REVAMPING ADULT SOCIAL CARE

Selina Seesunkur October 14, 2020

By Grace Thompson

From the Government’s difficulty supporting care homes during the peak of cases adequately, to testing shortages to the wraparound care that many adults will now need as a result of having had severe Covid, adult social care has rarely been more prominently in view than it has been during the current crisis.

I can still clearly remember a conversation I had with a portfolio holder for adult social care in my hometown several years ago. He told me that the future of adult social care in the UK simply wasn’t sustainable if it carried on in its current structure. It was the immediate aftermath of the austerity years, and funding in all areas was scarce. His opinion was that the future of adult social care lay in a balance between having care homes for those who really needed them, and fighting for those who wanted to stay at home to have in-home care provided by an increased number of well-funded community nurse teams.

I have been reflecting on this conversation in recent weeks and I see that his words were true. Adult social care has barely had time to breathe from the austerity years before being swamped under the raging waters of Covid. But what happens next? Structures must be rebuilt and revamped before the next health crisis comes along. This time, we cannot do nothing. It will certainly take more than producing a new green badge and flashing it around on politicians’ lapels during BBC Breakfast interviews.

Live-in healthcare is associated with better mental health outcomes, reduced hospital ‘bed-blocking’ and less physical falls. The last two benefits save the NHS millions a year in hip operations and overnight hospital stays. On a human level, live-in healthcare also means that families and neighbourhoods can stay together longer and enjoy some of the last years they may have together.

For some, obviously, there will come a time when living at home is no longer an option. For those for whom it is an option, however, we should be enabling this as much as possible, particularly as we know that the population is living longer. By 2050, the number of adults aged 60 or over will double. A strong package of support would need to be in place in our country to help with the additional costs of community nursing and occupational adjustments to houses. We already know that adapting a house for an older person to stay at home costs around £6,000, compared with a cost per year of about £26,000 for residential care.

A shift in our world’s usual patterns has caused positive change already. Workplaces are seeing productivity improvement from being more flexible with their employees and increased home working. Air pollution improved in many cities as a result of less traffic on the roads. Whilst we abhor the cause of these changes, we can embrace them if the changes themselves lead to our world being a better place, not only for our children, but also for our elderly and physically vulnerable.

Read more articles by Grace Thompson

BUILD, BUILD, BUILD – FOR WHO?

HUMANITY ON SCREEN

Further Reading Recommended by Grace

Housing in Later Life by Age UK

Choosing between staying at home or moving by PMC

FINDING PEACE IN CHAOS

Selina Seesunkur July 22, 2020

By Akua Quao

Is life slapping you in the face with problems? The reality is that if you ask any adult, they will confirm that this is the path in life; the key is learning how to travel through that rough journey as smoothly as possible.

But how can we really succeed in life if we are stressed, tired and worn out by the challenges of this world? Alongside the current crisis of Covid-19, you may also have already been contending with some very difficult daily battles such as trying to make ends meet, find a job, overcome illness, look for solutions to a difficult relationship. The list is practically endless. You may even be showing a bold front when you are hurting inside because the challenges you face really do appear insurmountable.

Now that we are limited in how we can socially interact due to social distancing guidelines, we will understandably have concerns about going back to our regular places to relax and unwind. No doubt this could or will increase our anxiety levels causing us to sometimes feel a more heightened amount of stress than usual.

Researchers have found that people who take the time to intentionally take care of themselves reduce the likelihood of feeling low. Continually worrying about issues can cloud our judgement. It can also limit our ability to have adequate rest which will have a compounded effect on eating and sleep patterns. So, what could we possibly take away from the lockdown experience and turn to our advantage? Perhaps we can firstly reflect and ask ourselves a few important questions

**What am I presently doing daily to ensure I have strength and stamina?**
**Am I really taking enough time to rest and recuperate?**
**What can I currently do with the resources I have to improve my health and wellbeing?**

The answers could be a lot, a little or nothing. If you are currently doing a fair amount to take good care of yourself, that’s great! But if you are not, then this is a good juncture to begin to take little steps towards feeling more rested and at peace.

