Author Archives: Michelle Mitchell

Attitudes to ageing

Posted on May 3, 2013 | 8 Comments

With an ageing population and increasing numbers of us living in to late old age, attitudes to later life have never been more relevant. At the same time, our straitened economic position and pressures on public services to meet financial challenges whilst providing for these growing numbers of over 6os, means the debate often hinges on economic and political issues.

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The ‘burden’ of our ageing population is frequently stressed, accompanied by an emphasis on inequalities between generations that incite division.

Yet, one of the strongest messages to come out of a session I chaired last week at Age UK’s For Later Life conference was that the media furore on the ‘burden of ageing’ is not reflected in public attitudes.

No satisfaction

Ben Page of Ipsos Mori revealed polling showing that 68% of people aren’t satisfied with the Government’s treatment of older people and that care for the elderly is consistently amongst the top three scoring issues of concern to people of all ages.

I believe this polling strikes at the heart of the debate about attitudes to later life, illustrating the gap between political and media rhetoric and the views of the individual. But why is there such a gap? How do we form our attitudes to later life? And are they showing signs of changing, heralding strains on intergenerational relations? Continue reading →

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Posted in Conferences, General

Tagged #forlaterlife, Age UK, Age UK blog, Ageing, ageing population, ageing society, Agenda for Later Life, Agenda for Later Life 2013 report, attitudes to ageing, Ben Page Ipsos Mori, For Later Life conference, Government & society, intergen, intergenerational, intergenerational conflict, Ipsos Mori, Later life, Michelle Mitchell Age UK, Michelle Mitchell Charity Director General, older people, public attitudes, Public attitudes to later life

Wising up to what works

Posted on March 25, 2013 | 13 Comments

We are faced with unprecedented ageing. Those over 85 will reach 2.8 million by 2030, a doubling of present numbers. Such numbers are enough to raise panic in the Treasury, if the prevailing scenarios of cost are to be believed.

Conversely, I have always thought that we should celebrate our increased longevity as an enormous success story for society. I have been encouraged in my belief by the increasing evidence of the contribution that older people make and the progress that is being made, albeit slowly, in reducing the years we spend in ill health.

Speaking recently with media I was struck by the number of presenters who, like me, concluded that ‘we’re not really ready for this, are we?’ It is one thing to age and another to age well, but the revolution in longevity is going to completely re-structure society.

We will need new solutions, new approaches and most of all new evidence on what truly works. Simply increasing expenditure in itself is not an option because there is little evidence that much – some would say any – of what we do is cost-effective. Consider the escalating NHS budget: £43.5bn in 1988; £64bn in 1998 and a staggering £120bn (8% of GDP) in 2008 – without any corresponding reduction in demand or focus on outcomes.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Health, Health and Wellbeing, Research

Tagged #ageingbetter, #BIGlf, @BigLotteryFund, Age UK, Age UK blog, Ageing, ageing society, BIG, Big Lottery, Big Lottery Fund, centre of excellence, Centre of Excellence on Ageing Better, Fulfilling Lives Ageing Better, Health, Health & wellbeing, Michelle Mitchell Age UK, Michelle Mitchell Charity Director General, NHS, NICE, older people, research, social care, UK Cochrane Centre

Older women and care: are they invisible to the sisterhood?

Posted on March 8, 2013 | 4 Comments

This blog is an edited version of an article appearing in the International Longevity Centre’s Compendium on Older Women, published for International Women’s Day.

As women, we outlive men in nearly all parts of the world, outnumbering our male counterparts across the globe by 100 million. But though we live longer than men and are stronger in number, we are also likely to spend more years in poor health.

This is reflected in the gender profile of users of health and social care. Across OECD countries ¾ of long-term care users are women. Older women are therefore disproportionately affected by inadequacies of care and support.

Paradoxically, though, older women are also the main providers of care. Across OECD countries 2/3 of informal carers aged 50+ are female. In developing countries, in addition to informal care, a significant amount of the care older women provide is as a grandparent to children whose parents have migrated or have been killed by HIV/AIDS or conflict. Continue reading →

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Posted in General, Health, Home and Care, Social care

Tagged Health & wellbeing, Care, Communities & inclusion, older people, Age UK, social care, poverty, pensions, ageing society, Health and Social Care, Care in Crisis, Health, Ageing, women, #careincrisis, intergenerational, carers, #carecantwait, Age UK blog, international women's day, #IWD, @womensday, feminism

UK life reimagined

Posted on February 9, 2013 | 1 Comment

A demographic revolution is under way, with more of us living longer than ever before. Fifty years ago there were nearly 20 million people in the world age 80 or over; now that figure stands at about 105 million, and it’s rising fast. Many – though not enough – of our older population are in good health and will retire with a decent income and a strong social network, and many have much to offer society.

The timing of the debate around the aging population in the UK is then perhaps unfortunate, held as it is against a backdrop of a beleaguered economy. Since the Coalition Government came to power we have seen cuts to government services and working-age benefits and a further £10 billion reduction in welfare to come. Against this context there is a perception that older people have fared better than most other groups but media commentary suggesting that today’s older people belong to “the lucky generation” obscure the enormous variations that exist. This is particularly stark in terms of poverty and wealth – fewer than half of all retirees have an income big enough to pay income tax. Older people’s median income levels remain lower than those of the population as a whole. Continue reading →