preparing to live longer
DESCRIPTION
Heléna Herklots, Services Director Age UK - Opening plenary about occupational therapy challenges and rewards as people get older. COT Annual Conference 2010 (22-25 June 2010)TRANSCRIPT
The College of Occupational Therapists34th Annual Conference and Exhibition
22-25 June 2010
Brighton
Preparing to Live Longer
Heléna HerklotsServices Director Age UK
Age UK
Vision:A world in which older people flourish
Mission:To improve the lives of older people
Organisation:A charity and a social enterprise driven by the needs and aspirations of people in later life
Age UK
Campaigning for change
Providing information and advice
Carrying out research
Providing products and services for people in later life
Supporting local groups
Developing our shops
Working internationally
Living Longer
There are now more people in the UK aged 60 and above than there are under 18
The number of people over 85 in the UK is predicted to double in the next 20 years and nearly treble in the next 30
Over 1.3 million people are aged 85 or over
People aged 65 have an average life expectancy of 82 -85 years, the last 7 – 9 years with a disability
Living Longer
One in four children born today will live to 100
For each day that we live, our life expectancy is extending by about 5 hours
Transformational change affecting every part of our lives
How is our society changing?
Politics - Party manifestos; commitments; Coalition Government
Culture- media and ageism; poetry, music, literature and art
Environment - transport; design; accessibility
Work - ending Mandatory Retirement Ages; flexible working
Advertising and shopping – the ‘grey consumer’
The General Election – wins for people in later life?
• Top level commitments to keep winter fuel payments and bus passes
• Restoration of the link between pensions and earnings from April 2011, with a ‘triple guarantee’ that pensions will rise by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5%
• Phasing out the default retirement age and holding a review to set the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66
• An agreement that NHS funding should rise in real terms in each year of the current Parliament
Areas of Contention: • Social care reform • State pension age• CUTS
The legislative Programme:
Social Care Commission Bill
Establish a Commission on a sustainable structure of funding for long term care
Welfare Reform Bill
Make the benefits system less complex; improve incentives to work; increase the number of people currently on benefits who move into work; reduce the scope for benefit fraud and error
Health Bill
Create a healthcare system which: is led by clinical decision makers; responsive to patients; drives up standards of care and focuses more on patients
Decentralisation and Localism Bill
Empower local people; free local government from central and regional control; give communities a share in local economic growth; create a more efficient and locally controlled planning system
Many challenges…
Improving access and quality of care and support
Housing built to Lifetime standards
Health promotion in the face of budget restrictions
Alleviating isolation and isolation; improving wellbeing
Helping people keep up with new technology
Helping people out of poverty; keeping people out of poverty
National Falls Awareness Week, 21-25 June 2010
NICE Guidance
Occupational therapy interventions and physical activity interventions to promote the mental wellbeing of older people in primary and residential care. 2008
Practical recommendations
Importance of information and advice
Physical activity programmes
Evidence from Partnerships for Older People projects (POPPs)
fit as a fiddle – Norma, nominated for Volunteer of the Year
fit as a fiddle - West Midlands, Coventry, West Indian Centre, gentle exercise class
fit as a fiddle – Active NetworksDancing in the South East
fit as a fiddle - East Midlands Nordic Walking Now self-sufficient with YMCA support
Preparing to live longer - together
Information and advice
Personalisation
Championing occupational therapy
Promoting wellbeing
If I’d have known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.
Eubie Blake, composer.
1883 - 1983
Age UK
Website
www.ageuk.org.uk