A good place to start is with what you have. Something we all have is the gift of time and how we choose to use it, and a good first step would be to simply spend time on yourself. This could be achieved in so many ways without even needing to leave the house.

To be honest, do anything that will feel like a special treat to you. The most important thing is to take the time to do what you love and enjoy it, as what you are ultimately doing is establishing your inner peace.

When you have achieved that sense of inner peace during chaos, you will be revitalised and able to think up practical strategies for improving the areas of your life that continue to be troubled.

Let us promise ourselves that from today, we will use the various resources available to help us repair, nourish and restore our bodies and mind. Enjoy!

Akua is an educator and public health practitioner with extensive experience in health communications. She has over 20 years’ experience of working with organisations where she established public health initiatives underpinned by health promotion theory, which focus on awareness raising, influencing behaviour change and addressing social and health inequalities.

HOW WE DISTRIBUTE THE SUCCESSFUL COVID-19 TREATMENT WILL BE A KEY TEST OF OUR HUMANITY

Selina Seesunkur May 6, 2020

By Johnny Luk

The health, social and economic progress of millions of people is being held hostage by the current Coronavirus pandemic. Countries and cities are in various stages of containment. Some, seemingly, are beginning to open up, whilst others, including much of Europe, North America, and our own city of London, are in near full lockdown, but all are reeling from its impact. No one is truly spared.

Regardless of the mandatory social distancing measures and copious handwashing - there is only one true way to resolve this health crisis and restart the world's economy, and that's to have an effective treatment against the disease, either through a new or adapted drug, or a vaccine to convey immunity.

The globe's top research labs and pharmaceutical companies are in a race to deliver a workable treatment, with over 40 separate studies currently taking place. Drug discovery and vaccine creation would normally take years. But, as we have already seen, when there is sufficient focus, when data is shared transparently, coupled with imagination and the latest technology and resources – then the pace of innovation can reach breakneck speed, with some research centres already entering the early trial phase within just a few months.

The reward is clear, the team that cracks this will be responsible for saving countless lives, and if done quickly, dodge a global depression, thus preserving entire industries and millions of livelihoods, surely worthy of any Nobel Prize. But when that moment comes, it will also present a fundamental test of our humanity.

The discoverer and the country that administers it, will, for a brief second, have unimaginable power. Questions will be asked, how will we distribute it, who gets first dibs, who, if anyone, will own the patent? Many countries are thinking about these big questions already.

The moral thing to do, the path which I believe Londoners would take if we were in this fortunate position, would be to immediately share the formula - open-sourced, with no strings attached, to every country regulator out there, so they can make their own independent judgments, and enable each respective industry to mass-produce the vaccine, starting with those who are most vulnerable.

Independent pharmaceutical companies, both keen to help save lives, but also with one eye on shareholders, might be tempted to hang on to the patents and take advantage of any monopoly if they own any successful research. But they will do so at their own peril. The public is in no mood to follow commercial norms, and they, through their elected Governments, would pass whatever law and break whatever patent clause necessary for the sake of public health. That is the right thing to do.

No vaccine manufacturer should make a profit on this or hold anyone else to ransom, and that extends to the Nation States too. Wealthier countries must support nations that do not have the capacity to manufacture or distribute treatments, recognising the particular challenge in unstable regions, where multinational bodies will need a role in medical distribution to avoid factions using it as a tool to seize political power. Ultimately, the sooner we defeat this virus, the more lives we save and the faster we can drive confidence back into the economy, and that will benefit us all.

So, when that discovery comes, the respective country, at the peak of its soft power, will have a big responsibility, and a choice. If done right, by helping the world recover without strings attached and transparently working together, they would be rightly praised. Done badly, perhaps through the temptation of rationing to their own citizens or putting tough political and financial terms on international distribution and intellectual property, and they, and we as a species would have failed both the practical and moral test of humanity.

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