The Impact of Age on Health and Well-Being in the United Kingdom - Coursework Example

Running head: THE IMPACT OF AGE The Impact of Age on Health and Well-Being in the United Kingdom Introduction Health and well-being as it pertains to the stability of a culture is undeniable. Age as it affects health and well-being is also a given, one that can not be ignored by the government, its agencies and caregivers if the society is to maintain a level of civility and responsibility to its aging population. A study of the impact of age on health services in the UK foreshadows a disturbing trend toward a diminishment of services and heightened expectations for those of retirement age many say will result in an underserved, unappreciated and overworked aging population over the age of sixty-five. The truth of this, and what health professionals can do to counter its impact is examined here as a serious issue requiring serious attention and solution. Aging, Health and Budgetary Pressures In the United Kingdom, newly released statistics on aging give pause and present a picture of a society in need of reassessment of its health policies toward the aged. Nearly a fifth of people living in the UK today are expected to celebrate their 100th birthday, the Government has predicted. More than 10 million of the UKs current residents, the equivalent of 17% of the population, are expected to live until they are at least 100, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).Three million of these are currently aged under 16, while 5.5 million are between 16 and 50 and 1.3 million are between 51 and 65. A further 875,000 of the projected centenarians are aged over 65 and already retired. It is estimated that by 2066 there will be at least 507,000 people in the UK aged 100 or over, including 7,700 super centenarians who are aged 110 or over. The figure is well up on the 11,800 people in the UK who are currently at least 100, while there are less than 100 people who are aged more than 110.The number of people aged over 100 is expected to nearly double between 2030 and 2035, when it is projected there will be 97,300 centenarians in the UK. It is then expected to more than double again during the next decade, to stand at 202,100 by 2045.The DWP projects that by 2080, there could be 626,900 people in the UK aged 100 or more, 21,000 of whom will be at least 110. (Press Association, ‘A Fifth Will…’ 2010: par. 1-7) The first thought that comes to mind when reading such statistics obviously concerns the UK’s ability to fund appropriate care under its current national health care system into the future, particularly considering current economic woes being felt on a global level. Recent protests have forced HM Treasury Chancellor George Osborne to confront the reality of budget in health services for the aged. It is predicted that 77 percent of 650,000 people average ages of sixty to eighty who rely on home care to remain independent will loose vital home based services. (Age UK, George Osborne… 2010) The result of these cuts will be many and disturbing, leaving many older people, particularly over age seventy and in debilitated health, isolated and open to neglect that would lead to further failing health and even premature death. Supporting this contention AgeUK Charity Director Michelle Mitchell cites a shocking statistic. ‘Our research shows that after four years of spending cuts, local councils will only be able to afford care at home for one in four of the older people…’ (AgeUK, George Osborne…par. 6). Yet the impact of a growing aging population on health care versus the nation’s ability to provide services can not be denied or ignored. Discussions surrounding funding for health programs for those over sixty-five are ongoing, and the question as to whether it is fair that health care take a larger hit than other targets in the attempt to cut stressed budgets is a valid one. Citing drops in GDP in the UK, it is argued that something must be done. That health programs for the aged should be unduly targeted seems a flimsy argument when carefully considered. Concerns over the growing number of aging baby boomers born in the 1950s, and the country’s economic inability to keep pace with their health needs have been suggested for some time. However, questions arise as to whether the push for health care reform is just another way of limiting services considered non-essential. Do spending preferences under reforms actually reflect the needs of society? Flood (2000) asks, ‘Why are we not similarly concerned that we are spending increasing amounts on telecommunications services, cable television, computer products, or novelty toys?’ (2)—a good point that suggests perhaps the UK is less concerned with elderly people and their needs than material considerations. The impact of this type of thinking on the needs of the aged within a society certainly casts serious doubts upon its [the nation’s] priorities as a civilized, modern state. Factors other than a cut in health services will also most certainly affect the aging population’s health and well-being. The Press Association (Fuel Poverty…2010) in discussing the effects of fuel cost hikes in the UK report that stark rises in costs have forced families and particularly people of retirement age, even if working, to spend more than 10 percent of their income on heating costs. The affect of this on the retirement population with limited income will certainly be devastating, placing ‘3.5 million older people in fuel poverty. And this figure could rise even further under the combined pressure of soaring energy bills and plummeting temperatures (Press Association, Fuel Poverty…2010). The elderly decision to reduce heat to save money has two consequences: a rise in health issues resulting from ill heated homes, which will be costly to health services; or, and difficult to consider, a rise in death rates if health services are not available to those affected. An even more dire impact of the situation on the aging in relationship to health, particularly to well-being, presents itself in proposed reforms that would rise the retirement