with conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dementia.
By Philippa Roxby Health reporter, BBC News
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main,” wrote the poet John Donne in the 17th century, in an expression of loneliness and longing.
Some people seek isolation, but few choose to be lonely, primarily because it isn’t good for us.
Loneliness doesn’t just make people unhappy, research shows that it has an effect on mortality too.
It is also associated with poor mental health and, more surprisingly, with conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dementia.
Loneliness is a public health issue that should be tackled urgently, says Laura Ferguson, director of the Campaign to End Loneliness, a coalition of organisations working to combat the problem including Age UK.
Social care cap plans ‘need funding and timetable’
Campaign groups have also said they fear the plans will be shelved because of the cost.
7 July 2012 Last updated at 16:37
Critics say the government needs to provide further details on how it will fund a cap on social care costs and when it will be introduced.
This week ministers are set to agree in principle a cap on what people in England pay towards their own care.
But Labour says the plans are “meaningless” without more details and a timetable.
And Michelle Martin, director general of Age UK said the government’s plans were “not nearly enough”.
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