Age-friendly London

Tackling Loneliness in an Age-Friendly London

George HarveyIsolation

“We’re very excited to be joining the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities. The Mayor’s vision is for London to be a place where people of all ages can thrive. Older Londoners make an extremely valuable contribution to city life – as professionals, volunteers and carers. We want to encourage all Londoners to participate actively in community activities and to treat everyone with respect, regardless of their age. We look forward to working with other age-friendly cities and communities in the UK and across the world.”

Last Friday at Age UK London’s Tackling Loneliness Among Older Londoners conference Deputy Mayor Matthew Ryder revealed that London has joined the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities.

resilience

Resilience and Self Care

Paul GouldenCare

Later life should be a time of enjoyment and growth, but with cuts in local authority spending on older people and continuing pressures on the NHS, the picture often painted is a bleak one. In recent years resilience and self-care have become buzzwords around older peoples services, but are they just code for “cuts”, or is there something more to this movement? If we know what ageing well might look like, what can we put in place in the way of resilience and self-care that can make that a reality?

Our CEO Paul Goulden investigates resilience and self-care – what we can do for older people in our community, and what barriers need to be overcome.

Silver Sunday Cake

Top 10 tips for Hosting a Silver Sunday Event

Lucinda HurreyAwareness Days

“Last year more than 750 Silver Sunday events took place across the country, including tea parties, tai-chi, ballet workshops, ferry trips and many more. They were attended by thousands of older people across the country, offering them the opportunity to get out and make new friends, or try something new. This year Silver Sunday takes place on Sunday 7th October, and with your help, is set to be the biggest celebration of older people yet. Getting involved is simple – and with just four months to go, now is the perfect time to start planning your event.”

Silver Sunday is an annual day of fun and free activities for older people across the UK! Want to get involved? Here are 10 top tips for setting up an event!

Technology – Reinventing the Social Care System

CeraCare

“Technology needs to be at the forefront of this new era of social care. Technology companies such as Babylon and Google DeepMind are already starting to make significant progress towards empowering patients to improve the care they receive. Babylon, for example, offers healthcare via a mixture of artificial intelligence and video and text conversations with doctors and specialists. However, up until now, social care has failed to take advantage of digital innovation and advances in health technology.”

Technology has transformed the way we shop, travel and live our everyday lives. Healthcare company Cera argues that technology needs to transform the social care system too.

Fall prevention

Falls Prevention – Some Practical Steps

Paul GouldenAccessibility

This week on the blog, we’re looking into falls prevention. But first of all, here are some scary statistics: One third of people over the age of 65 fall every year Falls are leading cause of injury in older adults Over 400,000 older people attend Accident and Emergency Departments annually as a result of falls So why do we need to look at falls prevention? Clearly with the emphasis in the health service of reducing unplanned admissions, falls represent a huge area for improvement, and one that would have a massive impact on a stretched NHS. But the consequences of […]

Mental Health and the Arts

George HarveyArts & Theatre

“Age UK’s recent Wellbeing Index went so far as to say that social and civic participation and creative and cultural participation are hugely important, together making up almost 1/8th of total wellbeing in later life. Furthermore, research by the Arts Council England in 2016 found that 76% of older people said arts and culture was important in making them feel happy, while over half of those surveyed said that arts and culture helped them to meet other people as well as encouraging them to get out and about. Meanwhile, the Mental Health Foundation discovered increased confidence and self-esteem amongst participants that were engaged in forms of participatory art.”

Research suggests that arts and culture are vital to older people’s mental health and wellbeing. We investigate the research and discuss some of the barriers to participation for older people.

An Age Friendly Strategy for Culture in London?

Gordon DeucharsArts & Theatre

“Older people engage with culture for a similar range of reasons to younger people, and people’s motivations are not necessarily quantifiable. But there are also clearly identified personal and social benefits. There is a growing understanding of the psychological, cognitive and physical health benefits of active involvement in the arts for older people. Even simply being able to be an audience member may have a positive impact on someone’s social inclusion and psychological state.”

The Mayor is consulting on a draft London Cultural Strategy: Culture for all Londoners. How age friendly does it look so far? Here are some initial thoughts

Age Allies Blog #6 – Volunteers

Richard NormanAge Allies

“There is a commonly held belief that as people get older they become less competent. My experience of developing the Age Allies Workshops in collaboration with a group of volunteers, underlines how absurd this notion of older people actually is. The creativity, insight and commitment they bring to the table makes our development meetings productive and great fun. Authentic, open, honest and intelligent are the words that spring to mind. Oh yes, and highly competent!”

This week on the Age Allies Blog, Project Coordinator Richard Norman opens the floor to two of the Age Allies volunteers, who discuss their experiences of the project.

What can Councils do for older Londoners?

What can Councils do for Older Londoners?

Gordon DeucharsAge UK London Blog

“Many of the things we are calling on Councils to do also help tackle loneliness, a problem for many older people (and not only older people). A preventive approach to health and social care could support services like befriending which tackle isolation. Better pavement and street repair and more accessible neighbourhoods will encourage people to come out and take part in their local community.”

With the local council elections taking place this week, Gordon Deuchars answers the question: What can Councils do to make their boroughs age friendly?

Private Rented Sector

Age and the Private Rented Sector

George HarveyCampaigns

“The Home Improvements report is a timely intervention, which showcases the challenges that face “the Millennial Generation” in the present day and the years to come. It also dovetails nicely with our own report Living in Fear: Experiences of Older Private Renters in London, which performed a similar investigation into the difficulties facing older Londoners that rent privately.

If it is indeed true that a third of Millennials face renting for their entire lives, then our findings suggest that large scale changes need to be made in order to meet these tenants’ needs as they grow older. This is especially urgent, considering that The number of private-renting households for those aged 45-64 has more than doubled in the last ten years and recent estimates suggest that the number of private-renters in London aged 65 and over could double between 2014 and 2039.”

This week, a report from the Resolution Foundation has found that up to a third of young people face living in private rented accommodation for all of their lives. We offer our knowledge of the private rented sector, the affect it has upon many older tenants and the changes that need to be made to meet the needs of present and future older tenants.