NHS England and Age UK have joined forces in a campaign to encourage older people to access treatment for mental health conditions, as new analysis shows a majority of older people do not seek help. New data reveals that more than six in 10 people in the UK aged over 65 or over have experienced depression and anxiety.
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Age UK report calling for legislation to change what is understood as domestic abuse and make it easier for people to recognise or report it, as well as improving the resources available to help victims and survivors. This includes training for health care practitioners and better links between the NHS and police.
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Guidance from the Royal College of Psychiatrists to help local areas plan and deliver specialist services, led by old age psychiatrists, to meet the needs of older people. The report brings together views from older people, service users, carers and a wide range of health and social care professionals and provides insight into:
• the essential role played by old age psychiatrists, and the Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH) services to whom they provide leadership, in delivering high quality outcomes for the health and wellbeing of the UK’s ageing population;
• the centrality of this to the Ageing Well agenda; and
• how best to support decision-makers responsible for implementing the NHS LTP as it affects older people
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This report brings together recommendations for designing digital skills interventions for older people with care and support needs. It draws on insights from two pathfinders, which were funded by NHS Digital and supported by Good Things Foundation as part of the Widening Digital Participation programme. The pathfinders generated insights on small system-level changes that can embed digital inclusion in social care support and factors influencing digital inclusion within social housing schemes. The model developed suggests:
• Step 1: Engage people where they are
• Step 2: Needs-led learning
• Step 3: Empowerment and Ongoing Support
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This statement by Public Health England and the Centre for Ageing Better defines the shared commitment of the signatory organisations. It is the first time that such a wide range of organisations have come together to voice their intention to promote healthy ageing. Signatories span the areas of health, employment, housing and communities, and are from academia, local government, the NHS, and the public and voluntary sectors.
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The Community Mental Health Framework describes how the Long Term Plan’s vision for a place-based community mental health model can be realised, and how community services should modernise to offer whole-person, whole-population health approaches, aligned with the new Primary Care Networks.
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This report aims to shine a light on the issue of casual ageism and the impact that it has on all of us. It highlights how ageism can have real life consequences, promotes exclusion and can affect physical and mental health. It is based on consumer research of 4,000 UK adults to understand how and when people experience ageism, how many of us admit to being ageist, and if people feel progress is being made to stamp it out. It finds casual ageism is part of our everyday language. It’s so ingrained that many ageist remarks are often overlooked, missed or simply accepted. Many sentiments are subtle and can even be well-intentioned. But the truth is that ‘ageist’ language, however casual, can have a huge impact on our perception of life after 50 and the way we treat people we meet. The truth is that ageist language, however casual, perpetuates the myth that life after 50 must be worse than before it.
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International Longevity Centre – UK report that argues that the UK’s unprecedented population ageing poses a set of daunting, yet not insurmountable, challenges for policymakers, institutions and health care providers to design better solutions fit for an ageing society. It calls for health policy reforms that focus on preventing, rather than curing disease to enable people to stay active and healthy for longer. It also calls for programmes to enable older workers to remain in the labour market for longer through retraining opportunities and more flexible working patterns, and highlights the pivotal role innovation could play, including, for instance, robotics to help fill production demands for manual labour, or better housing and transport design to facilitate independence and continued employment for older people.
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It is estimated that by 2035, over half of all adults in the UK will be over 50 years of age. This report proposes several recommendations to provide older people and employers with the support needed to unlock the potential of this demographic and enable older people to access the benefits of work. It states that without a concerted effort to increase the opportunities for older workers, individuals, businesses and the economy will suffer. Among the recommendations are enhanced healthcare support through improvements in occupational health, training in mental health first aid and further support for those aged 55 and over from the Work and Health Programme from the Department of Work and Pensions. It also recommends a rise in State Pension Age to 70 by 2028 and to 75 by 2035.
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This review provides evidence on the health inequalities experienced by older populations in coastal and rural areas, together with a summary of key considerations to reduce inequalities and promote healthy ageing in these areas. It comprises a literature review supplemented with case studies, and brings together a range of information in one place with links to published research to:
•build knowledge and an evidence base within the health and care system, including local authorities and other organisations, of the key health inequality issues for older populations in rural and coastal areas
•support and promote the implementation of considerations to address health inequalities experienced by older people in rural and coastal areas
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