25 April 2008

A vision of future residential care for older people in Scotland

*** Embargoes for use until 10.30 am, Friday April 25th ***

Press note - The report will be launched at an event at the Queen Mother Building, University of Dundee, at 10.30 am, Friday April 25th, when represetatives from Balhouse Care Group and the report authors will be available for interview.

Care of the elderly population within Scotland’s society should adapt to reflect a `Third Age’ of life beyond childhood and adulthood, according to a new report by researchers at the University of Dundee.

The researchers, led by Professor Jennifer Harris and Dr Norman Alm, were commissioned by Balhousie Care Group to examine current care and provide ideas for innovative approaches for producing high quality residential care for older people.

Tony Banks, Managing Director of Balhousie Care Group, said, "Delivering care to our clients is our day-to-day business and we are constantly striving to improve the experience we offer our residents. Despite the many changes in the way this sector is managed, there has been little or no research into what is good care, or indeed, what the future of care in Scotland is likely to be."

"We commissioned this report to provide us with an independent, unbiased overview of how Balhousie Care Group compares with other providers and to gain an insight into the potential that exists to serve "The Third Age" client group better in the future."

The researchers say the fact we are living longer than ever before is forcing us to reconsider the stages of life and how we live them.

"If we are to spend up to a third of our lives in a state that leaves work and child-rearing behind, what are we to do with this time?" said Professor Harris.

"One way to look at the human life span is to call this time a Third Age, after Childhood, and Adulthood, an age with its own characteristics and opportunities. It can be a time for consolidation, reflection, sharing of perspectives with younger generations, and opportunities for creative expression when freed from the daily concerns of work and family."

"Excellent residential provision for older people in the future could aspire to embrace some of the spirit of optimism and adventure that lies behind the Third Age idea."

"Whatever plans this resulted in would need to be culturally appropriate and welcomed by residents and families, but we would recommend that this forward-looking and positive approach to ageing be at the least a guiding principle of good residential care for older people."

The researchers say residential homes will have to provide higher-quality, more personalised care for older people in Scotland if a move into care is to be seen as a positive choice.

Among the challenges facing the residential care market are increasing numbers of patients with dementia moving into care, a vast rise in the elderly population over the next 20 years, and a more discerning, demanding market.

"The elderly population in Scotland is growing - by around 60% more people over 75 in the next 20 years - and the residential care market has to think how it will accommodate that," said Dr Alm.

"Within that population there are issues such as the increasing rates of dementia. Potential residents and their families are also becoming more discerning as recipients of this care, and rightly are demanding the highest quality."

"These are issues which demand a creative response in how we care for older people. One of the big questions is how can moving to a care home be made a ‘positive choice’?"

"Care home entry does not need to be a disconnection from all the stimulation of the world. High-quality care that removes stress and worry is likely to make moving to a Care Home more of a positive choice. It should be possible for to have the best of both worlds, bringing together the best elements of family care and professional care."

In their report, `A Vision for High-Quality Residential Care for Older People in Scotland’, the researchers say that the emphasis on community care means that older people who do enter residential care will tend to be more frail, and more in need of specialist care, than in the past.

"The objective for care of the elderly must be to retain as much as possible of the desirable features of the family support system, and to try to find innovative ways to add advantages to living in care," said Prof Harris/Dr Alm.

"Care provision for those suffering dementia will increasingly form a larger part of the market and innovative care providers of this care will be at the forefront of the market."

Note to Editors

• Balhousie Care Group is based in Forfar and owns and manages 16 homes
• There are over 500 residents in Balhousie residential and nursing homes across Central and North Scotland.

Contact for Balhousie Care Group:
Louise Fraser, Four Peas Marketing
(w) 01334 477772
(m) 0787 232 8561

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk