28.03.11
Respect your elders
As the demographic changes and Britain’s population becomes ‘older’ one thing seems to stand out; what do we do with our older people?
During the 2000s, pension raids and council tax hikes brought into sharp focus the power of the ‘grey vote’, but Labour were returned for another term in 2007.
Since then the issue of how to pay for the elderly has continued, with study after study highlighting how expensive this sector is becoming and how much more future governments will have to set aside.
Recently the health ombudsman highlighted the plight of many elderly patients in a report littered with incidents of people lying in soiled sheets or facing abuse from their ‘carers’.
We are told that junior doctors view geriatrics as one of the least appealing of all specialisms given perceived low prestige and earning potential.
Today the Alzheimer’s Society called for routine NHS dementia screening for 75-year-olds, but the British Medical Association immediately pointed out the costs, primarily in the form of GPs’ time, of providing such a service.
Well-meaning though all this discussion and intervention presumably is one thing that seems to be wholly missing from the debate is the opinion of elderly people themselves.
Many in the media may subscribe to the ‘better to be talked about than not talked about’ mantra and perhaps there is strength in that argument, but whereas other sections of society may not be able to have their own voice, older people do not lose the ability to speak at 60 or 65.
Treating them as such shows a complete lack of respect. It is about time that changed.
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