“A Health Ladder” First Step

Posted on January 15, 2013 by john graham

The focus of institutional health care is ill-health.    Going to the doctor is not a trip in the park.    It is not a pleasant day out; because you don’t know what lies ahead.

Let’s turn all that on its head and take a step on the health ladder.    This is not “medical” advice, it is about well-being.    Your own well-being.    What makes you feel better?

  • Small steps
  • A breath of fresh air

This is rambling writing  🙂     go to the garden gate,  meet someone,  greet someone.

Because I am looking for the first step for me.    It will be different for you.

Let’s take stock.

How healthy am I ?    I can walk and I can talk.    I could do with losing weight and being a bit fitter.    My New Year’s Resolutions last year, the year before and several years before didn’t work.    So let’s make a gentler plan.

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Posted in HEALTH | Tagged | 2 Comments

Future of Sheltered Housing

Posted on January 13, 2013 by john graham

The 1960’s, 70’s and 8o’s saw the birth and big expansion of sheltered housing initially led by Local Authorities and Housing Associations.    Quickly followed by McCarthy and Stone and others in the private sector.    It was seen as a response to the increasing number of older people who needed a limited degree of support mainly in the absence of close family or friends.    The support was usually in the form of an on-site warden or “good neighbour”.   This form of housing has stood the test of time and provides a good option for many elderly people to this day.

However, expectations have risen in the last 50 years, particularly in relation to space standards and accessibility for disabled people.    Bedsits which may have been acceptable  in the 1960’s are now difficult-to-let.    Modifications to overcome these issues are expensive and not always possible.

At the very time when more retirement housing is required, Local Authorities are contemplating closure of some of their schemes.    Alternatively they are considering lowering the age limit for entry, which could well lead to some real “bad neighbour ” problems.

The regional press regularly carry stories of residents worrying about the possible “reconfiguration” of their schemes.   Just this week there are reports of both Rugby in Warwickshire and several schemes in Suffolk being considered for “de-sheltering”.      This is no doubt only the start of a much bigger transformation to come.

However closure of housing that was only built 50 or 60 years ago, should be the last resort.   There is no question that the concept of sheltered housing needs to be  brought up to date with the use of more flexible support services and improved accommodation, but it still remains a good option for independent living.   It allows people to down-size from family homes and for home owners to release some equity for their retirement.

Independent living still remains the first preference for most elderly people and we should try to accommodate that.

Posted in RETIREMENT HOUSING | 2 Comments

“Stepping on a Retirement Snake”

Posted on January 10, 2013 by john graham

(For earlier blogs on this subject, click in the TAG CLOUD on “BEFUDDLED”)

  • Stepping on a snake is easy.
  • It requires no courage.
  • Sometimes it is just happenstance.
  • Mainly, the snakes are the excuses in your mind,
  • That put off things until tomorrow,
  • And then the day after.
  • Until a molehill becomes a mountain.
  • Snakes are the gradual putting on of weight as comfort eating becomes a habit.
  • Accumulating things until the excess becomes clutter.
  • Putting off that phone call to a friend until it is too long ago to call.
  • There are thousands more excuses.
  • Each of our own making.
  • Snakes can become a habit.
  • Habits can be broken, not by grand gesture New Year resolutions.
  • By reversing the direction in small steps and then another and another.
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“Stepping on a Retirement Ladder”

Posted on January 8, 2013 by john graham

(For earlier blogs on this subject, click in the TAG CLOUD on “BEFUDDLED”)

  • Finding ladders is the first step to a Happier, Healthier Retirement.
  • Feeling safe about the ladder is the next.
  • Getting on the first rung is easy  —- but we don’t.
  • A coach would be nice to build confidence.
  • Seeing others go first helps.
  • Being encouraged along the way helps.
  • That’s why loneliness and isolation is a barrier to ladder stepping.
  • It is why we join clubs for mutual encouragement and support.
  • A social dimention that bonds confidence and restores values.
  • So don’t just look for ladders      —–      look for help.
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“Mixed Bag”

Posted on January 6, 2013 by john graham

50 is  magic number at the Royal Mail:-

  • 50 is the number of bits of junk mail sent to all 29 million addresses in Britain every year.
  • That represents 50% of all the 54 million items of daily post.
  • 50 pence is now the cost of a second class stamp!

It is hard to know whether to grumble about the junk mail or smile about the ridiculous situation the postal service is now in.

Delivering millions of unwanted letters, which go indirectly from forest to fireplace.

