One Day
One day my life could be very different. One day I may need help just to carry out the daily activities that I currently take for granted. One day I still want to be able to choose how I live my life and do the things that I enjoy. One day I still want to be independent and involved in the outside world. One day I still want to be happy and to be with the ones that I love. One day.
This report is a personal view of the future that I would like to think is possible. At 34 years old long term care seems like a long way away, however through my work and the experiences of family and loved ones it is something that has been brought into my consciousness quite emphatically. In this report I will discuss how I would like my personal world to look like in the future, but I think that there are two important considerations that must be included in the vision of the future for older people in general:
1) There is no blanket solution to any problem.
2) Everyone’s needs, preferences and wants can be different and factors that are of extreme importance to some will be of limited importance to others.
I feel strongly about the above points. This is based on the experience of my grandparents. I will portray my vision for the future in a moment, but all future ideas must be born from our past experiences and I feel that it is useful to briefly tell my grandparents story.
My grandparents were both born in the 1920s in a hamlet. Farming was the main industry and both worked on the land. They lived in the same hamlet all through their working lives and eventually retired in the same house which they rented from the Co-op. The hamlet where they lived did not have a village shop or post office; in fact the only public building was the local pub. During their early retirement they went on many holidays to places such as the Canary Isles and other sunny spots. They had never been able to do this before and I know that their sons were thrilled to see them making the most of their retirement. Eventually ill health meant that they could no longer travel. My grandfather had had prostate cancer for 19 years, had suffered a recent stroke and also had diabetes. He was a very determined man however and always worked in his garden and even took small jobs as a gardener for others into his seventies. Sadly my grandfather’s ailments took their natural course and after a couple of years of hospital visits he passed away in a residential home. He had been living in the home for a few weeks as his care needs had become too much for my grandmother.
At this point my grandmother, who also has some health problems which means she isn’t very mobile, in consultation with her sons took the decision to move into a sheltered accommodation scheme. She has now been living there for over two years and is very happy. She has a small flat that is adapted to her needs with wet room etc. She has onsite carers and as her main meal is included in the price of the accommodation she sees people everyday and takes part in many activities. She can also make everyday purchases from the small shop within the scheme.
The purpose for describing my grandparents is to emphasise the two points I made earlier.
My grandfather would have hated living in a sheltered accommodation scheme, it would have made him ill to be away from his garden and his independence and he had no time for the ‘chatty busybodies’ surrounding him, his words not mine.
My grandmother would have hated staying in her original home alone. The only way she could get to the shops was by relying on an elderly, but kind, neighbour popping there for her. Her house didn’t meet her physical needs and she would have been very isolated. She loves the social interaction that the scheme gives her.
I don’t know how I will feel when I reach the age when I need to make these decisions, but I do know that I want to be able to choose what’s right for me. This could be similar to my grandfather and could be continuing to live in my own home. This could be similar to my grandmother and wanting to be part of a community, the most important point is that the options are available.
When looking into the future there are three key areas that I feel need to be considered:
1) physical needs
2) location and finance
3) well-being
Possibly controversially I feel that the first two items are the easiest to address. Well-being and how we feel about our lives and our state of contentment does directly affect both physical needs and practicalities, but I think it is important that it is also viewed as a separate item. I feel that the ‘how’ is as important, if not more so, than the ‘what’ in my vision for the future. We all recognise that nobody wants to feel old or ill or incapable. By providing solutions that highlight the change in us to being an ‘old person’ this can then create resistance to usage. As I state earlier I also think that it is important that we recognise the differences of personality and preferences in each other as we get older. In my work I was once asked for advice by a pension company on how best to write to older people and what words and phrases to use. I did my best to make the point to them that as with younger demographics, older people are all different and from different backgrounds, experiences and knowledge levels. We don’t all become the same person as we grow older; our different personalities grow old with us.
Physical needs
In my future life I want to be able to be cared for in a way that retains my dignity and pride. I want to remain independent in as many ways as possible for as long as possible. I am sure that countless studies have proven that ‘if you don’t use it you lose it’. In order to retain my independence I would be happy to learn how to use new equipment and technology to enable me to look after myself as much as possible. It would be important to me that I was shown properly how to use the equipment, but that I also understood its purpose and its benefits. It would be very important that all of this was explained to me in the right way for me, i.e. adult to adult, not patronisingly. In relation to resistance to use, I think it is important that the design of any equipment and technology is seriously considered. As I grow older I will be in a generation where apple and I-phones became extremely popular, partly due to the fact that they were aesthetically pleasing, I doubt our views will change dramatically!
In my future life to be able to meet my two important points it would be necessary that all of the equipment and technology could be used either in my own home or in a sheltered accommodation scheme.
In terms of my personal needs the selection of the care worker or organisation would be critical. I feel that I would prefer to have a small group of regular carers that I grew to know and build a relationship with.
Location and finance
In my future life I want to be able to choose where I live and be able to choose from a variety of financial options to enable me to do so. I would envisage that products such as equity release will become more and more used in enabling people to continue to live their lives in the ways that they would choose. In my view inheritance is becoming less important as hopefully those that we are leaving to are established in their own lives by the time it arrives.
I would like to be able to make an informed decision about my future with plenty of time to be able to ensure that I can realise it. I would be happier to pay a small amount per month now (similarly to a pension contribution) to ensure that my future care needs are covered, rather than be hit with worrying bills later down the line.
Well-being
This is the tricky one. I want to be cared for in the way I choose, in the location I choose whilst still enjoying everything that I do about my life and maintaining the close contact with the outside world and loved ones that I have done throughout my life. When preparing for this report I asked family members what their visions for the future would be. Not one of them initially thought of physical needs. The first response from all was along the lines of ‘I would still want to be able to see my grandchildren and family in their environment’, ‘I would still want to feel connected and part of the outside world’ and ‘I wouldn’t want to feel liked a lived in a cocoon with all older people’.
I think technology will be key to all of this and I think that it has already begun to happen, but that we need to harness it even more. As discussed above, the generations that are growing older are those that will have been used to tablets, Smartphones, Facebook, twitter etc. I am sure that these will all evolve, but the key point being that on the whole the older generation will be one that is used to technology.
To make the point clearer I am already friends with my Grandma on Facebook and it has really improved our relationship. Instead of having to remember (not to sound dreadful) to make a call to my Grandma regularly, she can now see my news on Facebook and also see photos of this too which she loves. She can also put updates on so I know how she is doing.
Potential Solution
At present my ideal week in the life of my future self wouldn’t be dissimilar from how it is now in terms of how I feel. My physical environment would have changed and I would have more human interaction in terms of my care, supported by new technologies and equipment. I would have regular contact with my friends and family, and I would still be able to carry out activities that I enjoy again with the support of either carers or technology.
The key point which I feel is possibly currently lacking in today’s world that would be definitely needed for my future is personal control and responsibility. I want to feel that I can make decisions about my own life and also can take action when I am not provided with a service that I feel is acceptable. Advocacy is a key service in today’s world as so many people need support in making their voices heard. The scary part comes when a person doesn’t have anyone to do this for them.
One day I want to be in control.