Wednesday, 16 December 2009

A Copenhagen for the ageing crisis?

Short moan. This past couple of years I've been at quite a few events about social policy and older people, and on each occasion conscientiously made a point from the floor about the ageing population and the looming crisis of informal care. I've written to people in think tanks and the Guardian and so on, and blogged about it. Policy concerning older people in this country is largely concerned with pensions and benefits, and those themes dominate the debates and the thinking.

Back in July I sounded more patient, referring to

'the simmering question of quite when policy will get hold of the issue of informal social care and start to do something about it. Given the difficulty I had in getting the ageing agencies interested in neighbouring I'm not sure where the impetus is going to come from.'

Just for reference and as an indicator, the recent government consultation on the Ageing Strategy had just two questions in the section (ch.8) on communities and neighbourhoods:

Q9. When you stopped driving, what helped you stay mobile and active in your community? What options would have helped?

Q10. We want to improve attitudes towards ageing across society. What more could be done to challenge outdated stereotypes and tackle negative perceptions about being old? Can you share good examples of where this is already happening in your local community?

I'd feel even more disillusioned if it weren't for the fact that in the Netherlands they're doing something about it, running several pilot projects on how to stimulate informal support at local level, and I'm lucky enough to be involved in that work. In the UK, policy blindness to this growing crisis is a disgrace.

End of moan, for the time being, because here's Jackie Ashley in the Guardian with more influence, arguing that 'It could be as serious a threat as climate change, yet so far politicians have barely considered what needs to be done about our ageing population.'

How long will the politicians leave it before any Copenhagen-style twelfth hour consideration, I wonder?

16 Dec 2009 21:45:18 | Informal support, Older people

1 Comment

Couldn't agree more. The forthcoming White Paper on care funding, and the Age UK Agenda for Later Life conference in March is a start, but we need to take a global approach to addressing ageing as it is a global issue.

Posted by: Caroline Bernard | Thursday, 17 December 2009 at 09:52

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Kevin Harris

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