age. This combined with the proposal that individuals be expected to cover more of their own health costs is likely to result in increased poverty, which in turn historically results in fewer doctor and clinic visits as a cost saving measure for those who are ill. There is however light at the end of the tunnel, since In 2006 the UK government introduced the Employment Equality [Age] Regulations that allowed employers to force staff to retire at age 65 without having to justify their decision. This law was challenged repeatedly in the counts as discriminatory and ageist. Now that the government plans to scrape the Law, people over 65 can maintain their positions and, while becoming less of a burden on the budget will also be able to support themselves thus helping in an offhanded way to get the pension fund get back in better financial condition. On the other hand, a projected rise in the official retirement age to 70 may have an opposing negative effect in that people unable because of health restrictions and the normal limitations of aging to work, will be forced to do so, probably at menial jobs, to subsidize living expenses while awaiting pensions. The discriminatory factors involved in this situation are obvious, since many of the aging pensioners have paid into the fund expecting to retire at 65. Discrimination Against the Elderly The elderly from fifty-five to seventy and older meet with discrimination in all aspects of society from the domestic to nursing homes. In their personal lives discrimination often leads to violence at the hands of an ‘Unscrupulous individualism...[that concludes the elderly person] ‘is somehow behaving in a detrimental way to society by living a long life!’ (Violence Toward the Elderly...no date: Forward). Shockingly, the abuse comes from everyone from “loved ones” to employers and for our study, from professional caregivers on the highest level. ‘Accusations that doctors are allowing people over retirement age to die have been met with outrage. The charity Age Concern says some doctors do not attempt to revive elderly patients when they fall unconscious while in hospital’ (Elderly Discrimination, 2000: par. 1-2). ‘Incidents ranged from undignified treatment in hospital to denial of drugs and neglect of the needs of those who are unable to express themselves because of dementia’ (Elderly Discrimination, 2000: par. 5) Much of the discrimination in these types of extreme situation has to do with what appears to be less virulent forms as discussed above, but more of what Harriet Harmon, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Hough (2010) calls the plight of the ‘wellderly’, or the notion that once people are over sixty they can no longer play a major role in society and are essentially expected to ‘tread[ing] water until you become frail and dependent’ Beyond the obvious discrimination of violence in public nursing homes, nd discrimination such as that mentioned above which essentially stems to productive tide of the elderly--relegating them to one-dimensional lives of boredom and uselessness--there lay hidden the more insidious societal discrimination that pervades the NHS, as lately discovered designations on patient charts forbidding resuscitation. Diminishment of social services and home visits because of budget cuts are undoubtedly masking discrimination and often violence against the elderly by their families and health workers alike. In summary, UK agencies and people over retirement age are now fighting against discrimination on all levels [ageism], whether pensioners are denied NHS treatment, credit cards, travel insurance or even car hire because of their age. Complaints of pensioners being patronised and ignored by health professionals, denied jobs or insurance they were entitled to several years before will not longer be tolerated under new Equality Laws. Challenges for Professional Practice As requested in the essay assignment, a discussion of the challenges proposed by the above realities are many and must be met head on by the aging population, the government and health service professionals. As professionals it is important to keep services available to those who need them in the face of cuts to health services to those over sixty-five. In the process of accomplishing this, it is undoubtedly important to utilize both new and established social networking processes, including groups and individuals involved in the social lives of the elderly. One of these groups, The Third Age Trust, a national representative body for the Universities of Third Age (U3As) in the UK, is a self-help, self-managed lifelong learning co-operatives for older people. The organisation, among other benefits, provides opportunities for its members to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups and to pursue learning not for qualifications, but for fun. Since many health problems in aging involve isolation, it is there that social networks, or what Hummert et al (2001) calls the ‘multi-party perspective’, can aid in a care model driven by communication between the individual, family members and social groups for the purpose of assuring the best and most accurate cost saving treatments. By understanding how people adapt to significant changes in their environment as they age—characteristically from around age fifty-five--it is to all our benefits to better understand how those approaching their elder years and the elderly communicate through the process of aging. On a practical level, an improved understanding of the communicative behavior of older people can result in significant improvements in their life satisfaction and life quality. Specifically, there is now a better understanding of what "successful aging" means and of what aspects of life have the greatest potential for increasing physical activity [and health] in later life. These developments and interdisciplinary efforts to provide services and products that increase physical activity among the older segments of the population must be applied in the interests of a healthier older population that will undoubtedly result in lower health care