Older People
Age should be no barrier to living well. Living longer presents real opportunities to create vibrant and resilient communities where your life experience and skills are valued and you are able to contribute and participate. Many older people stepped-up to volunteer with the pandemic response. This contribution should be properly recognised and harnessed for the future benefit of our communities as we recover together.
The combined impact of ten years of cuts to care and the pandemic has been particularly severe for older people. Harsh cuts rendered the care sector fragmented and ill-prepared for the pandemic. The consequences have been devastating, with too many lives lost. We commit to better protecting care services and remedying these failures. Great effort is needed to tackle inequality in all its forms. From digital exclusion to the unfair treatment of WASPI women there are many injustices that need our attention.
We will
- Build on the ‘no lonely day’ campaign to reduce loneliness and isolation
- Support inter-generational projects where older and younger people can enjoy each other’s company and learn from each other
- Make access easier to affordable, safe housing in well-resourced communities
-
start to reintroduce a floating warden service to support people in sheltered housing
- Improve access to accurate, unbiased information
- Communicate with you through the method of your choice. “digital first” broadens participation for some but excludes others. We will ensure no one gets left behind.
- Work with you to make the changes we need to improve access to services
- Provide opportunities to enjoy life and feel well
- Enable you to participate in your community and be valued for your contribution
- Ensure you have all the income to which you are entitled
- Ensure that you are involved in decisions about changes to health and social care services
- Improve the quality, safety and reliability of care services through a programme of in-sourcing
- Improve the information and resources for end of life care, working closely with our NHS and voluntary sector partners
- Work with WASPI women to identify policy changes that could redress some of the injustice, such as access to subsidised or free travel
- Protect you from scams and rogue traders
- Support Age UK’s campaign for Age-Friendly communities
- Provide resources for older people’s representative groups to support your work, and meet with you listen to your experiences and agree how we will work together to overcome problems
- Invest in occupational therapy to increase access and speed of response for adaptations that people need to enable them to continue to live safely in their own home