The College of Occupational Therapists34th Annual Conference and Exhibition

22-25 June 2010

Brighton

Preparing to Live Longer

Heléna HerklotsServices Director Age UK

Age UK

Vision:A world in which older people flourish

Mission:To improve the lives of older people

Organisation:A charity and a social enterprise driven by the needs and aspirations of people in later life

Age UK

Campaigning for change

Providing information and advice

Carrying out research

Providing products and services for people in later life

Supporting local groups

Developing our shops

Working internationally

Living Longer

There are now more people in the UK aged 60 and above than there are under 18

The number of people over 85 in the UK is predicted to double in the next 20 years and nearly treble in the next 30

Over 1.3 million people are aged 85 or over

People aged 65 have an average life expectancy of 82 -85 years, the last 7 – 9 years with a disability

Living Longer

One in four children born today will live to 100

For each day that we live, our life expectancy is extending by about 5 hours

Transformational change affecting every part of our lives

How is our society changing?

Politics - Party manifestos; commitments; Coalition Government

Culture- media and ageism; poetry, music, literature and art

Environment - transport; design; accessibility

Work - ending Mandatory Retirement Ages; flexible working

Advertising and shopping – the ‘grey consumer’

The General Election – wins for people in later life?

• Top level commitments to keep winter fuel payments and bus passes

• Restoration of the link between pensions and earnings from April 2011, with a ‘triple guarantee’ that pensions will rise by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5%

• Phasing out the default retirement age and holding a review to set the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66

• An agreement that NHS funding should rise in real terms in each year of the current Parliament

Areas of Contention: • Social care reform • State pension age• CUTS

The legislative Programme:

Social Care Commission Bill

Establish a Commission on a sustainable structure of funding for long term care

Welfare Reform Bill

Make the benefits system less complex; improve incentives to work; increase the number of people currently on benefits who move into work; reduce the scope for benefit fraud and error

Health Bill

Create a healthcare system which: is led by clinical decision makers; responsive to patients; drives up standards of care and focuses more on patients

Decentralisation and Localism Bill

Empower local people; free local government from central and regional control; give communities a share in local economic growth; create a more efficient and locally controlled planning system

Many challenges…

Improving access and quality of care and support

Housing built to Lifetime standards

Health promotion in the face of budget restrictions

Alleviating isolation and isolation; improving wellbeing

Helping people keep up with new technology

Helping people out of poverty; keeping people out of poverty

National Falls Awareness Week, 21-25 June 2010

NICE Guidance

Occupational therapy interventions and physical activity interventions to promote the mental wellbeing of older people in primary and residential care. 2008

Practical recommendations

Importance of information and advice

Physical activity programmes

Evidence from Partnerships for Older People projects (POPPs)

fit as a fiddle – Norma, nominated for Volunteer of the Year

fit as a fiddle - West Midlands, Coventry, West Indian Centre, gentle exercise class

fit as a fiddle – Active NetworksDancing in the South East

fit as a fiddle - East Midlands Nordic Walking Now self-sufficient with YMCA support

Preparing to live longer - together

Information and advice

Personalisation

Championing occupational therapy

Promoting wellbeing

If I’d have known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.

Eubie Blake, composer.

1883 - 1983

Age UK

Website

www.ageuk.org.uk