costs in the long run. In essence, this and other efforts must be made to re-designed health care programs that include less expensive preventative care components that reduce the need for more expensive services later on. As of now, the The National Council on Ageing is doing a good job of promoting the well-being of older people, and involving them in all aspects of society. Prevention is reflected in the current health package, which brings together information on existing health entitlements: sight tests, flu vaccination and cancer screening; promotes best practice around falls prevention and effective fracture management; introduces measures to improve access to affordable footcare services; updates national intermediate care guidance; summarises existing progress on audiology and telecare. It is up to professionals, through careful communications with patients, their families and other social groups to ensure that the elderly understand and take advantage of the services allowed. One of the most challenging issues faced by professionals, and one studied rather extensively, is both the societal and professional tendency to view the elderly in terms of health care as a homogeneous group. With the passage of the Equality Act, many barriers faced by older people accessing health services will diminish if not disappear based on professional restrictions service discrimination on the basis of age when delivering services. In essence, this will take a concerted effort on the part of professionals to see their role in such discrimination, and ‘how unhelpful a distinction age is to delivering better health outcomes’ (Gentry to Thorpe et al, 2010: par. 10). Gentry, Policy Advisor for UK Health Services, provides remedies for professionals in the following text: There are direct actions we can take to counter this within the health sector such as influencing the direction of professional training and ensuring that management structures within providers and future commissioning groups fully understand the need to eradicate age discrimination. The Equality Act will certainly help in doing this. However, we need to take a much wider look at society and continue to refute damaging perceptions of age and older people. We must make sure everyone is invested in something in which we all have a huge stake. (Gentry to Thorpe et al, 2010: par. 10) A most pressing challenge is the rapid growth of residential and nursing homes in the independent sector and the decline in continuing care beds funded by the NHS. Because it is a profit making enterprise, distribution of homes is uneven, producing wide variations in the range and type of local provision. Competition for places in homes is fierce, causing elderly to be placed in facilities far afield from their homes and relatives. Of all the serious challenges facing the health service, this is perhaps the most disturbing in terms of dignified treatment of the elderly and assurances of adequate care. Without anyone to monitor the care, and without belabouring the topic, it rest with those who provide the care to root out elder neglect, and report and rectify it. In conclusion perhaps Gentry to Thorpe et al (2010) sums up the professional’s challenges in this new time of crisis of budget cuts and skewed health priorities. The elderly must be encouraged to speak in their own interests, become aware of services to which they are entitled and utilize them. It is the role of health care providers to encourage the elderly to demand from the NHS the services they need to survive with dignity in old age. At the center of a professional’s work with the aged must be the concern as advocate for elderly without support of family, in the face of diminishing services—the people that most need the support of professional health organizations, and indeed, the individual physicians and health providers who tend them. This is the challenge for aging patients themselves, and for the health professionals who tend them. Bibliography AgeUK (2010). ‘George Osborne Has to “Face Up” to risky cuts’. (Website) AgeUK, 16, September. Retrieved 30 December, 2010 from: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-news/george-osborne-has-to-face-up-to-risky-cuts/ ‘Elderly Discriminaton: The Reaction’. BBC News, 13 April, 2000. Retrieved 7, January, 2010 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/711627.stm Flood, C.M. (2000) International Health Care Reform: A Legal, Economic, and Political Analysis. London: Routledge. Godbey, G, Burnett-Walle, S, Chow, H-W. (2007).‘New Ideas for Promoting Physical Activity among Middle Age and Older Adults: Physical Activity Can Lead to Successful Aging’. The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Vol 78 (7) 22+. Hough, A. ‘Harriet Harmon: Discrimination of Elderly Costing Economy Tens of Billions’, 11 January, 2010. Retrieved 30 December, 2010 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/6963046/Harriet-Harman-discrimination-of-elderly-costing-economy-tens-of-billions.html Hummert, M.L. and Nussbaum, J.F. (2001). Aging, Communication, and Health: Linking Research and Practice for Successful Aging. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Press Association (2010). ‘A Fifth Will Celebrate 100th Birthday’. (Website) AgeUK, 30 December. Retrieved 30 December, 2010 from: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-news/fifth-will-celebrate-100th-birthday/ Press Association (2010). ‘Fuel Poverty “Set to Increase”’. (Website) AgeUK, 22 December, 2010. Retrieved 30 December, 2010 from: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-news/fuel-poverty-set-to-increase/ Thorpe, T, Atkins, R. (2010) ‘Age UK-An Interview with Tom Gentry’. (Website) British Geriatrics Society Newletter, 15 October, 2010. Retrieved 28 December, 2010 from: http://www.bgsnet.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113&Itemid=85 ‘Violence Toward the Elderly-and Discrimination Against Elderly People’. (no date). (Website) European Senior Citizen Union. Retrieved 30 December, 2010 from: http://www.eu-seniorunion.info/en/activities/againstviolence/default.htm Read More