Frontline managing editor Lynn Eaton looks at the issue of growing older and urges members to support Older People’s Day on 1 October.
I had the good fortune to attend my aunt’s 90th birthday party the other weekend.
Before retiring she’d worked as a care assistant in a home for children with severe learning disabilities. She now lives in a home herself – situated in a rather pleasant retirement complex in Oxfordshire. Getting older has worked out reasonably well for her, all things considered.
Most of us have older friends and relatives, and see how ageing affects people differently. Physios may not be able to stop their patients’ hair greying or their skin wrinkling, but they can help to promote independence.
In this issue we a look at an innovative scheme in Poole, Dorset, which helps older people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible – even if a short-term hospital admission becomes necessary (page 24).
We also invite you to have a bit of fun with our awareness-raising cut-out-and-keep ‘fortune teller’, included with this issue.
It offers suggestions on how to foster independence among older people in your area – from running t’ai chi classes to writing to your local paper about the help physios offer.
As part of the CSP’s Physiotherapy Works programme, we are also encouraging members to support Older People’s Day on 1 October.
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Lynn Eaton managing editor Frontline and head of CSP member communicationsNumber of subscribers: 1
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