David Oliver: Old people are not a burden
This very thoughtful article, highly pertinent to a high proportion of rural dwellers tells us:
Early intervention and prevention need to become a reality, he says [David Oliver – President of the British Geriatrics Society]. “We’ve got to do a lot more to prevent avoidable ill-health in older age,” he says. “I sit before you as a man in his late 40s, who’s overweight and doesn’t look after himself very well. If I don’t lose weight, I will end up with diabetes or hypertension or arthritis and it’s entirely preventable.”
This involves investing more in public health initiatives and in more “age-friendly” housing and by not dodging the big decisions that would make a difference, he argues. “The current government and Public Health England have ducked some interventions – we know that minimum alcohol pricing works, that plain cigarette packaging has been successful in Australia, that reducing sugar in soft drinks and reducing salt work and we know food labelling and things like banning trans-fats can work.”
Then there’s the issue of joining up services – everything from primary care offering older patients one point of contact to co-ordinate their complex medical and care needs, to better working in hospitals so patients can be discharged more quickly. But it’s unrealistic to expect older people’s health needs to be fully met in the community.