There again, without all the junk mail, we would probably find our second class postage stamps would probably cost twice, thrice or even 50 times as much.

P.s     The £1.1 million a year salary of Ms Moya Greene, Chief Executive of the Royal Mail,  is what qualifies her to reassure us that 5o pence for a second glass stamp is a bargain.   I guess the elderly won’t be sending out quite so many Christmas cards this year, at this new cheap rate !

P.p.s     In a quiet and almost unpublicised move, the Government, on our behalf, has taken on responsibility for the Royal Mail Pension fund.   Sounds like a great deal – to gain £28.5 billion of assets taxpayers took on £37.6 billion of liabilities.

In a time of such austerity it is hard to see how this makes much financial sense – unless – you have a grand plan to sell off the postal service.

P.p.p.s     You can, in theory, reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by registering with the mailing preference service.   Let’s hope it is more effective than the telephone preference service.

(For earlier blogs on this subject, click in the TAG CLOUD on “GRUMBLESMILES POST”)

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“An Unholy Trinity”

Posted on January 1, 2013 by john graham

The Trinity is a sacred alliance that stands up for good over evil.   The end of a life should be the celebration of all that has been good in a person’s lifetime.   There are positive things to draw out of every person given birth on this earth.   Lost in the past sometimes, but worthy of thanks nonetheless.   That is why life is sacred – a gift given by God only to be taken away by God.

FIRSTLY, I have regularly been blogging since 2010 about assisted dying (see “The Slippery Slope” in the TAG CLOUD).    A euphemism for euthanasia.  A well argued case by Debbie Purdy reignited the debate (see “Lucy Died Today” dated 22 March 2010 in the Archive).    Debbie’s arguments were based on the practical reality of chronic illness and the wisdom of planning ahead.   I have always been worried that although the merits of individual cases have been extremely well argued, turning them into precedents leads us on to a perilous slippery slope.

SECONDLY, the more recent  and disturbing headlines have been about the increasing promotion and use of a care planning tool – called the “Liverpool Care Pathway”.   This well intended approach was designed for use as a pain management process in a highly controlled and caring hospice environment for those with a diagnosed terminal illness.  Each word of this specification is critically important and was not meant to be loosely or casually interpreted.   Neither should it be a  basis for hasty decisions which exclude relatives.

THIRDLY, in the last two years the boundaries of these two clearly thought out positions have been blurred.   It’s the extrapolation into the wider domain of the hard-pressed, cash-strapped, bed-blocked, express delivery NHS that takes on a much more dangerous complexion.

I have written throughout my GrumbleSmiles blog about a host of reports over the last two years referring to care of the elderly and the NHS (click on “Neglect Shames Britain” in the TAG CLOUD).   Dehydration and malnutrition in the NHS have become recurrent features of care of older people in these reports.   There is no grand plan here.   Nobody took a clear decision and nobody now takes responsibility.   “Nil by mouth” has become the “Black Death” mark at the bottom of the hospital bed.   The unwritten, unspoken sign that an elderly burden on society may be too great a cross to bear.

It’s frightening and almost unthinkable to imagine that we may have inadvertently developed a new policy for almost two-thirds of the people who enter our hospitals.

A carefully planned approach to later life and a caring, compassionate end to life has emerged as an ugly monster of neglect.

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Posted in Assisted Suicide, HEALTH | Tagged , | 2 Comments

“Befuddled” 2

Posted on November 6, 2012 by john graham

(This is a continuation of my “Befuddled 1” blog.  You can find it by clicking on the archive on November 2012.)

Now we come to “Care of the Elderly” which surely should be one of the first duties of a civilised society.  So how are we doing in this “Befuddled” era:-

  • Upset – by hospital care  which is overwhelmed by the complexity of chronic illness in later life.
  • Confused – into adopting the “Liverpool Care Pathway”, which has become a death-line and deathknell for the elderly entering the NHS.
  • Bamboozled – by residential care which has become a warehouse not a shelter and a financial minefield for uncaring investors.
  • Confounded – by domiciliary care which is a licence for 5 minute-quick fix-pizza delivery support, without the pizza.
  • Discombobulated – by the Dilnot report which was intended to put an end to the uncertainty of high care costs, but in fact proved too high a cost to pay.  So the uncertainty remains.

No wonder I’m befuddled.   In this new world of over populated retirement, there seems to be more snakes than ladders.   More Grumbles than Smiles.

