DropBy

By Tim Ross, Political Correspondent, The Telegraph writes: The so-called “Sandwich Generation” who juggle work and family life with caring for their own frail parents will receive an entitlement to help, such as respite holidays, and training in care techniques. Under new laws to be announced in Wednesday's Queen’s Speech, councils will have to assess what support carers need to manage their own lives and provide services to those who need them. Although financial assistance will be means-tested, other help with advice and guidance will be offered to all for the first time. Downing Street hopes the reforms will combine with a new flat-rate state pension to offer more support to millions of women approaching retirement. An estimated 1.25 million people, many of whom are women, spend more than 50 hours each week caring for family members who cannot look after themselves because they are frail, disabled or have dementia. The number is due to rise sharply as the population grows older. For more details please visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10040248/Carers-to-receive-legal-rights-under-new-laws.html

Elderly people represent a growing share of the Swedish population. Many are in good health and lead active lives, and most live in their own homes. Sweden invests more of its gross domestic product in its elderly than any other country in the world. As as proportion of GDP, Sweden's allocation to elderly care is almost 5 times the EU average. Health and Social Care for the elderly are important parts of Swedish Welfare Policy of Sweden's 9.5 million inhabitants, 18% have passed the age of 65. This number is projected to rise to 30% by 2030 partly because of the large number of Swedes born in the 1940's. Sweden has the second highest proportion of people aged 80 or over among the EU member states totaling 5.3% of the population. Since more and more citizens in this age group are in good health, their requirements have declined since 1980's. Most elderly care is funded by municipal taxes and government grants. In 2010 the total cost of elderly care in Sweden was (EUR 10.7 billion)only 3% of the cost was financed by patient charges. Health care costs paid by the elderly themselves are subsidised and based on specified rate schedules. To find out more the Link to follow is www.sweden.se then click on society then click on elderly care.

A package aimed at families worried about elderly parents is being launched at a time of growing doubt about the efficacy of telehealth.

Please follow the link below to find out more.

www.guardian.co.uk

Funding long term care is a significant consideration for us all and it is an issue we are asked about regularly. The cost of live in care is dependent on personal circumstances; there are methods of public funding available for live in care and benefit entitlements are available for many. Most of our customers fund their care privately or via direct payments, however if you need advice on care funding options we recommend that you speak with a FINANCIAL ADVISOR who has 'Care Fee Planning' knowledge and experience. Anybody funding their care should first research the benefits that are available to them. Other FINANCING options you may consider include EQUITY RELEASEor the purchase of an IMMEDIATE CARE ANNUITY. We also get asked may questions around POWER OF ATTORNEY and other asset related matters Call us on 0808 180 9455 - our friendly Customer Advice team are here to help.

Dr John Sentamu said it is time for “action now, not more posturing" over whether to implement the recommendations of the landmark Dilnot Commission to cap the cost of care. He said it is a simple question of doing what was “morally right” and upholding the basic Christian values of compassion and respect for elders. His comments represent an unusually direct intervention into a party political issue for a senior churchman. They come at a time when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are embroiled in delicate negotiations over whether to implement the Dilnot report as the centrepiece of a “relaunch” for the Coalition. Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Dr Sentamu insisted: “The virtues of compassion and care have helped make our country what it is today – but sadly they are becoming forgotten, along with the people who gave us them in the first place. “Let us learn from the past and recognise the contribution of our elders, rather than shut them away out of sight. “This is not a problem which is going to go away if we ignore it.” The current arrangements, he said, amount to a “national scandal”, with hundreds of thousands of older people seeing their final years blighted by “sky-high” fees for often substandard care. In a rebuke to all three main political parties, he said services such as day centres and home visits have been “starved of cash” for years while those who have worked hard are forced to watch their savings disappear “in a matter of months” to pay for basic care. “Even in these difficult economic times, there must be a way forward that puts the need of older people at the centre,” the Archbishop argued. “We must give back dignity to those who are ill and in need. We need to start seeing people as people, rather than statistics.” It is now more than 18 months since Mr Dilnot, an Oxford economist published his report on funding social care. At present anyone with assets, including heir home, worth more than around £23,500 receives no state support for care, forcing about 20,000 older people a year to sell their homes. The Dilnot report recommends raising that threshold to about £100,000 and capping the amount anyone would have to pay for care costs in their lifetime at about £35,000. The new system was designed to enable people to plan for their old age and develop an insurance market to grow up. Age UK estimates that of the two million older people in England with a clear need for care, 800,000 get no help at all because they do not qualify for state support and cannot afford it themselves. The group expected to swell beyond one million in the next few years. “That is a national scandal,” Dr Sentamu wrote. “We should all have the peace of mind that we will be cared for in the right way when our bodies start to fail.” Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg are understood to be currently looking at a watered-down version of Dilnot with a cap potentially set as high as £75,000. But, despite briefings over the summer Mr Cameron was ready to implement the Dilnot reforms, there is still no final commitment to press ahead. Paul Burstow, the former care minister, said in September that resistance from the Treasury and a lack of political will by the party leaders meant the Coalition was allowing the reforms to be “[kicked] down the road”. The Archbishop said: “It will take courage to turn around social care, but it is time for this Coalition Government to step up to the challenge and give the gift of dignity and peace of mind to the frailest members of our society. “Furthermore, it is up to the opposition parties to put aside their own partisan interests and bring a cross-party consensus on such a crucial issue. “We need action now, not more posturing.” Michelle Mitchell, director general of Age UK, said: “Social care funding and reform will be a defining legacy issue for the Coalition Government. “It is now a year and a half since Andrew Dilnot published his recommendations for a sustainably funded social care system. “In this time, access to social care is getting harder. “The Government must act if it is support vulnerable older people their dignity and well-being precisely at the moment of their greatest need.” She said that, whether level the Coalition opted for, there must be an “affordable” cap care and a commitment to raising the means-tested threshold. “Older, vulnerable people cannot be left any longer at the mercy of a social care system that has been financially stripped to the bone,” she said. For more details please use the following link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/9754284/Archbishop-tells-Coalition-find-moral-courage-to-tackle-care-scandal.html

