Category: News

Words are powerful and we CAN make a difference

The Government will make an announcement about social care funding at the earliest opportunity, a minister said in reply to MP Nick Thomas-Symonds’ question. What would he say to the two sisters caring for their dying father who were struggling with a disjointed system where they had to fight for the simplest of things? In despair they wrote a letter to The Times. And how do we, as Christians, respond? The Bible is clear that this is what we ought to do.

July 5, 2019

Welcome-from-senior-nurse-carer-Jeanette

Caring for older people

Care not Killing, and new euthanasia lobby move

We don’t want to find ourselves being euthanized because doctors have taken a subjective view of our quality of life, which is what happened in Belgium and was reported earlier in this blog. Or have a 75 year old woman with dementia being euthanized against her will.

June 28, 2019

Caring for older people

Unpaid caregivers seven times more lonely than the rest of us

There are now an estimated 8.8 million adult carers in the UK, up from 6.3 million estimated in the 2011 census. That’s a huge increase in numbers. And they are seven times more likely to be lonely compared with the general public, new figures suggest.

June 13, 2019

News

The human stories behind the social care funding crisis

Most Councils are under huge financial pressure, with some on the verge of bankruptcy, struggling to meet the needs of a small percentage of their population after years of government under-funding of social care.

May 30, 2019

Probably the best thing you could do this Dementia Action Week

This week, from May 20 – 26, is Dementia Action Week.

Today the Alzheimer’s Society has a good website home page about it (google Dementia Action Week) with a heading over a photograph that says ‘a child always sees the person inside.’

May 20, 2019

News

World Health Organisation Guidelines on Reducing Dementia Risk

Yesterday the World Health Organisation (WHO) published its latest guidelines on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia. This morning Dave Piper of Transworld Radio and I talked about it on TWR News. After all, who isn’t interested in reducing their risk of developing dementia?

May 15, 2019

News

Thousands more older people dying from falls – mainly in deprived areas

Falls are often fatal for frailer older people, so it’s sad to read in today’s press that over 5,000 died as a result of falls in 2017, 70% more than the 3003 in 2010. The figures have been rising steadily. And sadly, the main rise seems to be among older people in deprived areas.

May 4, 2019

Healthy living in old age

Churchgoers live longer than others, says new study. But they missed the point!

A number of studies have shown that people who go to church tend to live significantly longer than those who don’t. And, according to the lead scientist who led one of the studies, it isn’t simply because church goers have more social support, but because worshippers are flexing spiritual muscles.

May 3, 2019

Healthy living in old age

Seniors – are you ‘economically vibrant’?

This week a national newspaper invited us to find out if we will be living in a pensioner-dominated area within 20 years. Dominated is an emotive word, so I read the article carefully. Does it say that pensioners will be ‘dominating’ the local restaurants or blocking pavements with their walkers, or driving too slowly, or ‘blocking’ beds and A&E units?

April 16, 2019

Electrical zapping restores working memory

‘The rhythm of life is a powerful beat,’ Sammy Davis Jr used to sing in the seventies.And, if scientists at Boston University are right, getting that rhythm to the right beat in the brains of older people could restore their short-term working memory to that of 20-year-olds. Our short-term working memory helps us to keep our plates spinning, storing information for around 10 – 15 seconds to allow problem solving, reasoning, planning and decision making, helping us, for example, to keep a telephone number in mind while writing it down.

April 10, 2019

News

81-year old with osteoarthritis hikes 17 miles over three mountains

After two days in London last week, schlepping along the underground and the miles in between with a heavy overnight bag, I thought I’d done very well. Until I read about 81-year-old Ian Waddell, who’d covered 17 miles and a 5,000 ft ascent in the South Wales Three Peaks Challenge, using sticks and crutches because he has osteoarthritis and joint pain. He’s also had hip and knee surgery.

April 8, 2019

Healthy living in old age

Who needs RESILIENCE?

It’s become a buzz-word in the NHS. People who have it do better in life than those who don’t. So what is it – this ‘resilience’? In physical objects it means having the ability to spring back into shape; and in people ‘the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.’ But it’s more than that.

March 28, 2019

Caring for older people

Carers’ Week 10-16 June – An opportunity for Christians to Bless Them!

As you read this more than 6 ½ million people around the country are caring, unpaid, for a family member or friend who is older, disabled or seriously ill, many with dementia. Many have had to give up their jobs and are also struggling financially.

March 19, 2019

Let’s Hold a Torch for Frail Elderly Needing Care

Frail, elderly people are dying without care. There needs to be a stronger light on these appalling facts.

March 12, 2019

Healthy living in old age

Introducing Chat & Natter Tables

Manchester is in the lead when it comes to innovative ideas for older people. It’s strategy is to make life as enjoyable and inclusive for them, and everyone else. It comes up with new ideas and events all the time.One of its latest ideas is the Chat and Natter Table. Its website says*, ‘A Chatter & Natter table is where customers can sit if they are happy to talk to other customers.

March 11, 2019

Amazing is possible at 82 and beyond!

Unless you’ve been meditating on a mountain top with no transmission, you’ll know that Wales beat England 21-13 in the Six Nations rugby match last Saturday. Max Boyce probably wrote another song to commemorate it. In the crowd was an 82 year old who’d never been to a rugby match before. (Perhaps she moved into Wales late in life.) She said that meeting the team was wonderful, adding, ‘It will be hard to top that one. I’m 82 years of age and to have something like that happen to you at my age is amazing.’

February 26, 2019