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Recent news headlines have reported dementia is the leading cause of death in the UK.
Dr Clare Walton from the Alzheimer’s Society research team looked at the reasons why deaths from dementia are on the rise and how the numbers compare with deaths due to other major diseases.
The latest death statistics for England and Wales, released by The Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed the number of people dying of dementia is steadily increasing year on year.
In contrast, the number of people dying from heart disease and stroke has been declining. In 2015, dementia overtook heart disease and stroke as the UK’s biggest cause of death. The percentage of all UK deaths from the top four leading causes in 2017 were dementia, heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.
National Insurance will be increased to pay for care, with new asset thresholds determining how much people pay and a cap on how much people will have to spend during their lifetimes.
Boris Johnson has announced a major shake-up of social care funding in England.
A hike in National Insurance will pay for a pledge made when Mr Johnson became prime minister in 2019 to “fix the broken care system”. However, this means he will be breaking his promise to not raise taxes, which has angered Tory backbenchers. Mr Johnson said he was unable to keep that promise due to the COVID pandemic.
What are the changes to social care?
Social care supports the elderly and disabled adults of all ages with non-clinical needs in people’s own homes, residential care homes or in places such as day centres or supported housing.
Unlike the NHS, it has no dedicated funding and is paid for through local authorities.
The reforms will see a threshold of £100,000 on the amount of assets a person has before they have to fully fund their own care. Currently, the threshold is £23,250. From October 2023, anybody with financial assets lower than £20,000 will not have to pay anything for their care from their assets – but may have to contribute towards costs from their income. The amount anyone with assets between £20,000 and £100,000 will pay will be means-tested so the fewer financial assets someone has the less they will pay for their care. The amount anyone has to spend on care will be capped at £86,000 over their lifetime – including younger people receiving care.
At least £500m will be invested over three years to train care workers and provide professional development, fund mental health resources for staff and reform the social recruitment situation. Further detail on that will be published soon. The government has also promised to support the 5.4m unpaid carers, invest in the disabled facilities grant and supported housing, improve information to help understand options for care users and introduce a support system to ensure local authorities are delivering on their obligations to users.
The changes to social care only apply to England, but because tax changes apply to all four nations, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will also see a rise in National Insurance payments. Mr Johnson said the devolved nations will together receive an extra £2.2bn a year towards health and social care – 15% more than they would from contributions by their citizens alone. A total of £1.1bn will go to Scotland in 2024-25, £700m to Wales and £400m on Northern Ireland.
To read more visit the Skynews website.
Dementia not Covid-19 was the greatest cause of death for women in 2020 – killing 45,922 women in England and Wales, official figures reveal.
Some 125 women are dying of dementia every day – that’s five women an hour, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In men, Covid caused the most deaths for men in England and Wales, followed by heart disease, after which dementia and Alzheimer’s disease came third by claiming the lives of over 24,000 men.
In the UK, dementia affects 850,000 people and there is no cure.
The number of people with dementia is set to triple in three decades, with 152 million estimated to be affected globally by 2050, according to research by the University of Washington School of Medicine.
The research was presented at the 2021 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Colorado at the end of July.
Dementia charities are calling for global action to fund research into a cure for dementia.
Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK has called dementia “our greatest long-term medical challenge”.
“With the number of people with dementia set to triple, we need to see concerted global action now.
“To safeguard progress and improve outcomes around the world, it’s vital our government invests to maintain the UK as a global hub for dementia research to safeguard research progress and improve outcomes around the world.”
This story was provided by homecare.co.uk
When it comes to deciding whether your parents, elderly friend or relative needs additional help to ensure they can live safely in their own home, it can be tricky to know where to start. The wheres, whens and hows of the situation are not simple. It can easily start to feel overwhelming as you try to get to grips with all the options available, the costs, and what is best for the elderly person themselves.
8 tips for deciding if an elderly person needs some extra support.
• Assess the person’s needs – This can feel quite difficult. Do you ask the person, observe them, ask other people who know them, or something else? You may not know what your parent, relative or friend requires, or what is available. We can help you organise your thoughts. You can fill in our and use your answers to establish what level and kind of support is needed. It’s a handy starting point for everyone involved.
Does your parent, relative or friend have:
• Family support – are there family or friends living locally and are they available to help?
• A safe home environment – is their home as safe as it can be? What barriers restrict their ability to stay in their own home? For example dangerous steps or staircases, a large garden, or badly maintained security?
• Medical needs – does your parent, relative or friend have increasing medical needs that they can’t manage on their own? Is the person taking their medication as per prescription? Do they need assistance?
• Good cognitive health – Can they clearly think, learn and remember, able to carry out everyday activities safely?
• Mobility – are they able to safely move around their home and ideally to local shops, GP surgeries and to see friends and relatives?
• Personal hygiene – Can they wash themselves and keep themselves clean? Do you think they are struggling with using the bath or shower on their own?
• How much support are they already getting around the above, and how much help do they realistically need to stay safe and healthy?
If your mum can’t see that well and lives in a rural area on her own, her needs will be very different from someone else’s healthy dad, who lives in a flat in the city surrounded by relatives but is starting to become frail and can’t get to the shops.
• Don’t forget – the person in need of care is still a person!
It’s vital that you involve the person themselves in the process from end to end, as a partner in it. Just because they’re getting on it doesn’t mean they’ve lost their pride, their love of independence, their unique personality. Nobody wants to lose control of their life, and that means sensitivity and positivity are both essential. Together you’ll find a clear way through any potential resistance faster and more easily.