What your home means to you: Care & Repair England is collecting views up to the end of January 2013 Care & Repair England is asking older people what is especially important about their home. We will pull the views we collect together in a brochure which will be used with politicians and decision makers. This is a great opportunity for older people to tell decision makers directly how important housing is. We are asking older people’s groups and networks to distribute and collect postcards from older people which ask what is important about their home. If you would like to take part in the next 4 - 6 weeks then do add your comment below and we will send them all to Care & Repair England. Comments should start: "My home means…. *Care & Repair England is a national housing charity which believes that older people should have decent homes and be able to live where they choose.

The ‘sandwich generation’ who are forced to look after elderly relatives as well as support children will be given a helping hand as councils will be forced to provide support to cover respite holidays.

Under government plans, carers will be given legal entitlement to services that will help support them and their families, including the right to respite holidays, help with transport and training in caring. The details will be set out in a white paper due this month.

Ministers have raised concerns that people who care for relatives, regardless of age, are treated like ‘second-class citizens’.

Care services minister Paul Burstow told The Daily Telegraph that people who cared for older family members were being failed by the system.  ‘Carers are treated as second-class citizens compare to those whom they support,’ he said.

‘Yet if we don’t provide them with the right support they are unable to carry on with their caring responsibilities. One of the things I want to do is to place the rights of carers on a much firmer footing, so that the law recognises carers’ rights and their role in caring for others.’

The Law Commission has also recommended increasing services for carers that apply to all of those providing care in order to end the postcode lottery of support. The Law Commission’s recommendations are likely to form the basis of the white paper.

This could mean all carers and the people they care for would be given wellbeing assessments but any support is likely to be means-tested.

Around 1.25 million people spend more than 50 hours a week caring for family members.

The rising cost of care, which insurer LV= estimates will increase to £33,000 a year per person in 2025 from the current cost of £26,000 a year, means more people will be forced to care for relatives.

It also estimated a quarter of Britons expect an elderly relative to need care, with 7% of people planning to take on caring duties themselves to avoid paying the high costs.

I have just been chatting with Wendy who runs Chill4usCarers - you can find her useful website at http://chill4us.com Wendy says: "One of the biggest challenges facing a Carer today is a sense of isolation and social exclusion. Anyone can become a carer in an instant, nobody is immune, it’s not until it happens to YOU that caring for a sick or disabled loved one is understood and the everyday struggles a carer lives with 24/7, isolation and social exclusion is a big factor. Elderly citizens need care and respect but they don’t get it because they are classed as unprofitable. Yet they gave us the society we have today." Chill4usCarers is a friendly independent non profit voluntary organization with a constitution and committee, set up in 2002. It is Carers Week coming up soon - June 18 to 24, 2012. The theme for Carers Week in 2012 is ‘In sickness and in health’ recognising the strain families are under as they see services cut back. There are calls for better financial and practical support for the diverse range of people who have caring responsibilities. Carers Week is organised by a partnership of Age UK, Carers Trust, Carers UK, Independent Age, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, MS Society, and Parkinson’s UK. For more information please visit www.carersweek.org.

