With election approaching we are delighted that prospective parliamentary candidates are engaging with us as we work to help shape social care in the future and how it works alongside the broader healthcare system.
We see this as an opportunity to raise awareness of the needs of older people and the fantastic care delivered in the comfort of peoples homes by a dedicated army of care professionals whose empathy and compassion impacts so many.
We’re keen to focus on a number of points:
Choice for families:
We are keen to emphasise the importance of allowing families to choose where and how they age. Too often ‘care home’ is seen as the primary option but home care has so much to offer. We are now dealing with more and more complex care, including the management of long-term health conditions, as well as companionship and home help services. So much more is now possible and is already being delivered.
Care education:
We need to educate families earlier about care provision available to them before a crisis situation happens. Millions of families across the UK are dealing with the challenges of ageing parents while juggling work and childcare with research stating that 88% are neglecting their own wellbeing and health. With 5 million plus people providing unpaid care in the IL, more support needs to be made available so they can choose the right care.
Social isolation:
Our teams work everyday in Havant, Hayling, Waterlooville and Emsworth to prevent social isolation and loneliness. Home Instead do so much to support people outside of their traditional ‘care’ role – it’s one of the ways we will deliver on out company mission to ‘expand the world’s capacity to care’. From memory cafes, to Forget Me Not Cinema to community workshops on dementia and fraud, to our weekly Love to Move – there is so much we can all do to support our ageing population. This is driven by our personal experience with insight from Mark’s work with Help the Aged and Age UK at a national level.
Age-related prejudice:
We are keen to discuss ageism in our society and would love to see the development of a strategy for older people which sees them valued as an asset – think of all the knowledge and life experience they bring to society!
Quality of care:
Quality care needs to be the main driver for care choices; rather than a cost-driven model which results in poor care with poor outcomes. Quality care in particular our healthcare at home services, support the NHS as well as local healthcare teams, to help people live well at home.
Whatever the colour of the future government, we are committed to continue to champion home care and the people who work in the sector. Our team are amazing at what they do and they love the work they do and the outcomes they achieve.