Older people who volunteer and help others may provide part of the solution to the challenges facing adult social care, government minister Norman Lamb has suggested.
“That great army of people out there, if you can somehow tap the energy and commitment that they are prepared to give, you may start to find some of the solutions to the challenges we face,” Lamb told a Guardian fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow.
“People right to the end often have something to offer as individuals themselves,” said Lamb, the care and support minister. The benefits of helping others, he added, can improve self-esteem and mental health.
Norman McKinley, acting director of UK operations at British Red Cross, said volunteers could offer their time and support into their 70s or even later. Involving older people who are retired and in good health, he said, was an “important part of local action and part of a caring and compassionate society” and “a very genuine expression of a commitment to wellness and wellbeing”.
The conference debate, part of the Guardian’s Ageing Population project, considered whether responsibility for supporting older people lies with the state or the individual.
Janet Morrison, chief executive of the charity Independent Age, warned that vulnerable older people who do not have close family or significant financial resources were being neglected. She said family members tell stories about the difficulties they encounter in getting adequate support for their relatives. But what about “the people who haven’t got someone to shout loudly for them; to advocate their needs”.
Steve Carefull, adult social care specialist for PA Consulting Group, said the “safety net” provided by the welfare state should be set “at a level that is going to deliver the kind of results that you want for the people who are living alone who’ve got no alternative”. But he added that care should be provided regardless of age, dictated by need. “You can be quite frail at 65, you can be in robust health at 100,” he said.
There was disagreement among the panel about whether cutting universal benefits such as bus passes and winter fuel allowance for wealthier older people could help fund services for those who are vulnerable. Carefull said means-testing such benefits could result in “spending more than you save” due to administrative costs.
Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of housing provider Hanover, said although the state should provide a framework that allows older people to take a full part in their communities, this is not the same as providing universal services. She spoke of challenging the triple lock on pensions, “because in point of fact it’s not sustainable”.
In the current climate of austerity and local government cuts, the panel discussed investing in prevention instead of “false economies”. An audience member pointed out that falls prevention help is usually given after a person has had a fall. Carefull questioned whether this could be improved through innovation and the integration of health and social care. Until there is a “sensible allocation of resources” there will always be counter-productive outcomes, he said.
Small, local initiatives could have a massive impact, said McKinley. He gave the example of a woman he had met who loved meeting people and connecting with the community at tea dances, but no one was running the dances any more. “It doesn’t cost very much to run a tea dance,” he said. “But actually the way that helps people connect has such a value. It can make the difference between someone’s mental health being good or not so good.”
Read more from the Guardian Big Ideas at the 2014 party conferences.