Whatever happened to retirement as a time for leisure and pleasure?   An opportunity lost for relaxation and release from responsibilities?   If we are not careful we – the elderly – could become a burden on ourselves and others. Sliding down the slippery slope of the snakes of ill-health and no wealth.   Unhappy and isolated in our empty castles with no future to look forward to.   Just a quiet long wave goodbye to life.

Befuddled is not good, the elderly deserve a clear and positive vision of later life.     It looks like we will need to identify the way forward for ourselves.

Posted in ELDERLY UK POLICY | Tagged | 3 Comments

“Befuddled” 1

Posted on November 4, 2012 by john graham

Since I have returned from my summer holiday, I have to admit my blog has stalled.    I can’t seem to find the Grumbles to turn into Smiles.    Sure enough there are still plenty of grumbles out there — the newspapers abound with articles about the plight of the elderly; stories keep being repeated about poor quality care and the paucity of pensions —- but little seems to change.

When thinking about this country’s strategies for older people, the word “befuddled” came into my head from nowhere.    I was not even sure what it meant, so I googled it.  Then I realised it was entirely appropriate to current situation with the lack of a clear social policy toward the elderly.

Here are a few synonyms for “befuddled” and how they resonate for the elderly :-

  • Bewildered – by the failure to take off of equity release schemes.   Which could be a pot of gold at the end of the later life rainbow, but look more like minefields.
  • Baffled – by pensions and annuities which never seem appealing in youthful years, but are a lifeline in retirement.  Albeit an ever-shortening lifeline.
  • Perplexed – by the get-rich-quick, buy-one-get-one-free culture of today.  What happened to saving for a rainy day?
  • Dazed – by ever rising energy costs.   Somehow our North Sea oil bonanza has disappeared without bringing cost down and now windmills are springing up everywhere.
  • flummoxed – by computers which should be making my life simpler but in reality for the majority of older people, make more and more things unfathomable, especially when they break down.
  • Puzzled – by the internet which simultaneously opens up a new world of opportunity and chaos.

SNAKESpt2

There’s more to follow

Posted in ELDERLY UK POLICY, GRUMBLES | Tagged | 1 Comment

Money under the Mattress

Posted on November 2, 2012 by john graham

Only a few months ago I was writing about how older people are getting left behind by new technology. (Click on the 2 sept 2012 in the Archive)

Now a report by The Payments Council has highlighted the difficulties older people have in using ATM machines, payment terminals, on-line banking and internet shopping.    Difficulties with small buttons, small print, differing data entry processes and remembering passwords all mean that life is getting harder not easier in terms of managing your money.   This is quite the opposite of the situation for todays younger generation.   Many of them do almost all of their shopping on-line and probably never go into a bank or rarely use cash.    So in their head-long pursuit of the modern world and the youth market, the banks are leaving the grey market far behind.

Since there is virtually no interest paid on accounts these days, it may be best for grannies and granddads to put their money under the mattress   🙂

Posted in Grey Products, GRUMBLES | Tagged | 1 Comment

“Pension Crystal Ball” 3

Posted on October 18, 2012 by john graham

When you’re young you barely know what a pension is and you certainly don’t stop long to think about it.   That is one reason why the majority of younger people don’t join a pension scheme.   Luckily in my day, starting out on a career, many employers still had a paternalistic outlook and promoted the value of their pension schemes as well as making their own contribution.   It was a strong encouragement to join.

Over the last few blogs I have been writing about pensions – (see “PENSION CRYSTAL BALL” by clicking on it in the TAG CLOUD) –  prompted by the Government’s seemingly paternalistic move to auto-enrol people in their new NEST pension scheme.   I am generally supportive of this approach – it is essential for the young to start saving early for their retirement even though it is a low priority in their carefree years.

However, if I knew little about pensions when I was young, I certainly did not know what an annuity was.   Given the almost total demise of final salary pension schemes, an annuity becomes a key word in your retirement vocabulary.   Yet the Government has been very quiet about annuities, while at the same time advertising their new pension scheme on the tele.   This is not quite so paternalistic.

An annuity is the way you convert your hard-earned savings – albeit tax-free – into an annual payment for the rest of your life.   Once again, the Government is giving with one hand and taking away with the other.   Annuity rates have been falling dramatically, initially driven down by the increased longevity of people.   More recently though, it is because of the Government’s £375 billion licence to print money — called quantative easing —  i.e. we are borrowing more to pay back all he money we have borrowed ??????  Economics is a wonderful world of smoke and mirrors.

Annuities have fallen 20% in the last three years, just as 800,000 baby boomers are about to retire.   Now you know why you need

A CRYSTAL BALL

Posted in Pensions | Tagged | 1 Comment