Tag: health

Theresa May NHS 10 year plan

NHS 10 Year Plan – Some Thoughts from our CEO

Paul GouldenLondon

“Prevention is key theme of the Plan, although it focuses specifically on 5 areas – smoking, obesity, alcohol, air pollution and anti-microbial resistance. But even this is a huge step forward in challenging the “treatment” model that the NHS is built on – dealing with what the patient presents as a problem. It also talks about individuals playing their part in achieving health outcomes, which is also welcome. The NHS needs to work “with” patients not “on” them.”

The NHS 10 Year Plan features some great leaps forward, but there’s something missing. Our CEO Paul Goulden explains why we should be pleased and what needs to change.

A member of the Holobalance team explains the system to the focus group.

Holobalance – A New Way to Manage Balance Disorders

Age UK LondonCampaigns

“Both of the focus groups took place at Age UK London over two dates, November 23rd and November 29th. Matthew Liston, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences at Kings College London and Sharon Tynan of Age UK London demonstrated and explained the purpose of an array of wearable sensors and gadgets on the day including, insoles, heart rate monitor, augmented reality headsets and accelerometers. The older people in attendance had many questions about the kit and how long one would need to wear it as well as how it would work. The older people brought their wealth of knowledge to the focus groups and came up with good practical ideas about Holobalance and its future development.”

Age UK London is one of 13 partners across 7 European countries involved in the Holobalance project. Find out how we’re getting older Londoners’ views to the forefront of the development of Holobalance.

Purple Tuesday

Purple Tuesday: Accessible Shopping for All!

Age UK LondonAccessibility

“Nearly one in every five people in the UK has a disability or impairment, and over half of households have a connection to someone with a disability, so it goes without saying that businesses and organisations must be attuned to the needs of all their customers.”

This week saw the launch of Purple Tuesday, the UK’s first ever accessible shopping day! But what is Purple Tuesday and why is it so important? We investigate.

Flood Awareness Week provides all the information you need about flooding in London.

How Prepared are you for Flooding in London?

Age UK LondonAwareness Days

“Did you know that 1.3 million people are living and working in areas of the city at risk of tidal and river flooding? How about that around a third of London’s basement properties are at risk of flooding in a severe storm?”

Monday 12th November sees the start of Flood Awareness Week. The week involves a partnership of the Mayor of London, Environment Agency, Thames Water and London Resilience working together to improve awareness of flood risk and help Londoners get prepared ahead of the winter months. But how at risk is London from flooding? How can you prepare? Let’s investigate…

adaptations

Aids and Adaptations for Accessible Homes

Yehia NasrAccessibility

“Evidence shows that installing adaptations and improvements to homes can be of huge benefit to our health and wellbeing as we age. We often talk about the need to deliver home adaptations. Evidence shows that living in a suitable, accessible home is crucial to a good later life, and home adaptations can play a big part if done well. I think it’s important to get other people’s perspective, though, beyond formal research and reports. Making changes to our homes is something very personal to many people.”

Yehia Nasr of the Centre for Ageing Better went looking for some personal perspectives to better understand just how a simple home adaptation can help people in later life remain healthy, active and able to do the things they want to.

Imagining an Age Friendly London

Gordon DeucharsCampaigns

“According to the World Health Organisation “An age-friendly city encourages active ageing by optimising opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age. In practical terms, an age-friendly city adapts its structures and services to be accessible to and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities.” The WHO looks at age friendliness within eight domains including outdoor spaces and buildings, which we concentrated on for this discussion.”

London is working towards becoming age friendly, and we organised a mini-conference to start finding out how older people would like that process to go. Have a look at what they suggested:

stay safe

Stay Safe for Older People!

Emma HammettEvents

“When older people are scammed or have an accident it knocks their confidence and they become vulnerable. They often stop going out, become isolated and frail and too frequently end up in hospital. Being aware of potential hazards getting prompt, expert, information when you need it, can prevent these incidents in the first place and help people move forward, saving the older person and all involved in their care from the utter devastation that can occur when things go wrong.”

On the 1st October 2018 Age UK, RoSPA, First Aid for Life and Fit for Safety launched the Stay Safe for Older People at The Royal Hospital Chelsea. Find out more about the initiative here:

Red Bag scheme

Red Bag Scheme Extended

Don ShenkerCare

“Since its introduction in Sutton, the Red Bag, which has been used with care home residents 2,000 times in south London since April 2017, has also stopped patients losing personal items such as dentures, glasses and hearing aids worth £290,000 in a year. The potential for the innovation is significant with a predicted two million more people aged over 75 in ten years’ time. This populace is also spending more years in ill-health than ever before.”

Thousands of care home residents will benefit from safer emergency hospital visits as the innovative Red Bag scheme will be extended across the whole of south London. Find out how!

Keeping cool in a heatwave

Keeping Cool in a Heatwave

George HarveyLondon

“We’ve had some lovely weather this week, as a heatwave swept across the country! Down here in London it’s been especially warm, with temperatures reaching as high as 29°C – far higher than the typical average for this time of year, 22°C. According to the Evening Standard, some roads have become so hot that they have started to melt and stick to tyres! Meanwhile BBC news suggests that the warm weather is set to continue for at least another two weeks, if you can believe such a thing! Although, we still have a way to beat the record of the 1976 heatwave, which saw temperatures of 32C and over for 15 consecutive days.”

As the heatwave continues, it’s important to do all you can to stay healthy in the hot weather! Here’s why…

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.