Politicians have been talking a lot about the family recently. But it often appears they have a restricted view of what the family is - 2 generations; parents and young children. There's very little evidence of serious detailed policy consideration or priority being given to older people. This is bad policy and bad politics.
The first baby boomers are going to be 64 this year. As the Beatles sang, so we as a society need to ask ourselves: "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" - although with longevity I would add another 20 years and ask what's our policy to show 84 year olds that we still need them, value them, and will care for and feed them?
I have blogged before about the impact of ageing and dementia care. Although we don't think about it very much, more people are dying too now; the 30-year downward trend in numbers of deaths is being reversed. Technology has enabled us to postpone death not cancel it. This will contribute to the pressures on the system. At a time of limited resources we need to think openly, clearly and creatively about what sort of future we want for ourselves when we get older, and make sure we change things to give the same opportunities to older people now. The way we care for people at and approaching the end of life is a litmus test for our worth as a society. We are too often failing it at the moment.
I will post more in due course about this. in the meantime, do read this article by Alice Thomson, which puts this really well.
