In her latest News Space blog, Age Space’s Annabel James looks at news and views about elderly care and carers. Would you pay an extra 2p in tax so that older people can receive free care help to eat, wash and get dressed? That’s the proposal from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). It highlights the growing consensus that personal care should become free for over-65s. If implemented, it would bring England into line with Scotland where such care has bee free since 2002. Doing so would remove what critics say is a deeply unfair system. Currently more and more people of pensionable ..read more

The Norwich Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) members will be hosting a wide programme of events during Dementia Action Week 20-26 May 2019, with the aim of encouraging people to start a conversation about Dementia. Age UK Norwich CEO – Dan Skipper “It’s incredibly important to share with people living with the disease and their families the support in the city to make them feel safe and confident as they go about their daily lives. We have over 80 organisations in Norwich working to train their staff to become aware of dementia, reviewing their products and processes and changing their physical ..read more

In her latest News Space blog, Age Space’s Annabel James looks at news and views about elderly care and carers… Dementia that may not be Alzheimer’s… You may have seen the headlines that millions of elderly people have a form of dementia that has been misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease. One expert called it the most important dementia finding in years. The condition, known as “Late”, shares similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s, but it is a distinct disease, the journal Brain reports. It may partly explain why finding a dementia cure has failed so far. Having a better understanding of Late migh ..read more

It’s a horrifying fact that UK citizens are twice as likely to fall victim to fraud than any other crime type and scams cost the UK £5-£10 Billion a year.   Criminals target the most vulnerable, with the average age of a scam victim as 75. A Scam victim is 2.5 times more likely to end up in care within a year than their ‘non-scammed’ comparable neighbour. We are really pleased to have teamed up with the National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team to help raise awareness of scams, and importantly, ways to minimise getting caught out by them. Scams come in many forms; uninvited contact is receiv ..read more

850,000 people in the UK are affected by dementia, a figure set to rise to 1 million by 2021. Another figure soon to be rising is the UK retirement age, subsequently there will be more people developing dementia whilst still at work. Now more than ever – Dementia Friendly Business needs to become a priority across the sectors. The first step to becoming a Dementia Friendly Business, is to join your local Dementia Action Alliance (DAA). There are over 150 national organisations across England sharing best practice and taking action on dementia. The Norwich DAA has over 80 member organisations ..read more

In her latest News Space blog, Age Space’s Annabel James looks at news and views about elderly care and carers…. Fewer than one in four homeowners are saving for their future care needs. That’s despite more than half fearing they could lose their homes to pay for care in later life, research from Independent Age has found. In recent years, the government has proposed introducing a cap to prevent people from having to pay such “catastrophic” amounts. Instead, in its report, the charity has called on the government to introduce free personal care for everyone. We watch with interest… But i ..read more

The Man in the Middle writes our new blog series. Musings from a middle-aged man living with his aged Mother and the Family. I am hanging Mother’s paintings and pictures in my study. The study smells of drying paint and I have a headache. I am not sure if the ache is because of the paint’s volatile organic compounds or because I can’t hang a single painting straight. I’m peeved because I’m not even winging it like I normally do with household chores. I’ve watched a Wickes’ DIY video on how to hang pictures twice and bought a new tape measure, plugs, picture wire and a hammer. I’m locked and lo ..read more

In her latest News Space blog, Age Space’s Annabel James looks at news and views about elderly care and carers. Tens of thousands of ‘severely mentally impaired’ people – and that includes people with dementia – who are entitled to a council tax discount could be missing out on about £400 a year. The people at Money Saving Expert published a major report which found councils could be overcharging up to 100,000 people. They’ve prepared this useful guide to show how to check if you’re due the discount – and how to claim it. The “big bill” blues And that council tax discount could certai ..read more

The Man in the Middle writes our new blog series. Musings from a middle-aged man living with his aged Mother and the Family. Since my father died, I’ve been persuading Mother to make a will. It’s been a decade-long guerrilla war on behalf of the principle of Forward Planning. Wife calls it the ‘War of the Wills’. So far, I’m losing. Mother is resolute.  No, No, No, she repeats, like Margaret Thatcher when asked to return the British EU Rebate. I do not wish to make a will.  She pretends there’s no point in one because she has little to leave. Sometimes, she rejects the process as vulgar. ‘I ha ..read more

In her latest News Space blog, Age Space’s Annabel James looks at news and views about elderly care and carers. Should a carer for a family members get their own version of a “maternity leave” job safety net? The Office for National Statistics report, Living longer: caring in later working life, drawing on data from several studies over recent years, reveals how caring responsibilities – for older relatives, disabled family members, friends, children and grandchildren – will be as much of a concern for employers as it is for employees. Employees who care for loved ones should receive statutory ..read more