Care, Support & Wellbeing Reports collated by the Centre For Ageing Better
Unfair to care: understanding the social care 2022-23 pay gap and how to close it
Community Integrated Care – December 2022
This report warns that the cost-of-living crisis means that people are no longer able to accept a job that is vocationally rewarding for significantly less pay than they could immediately command elsewhere, social care is facing 165,000 vacancies on any given day. Read more
Navigating the choppy waters to Nirvana – a critical reflective account of caring for ageing parents in the fourth age
McInnes A, Ageing and Society, 42 (10) October 2022
Based on the ‘lived experience’ of a social work professional caring for ageing parents, this commentary emphasises that only by analysing the impact of personal life experiences, can we begin to understand the intended and unintended consequences of policy and practice affecting those in very old age. The article also addresses seven cultural myths about ageing. Read more
The UN decade of healthy ageing – strengthening measurement for monitoring health and wellbeing of older people
Thiyagarajan J A et al, Age and Ageing, 51 (7) July 2022
Over the past 100 years life expectancy has improved across the world, but years of good health, particularly in later life, have not kept pace. In 2020 the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organisation (WHO) adopted a 10 year plan to address this issue. A ‘Technical Advisory Group for Measurement of Healthy Ageing‘ (TAG4MHA) has also been established to work out how to measure successful outcomes. Read more
Gambling activity in the old-age general population
del Pino-Gutiérrez A et al, Ageing and Society, 42 (12) December 2022
This study looks at gambling activity in a population based sample of older people, aged 50-90, in Northern Spain. Seventy two percent of men and 60% of women gambled in some form, mainly lottery tickets. Eight percent said the gambling was a problem while 1.4% reported a ‘gambling disorder’. The most severe gambling was related to being an immigrant, stressful life events, a worse psycho-pathological state and substance use. Read more
Cognitive decline among European retirees – impact of early retirement, nation-related and personal characteristics
Carmel S, Tur-Sinai A, Ageing and Society, 42 (10) October 2022
This study of the relationship between retirement and cognitive ability, in older people from 12 European countries, finds a fairly rapid decline in ‘working memory’ for 46% of retirees aged 50 and over. It also finds however, that for a significant percentage (43%) of retirees, memory improves over time and that memory decline can be reduced by national policy interventions addressing education, workforce participation and lifestyle. Read more
