Action on health and care
Record NHS waiting lists, older patients unable to return home from hospital because of the crisis in care, councils lacking the funds to maintain vital services, care homes facing closure through spiralling costs… the cash-strapped health and care sector is struggling to meet the needs of many of those who use it most at a time of rising demand.
As the biggest users of health and care services, older people find themselves in the front line of the battle for the wellbeing of the nation.
So how can the Age Action Alliance make a positive contribution?
By bringing together providers, charities and experts with the very people who rely most on these services, we hope to arrive at workable solutions as well as flag up and make our voices heard on the issues. Topics will include:
- Independent living
- Care options and funding
- Home adaptations
- Maintaining health and wellbeing
- Support and benefits
- Telecare
- Living with dementia
- Health insurance
Get involved
We believe constructive dialogue and informed decision making is always the way forward and so we hope to use this section to provide a forum for debate and a home for helpful information and advice.
If you would like to contribute in any way, do please get in touch by emailing info@theageactionalliance.org.
The Age Action Alliance is supported by
Latest News
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National care charity MHA launches lifestyle and wellness app
The UK’s largest charity care provider, MHA, has launched MHA Active, an app offering tailored lifestyle and wellbeing content for older people, with the aim of keeping minds and bodies active.
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Stop being ostriches: carers need more support, argue longevity experts
A new briefing, released by the International Longevity Centre, highlights new analysis that shows that the average person in the UK spends more hours caring for others – by parenting, caring, and working unpaid in the home – than looking after themselves, and those on lower incomes are even more likely to neglect themselves.
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1.2m older unpaid carers say their health has deteriorated over the last 12 months
“It’s draining, exhausting and like holding back the tide. You’re alone, abandoned, invisible and unappreciated.”
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Age UK: “Care Quality Commission report paints alarming picture”
The charity has responded to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) annual assessment of the state of health & adult social care in England looking at the quality of care over the past year.
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Your help needed to improve the way older people receive help via digital services
We have been approached to reach out to members to help a PhD student who is researching the issues affecting older peoples’ digital safety using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and internet linked devices/sensors or Smart products and services.
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AI-driven Chatbot aims to provide 24/7 independent legal support and guidance online
Every day millions of older and disabled people are denied the social care they not only need but are legally entitled to… and not everyone can afford to get the legal support they need to press their case. A new AI chatbot aims to bridge that gap.
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ExtraCare win top award for using technology to support healthy ageing
The innovation team from AAA members ExtraCare has triumphed at the Senior Housing Awards, winning the “Best Use of Technology in Seniors Housing” award.
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Older Londoners “feeling more lows than highs,” new research reveals
New research from Age UK London, published to mark the International Day of Older Persons and Silver Sunday (1 October) has revealed that, while more than half of older Londoners (59%) feel positive about living in the city, only 13% consider London a place where older people are valued.
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Nine out of 10 over 75s see care homes and nursing homes as “unaffordable”
A new survey by personal alarm specialists SureSafe amongst 1,000 over-75s has found that one in five are “worried” or “very worried” about being able to pay for normal everyday living costs and 60% are “worried” or “somewhat worried” about their ability to pay for their care.
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Longevity experts develop a plan to maximise the opportunities of longer lives
The International Longevity Centre (ILC), the UK’s leading authority on demographic change, has embarked on a programme of work to develop a new Longevity White Paper, identifying the changes we need to make to grasp the opportunities of population ageing, and longer lives.
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Open University launches two free courses to improve the care of older people with learning disabilities
The Open University has launched two free courses aimed at supporting professionals and families who care for older people with learning disabilities.
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Take Five to Age Well: empowering each of us towards longer, healthier lives
Do you want to live well for longer? You are in the right place as a new, nationwide project aims to give the nation longer, healthier lives.
Latest blogs & comments
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Dementia: what legal and financial planning should I consider?
From whether you should be paying for care through to sorting out an LPA, Professor June Andrews looks at some of the key things to consider if you or a loved one have dementia.
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Ageing in place technology: revolutionising retirement living
The innovation team from ExtraCare Charitable Trust recently triumphed at the Senior Housing Awards, winning the “Best Use of Technology in Seniors Housing” award. Here, their Research and Technology Lead Kerry Stack explains how their appliance of science is breaking down barriers and helping older people age in place.
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Providing health care, social care, community support and housing for older people: a good practice model
Some thirty years ago, writes Peter Dale, the Rye Winchelsea and District Memorial Hospital in East Sussex was threatened with closure. Today, it is an example of what can be achieved by a combination of professional collaboration, community involvement and a willingness to “join the dots” between services.
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Why are numbers of residents with dementia in care homes increasing?
Why are there more residents with dementia in care homes and how does that impact on the care homes themselves? By Professor June Andrews.
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Methodist Homes: on a mission to “fix care for all”
Methodist Homes (MHA), the largest charity care provider in the UK, is on a mission to fix care for all. Their Campaigns and Public Affairs Officer, Luke Buckland, explains how you can help support their aims.
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Uncounted is unseen: has the time come to collect more official data on ageing without children?
Mapping informal carers and their support needs has rightly become a key priority for health and social care in recent years. However, equivalent information about access to informal care, including where there is none, has lagged behind, writes Penny Shepherd MBE of AWOC (Ageing Without Children).
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A unique way to pay for residential care… without selling your home
Every year, thousands of elderly people and their families face the conundrum of how to pay for care home fees – which can typically be between £40,000 and £50,000 a year. We talk to Jeremy Nixey of Alliance member Shaw Lifetime Care, part of the charitable Shaw Foundation, about the unique option they offer.
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Health and social care integration: the myths and the realities from a social worker’s perspective
“It cries out to be released from present day 19th-century asylum-based narratives of social care reform.” Mervyn Eastman has spent over 45 years in and around social care and social work. What does HE see as the way forward for this vital service?
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ADASS Survey Reaction: Prevention and a skilled workforce are key to the future of social care
Sam Monaghan, the CEO of MHA, sets out the key ways in which we can address the crisis in the social care system… including recognising, rewarding and retaining the people already working in it.
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Sounds brilliant: tuning in to age friendly radio
If you’re not already an avid listener, you might want to tune into the great output of The Later Life Audio and Radio Cooperative (LLARC): an award-winning and growing network of older radio show hosts, age-friendly radio stations, voluntary and community sector organisations and academic researchers working on age-related issues.
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What does it mean to care?
The ramifications of a shrinking and ageing care workforce, the need for cross sector collaboration, the fallout from society not recognising the importance of care… CEO of Methodists Homes (MHA) Sam Monaghan looks back at some of the highlights of this year’s Walter Hall seminar.
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No one wants to think about getting older…
When life is good, nobody likes to consider the inevitable reality that, one day, they are likely to take on a caring or support role for an elderly parent. It’s no wonder this transition is considered by many to be one of life’s most stressful events, for all involved, says Deborah Stone. Which is why…