Experiences of Dementia Care Homes. We're a Channel 4 documentary production team interested in hearing from residents, relatives, and staff about their experiences of Dementia Care Homes. We are particularly interested in the following topics: - Prescription of anti-psychotics - Finding a Dementia Care home which can accommodate residents throughout the stages of their illness - Dementia Care training and standards. All communication will be treated as 'off the record' at this stage. Please get in touch with libby@hardcashproductions.com for more info. We have confirmed that DropBy will do all it can to help with the preparation of the documentary. The documentary hopes to have a big impact on the laws around Care Homes, but in order to do this the production company desperately need to reach as many people nationwide who are experiencing themselves the challenges of finding good long term care for their loved one. Please help if you can and pass on the information to others who might be interested in helping. Please ask them to mention DropBy if they do respond!

Extracts from a recent report: Carers have been telling us for many years that they feel the effect that caring has on their own health has gone largely unnoticed by health professionals -“ignored and invisible”. National studies, as well as the stories we hear from carers locally, indicate that caring can take a huge toll on a carer’s health, both physical, mental and emotional. The 2001 census updated in line with 2008 population projections indicates that in Surrey there were over 106,000 carers of all ages, which equates to: * 9.6% of the population. * 51,234 carers providing over 20 hours care a week (48% of the carers). * Of these, 32,021 provide over 35 hours a week (30% of carers) and 23,482 were providing 50 hours a week or more (22% of the carers). * Just over 60,000 carers reporting struggling to balance work and caring (57% of the total number of carer's). The 2001 census figures updated for population growth show that in the county there were just over 106,000 carers who save the public purse an estimated £1.595 billion a year. In the Carers’ Strategy of November 2010 Government allocated an additional £400m over four years (2011–14) to the NHS for primary care trusts (PCTs) in England to provide breaks for young and adult carers. The Government requested PCTs to work with local authorities and carers’ organisations to develop policies, plans and budgets to support carers and make provision available to local people. National Picture The Government has highlighted carers as a group experiencing health inequalities within their plans to promote public health . Evidence of comparative poor health of carers includes: • A four year study of 392 carers and 427 non-carers aged 66-92, which found that carers who were reporting feelings of strain had a 63% higher likelihood of death in that period than non-carers or carers not reporting strain; • Carers providing high levels of care being associated with a 23% higher risk of stroke; • 52% of carers providing substantial care in one study being treated for stress-related disorders. In another, over half the sample said they were in good health, but General Health Questionnaires (GHQs) indicated that 94% could be identified as having psychiatric disorders; • More than 80% of carers saying that their caring role has damaged their health; • Carers providing more than 50 hours of care per week are twice as likely to report ill-health as those not providing care. What Carers Asked For (in order of priority): • Carers Breaks, night time, weekend, palliative care trained staff • Health Checks often referred to as MOT’s • Counselling services, including bereavement, future planning, and emotional support. • More Training in the Disease/Condition of the cared for person, and back care. • Recognised and valued as carer during Hospital Discharge • Flexible appointments with GP. • Support from Employers. • Access to leisure activities, including sports centres, pampering days. According to Carers UK report 2004 ‘In poor health’: Carers are twice as likely to suffer from mental ill health if they do not get a break from caring. Carers should not have to ignore personal health concerns and needs because their caring role does not allow time to address them. The services and support available to carers should be such as to enable them to stay as mentally and physically well as possible throughout their caring role. (DH, 2009:20) The three key areas of importance to Surrey carers were: • Carer Respite including evening, weekend and overnight respite with palliative care trained staff • Counselling. This could be divided up between bereavement, emotional support and future planning especially for parent carers, Stress and anger management training were also cited. • Annual health checks often referred to as annual MOT’s Carer quote ‘Yes we have the GP projects but the basic problem in every day practice is that Carers remain ignored and our role is not universally respected. Carers can be seen as trouble makers and people who deny patients their privacy and rights. The fact that Carers provide the lion’s share of the care has been missed and we have not to date been seen as an essential part of the network of care – often the only care!’ Quotes from Carers Counselling, counselling! A support network is vital…… talking to those who care to be bothered No time to attend appointments nowhere to leave my disabled child Some counselling for parents of disabled children is desperately needed. I have tried for years to access this through my GP with no success. I wouldn’t ask for it if I didn’t think I needed it. But because I’m generally competent all together, efficient sort of person (because I have to be) no one knows how it feels to be a parent of a disabled child every day…… and one day I might go over the edge, but where would that leave my child? Had to give up job, employer not sympathetic Can’t afford to attend dentist – local dentist private no NHS dentist near enough I have sacrificed my career, health and marriage and financial security by being a carer for my son No energy permanently tired and short tempered For my needs to be taken seriously before I commit suicide or put M into care Need help preparing for the worst i.e. Death and bereavement counselling My main anxiety is focused on when we are no longer around I need help with the district nurse calling to do blood tests as I’m currently taking warfarin. The GP surgery is saying that as I am mobile I must attend the surgery for these tests. I cannot leave my husband unattended. He has severe Parkinson’s People with severe difficulties are often bad tempered and aggressive. This can be the worst part of being a carer to be made to feel worthless by the person you love. I have arthritis in my neck and knees and spine, which has obviously got a lot worse since caring for my wheelchair bound husband I have been caring for 31 years I am getting very tired. Get rid of my husband! He is doubly incontinent and I get no help Being a male carer I’ve been ridiculed for living with my mother, which I didn’t bargain for. I am angry but I’ll do my best by her. My employer hasn’t helped and increased my hours. I need more respite and one million pounds in my bank account see what you can do please! I feel that once initial fire fighting is over the NHS loses track. No one seems to check up on our well-being. As always it’s up to us to be pro active I am the walking dead I have been made to feel as a waste of space There is no light at the end of the tunnel Health Checks 4.11 The Government is committed to the future of the national NHS Health Check programme. As part of the programme, 40 to 74 year olds will be offered a free NHS Health Check that will help carers, among others, stay well for longer. Everyone receiving an NHS Health Check will receive a personal assessment and individually tailored advice and support to help them manage their risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The assessment can be carried out locally and in a variety of settings, including pharmacy and community settings, to help to ensure that the service is accessible to all those eligible, including carers who may find it more difficult to access some health services. Carers should be encouraged to take up their offers of a free NHS Health Check when they receive them. 4.12 The carers’ demonstrator sites focusing on health and well-being checks are testing different ways of reaching out to carers, including those in ethnic minority communities, and offering structured consultations to discuss their own health and well-being. The final report from the independent evaluation of the demonstrator sites, particularly around accessibility for carers, will be fed into the on-going policy considerations for the NHS Health Check programme. According to the DH evaluation of the National Carers Strategy Demonstrator Sites Programme, four months after the check about a quarter of respondents felt the way they looked after themselves, took care of their health, and the exercise they took had improved. Of the almost 2 million people aged 16-74 who are permanently sick or disabled, 273,000 provide some unpaid care for other people and 105,000 provide 50 or more hours care. Furthermore, the Supporting Carers: An Action Guide for General Practitioners and their Teams, 2008 highlighted the following statistics: • More than 80% of carers say that caring has damaged their health. • Out of all carers caring for more than 50 hours a week, one third report depression, a half report disturbed sleep and 25% report back and other strains. • The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity is significantly higher in those who care for others in their own home. End of Life (EOL) Carers Support National EOL Intelligence Network Report Feb 2011 indicates that 60% of people would choose to die at home; but only 21% do. Where an end of life care service has been available, this has resulted in more people dying at home because the carer has felt supported. In line with ‘Supporting people to live and die well: A framework for social care at the end of life’ (DH NEOLCP 2011) it is a key priority for Surrey that we deliver high quality end of life (EOL) care and support to people approaching EOL and their carers, to allow them to live and die well in the place of their choice. As part of the wider National End of Life Strategy, NHS Surrey in partnership with Crossroads Care Surrey has developed an EOL carers’ support service, providing palliative care trained staff. The service is designed to ensure that the provision of breaks services, funded in line with the National Carers Strategy, is accessible to carers in "End of life situations”. The aim of this new service, which will be available to all carers, is to address the need, highlighted in the End of Life Care Strategy and in ‘Healthier People, Excellent Care’, to support carers and patients, enabling them ‘to choose where they die and not be admitted to hospital in the last days of life, if that is their preference’. This service is being rolled out across Surrey from November 2011 and is funded by NHS Surrey on an annual basis via a Surrey County Council grant. The funding is for £300,000 annually.