Advocating Change for Older People
We’re the only UK based national organisation supporting independent advocacy services for older people.
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Take a moment to read this touching story. In the midst of their trauma, this couple had an adult daughter who was willing and able to "advocate" for them, as they faced a terrible situation.
But we know that this is not always the case for an older person. And then who do they turn to?
In those circumstances, we hope every older person will have access to an independent advocate to speak for them when they can't speak for themselves.
With Advocacy Awareness Week #AAW2020 starting next week, we will be explaining:
What is advocacy?
Who is it for?
How does it help?
So watch this space! In the meantime, we send all our best wishes to this wonderful couple!❤️
www.opaal.org.ukCheck out this fierce couple - both fighting COVID-19.
Due to COVID restrictions, room visitations are not allowed, even between patients. But the couple's daughter stepped in to see if they would make an exception.
They did.
They now share a nurse and the chief of nursing went so far to buy a dozen roses for the husband to give to his beloved wife.
64 years together! Acts of human kindness are all we need in this world ❤️🙌🏼
Via: Banner Health
It’s not an easy thing to talk about, but here’s the bottom line (sorry folks!).
Urinary incontinence is common, but is NOT normal in older people. And it can severely negatively impact on people’s quality of life and independence.
Did you know that people wait on average THREE YEARS before they seek help! Furthermore, incontinence is one of the main reasons people give up living independently!🙄
So here’s what you need to know:
✅ A sudden change in how continent a person is should prompt an immediate search of issues like infection, constipation, or a medication side effect. All of which can be reversible.
✅ Lifestyle changes, such as greater exercise, cutting down on caffeine and alcohol and weight management can reduce the risk of incontinence and help to manage any symptoms.
✅ And there is help out there! Pelvic floor exercises, medications, surgery, and incontinence products can all be used to great effect to manage the problem – so make sure that you or your loved one is asking about all these ideas!
And if this is not something you feel you can ask about on your own, then an independent advocate can help. Find out about advocacy providers in your area: opaal.org.uk/locations
We are all aware of the greater restrictions on us mixing with those with whom we do not live at the moment. But this has highlighted something of a greater issue, that very often, due to circumstances beyond their control, young people are not getting the chance to engage with and learn from older people, which here at Together, we think is a great shame.😞
Our friends at Sandwell Advocacy ran a project called “Caring Cooks” where Existing and former users of Sandwell Advocacy’s Young Carers Advocacy Project, had informed the organisation that many of their families rely on foodbanks and that they wanted to be able to plan and prepare healthy food with the ingredients supplied. Many of the items provided, particularly tinned goods, distributed at the foodbank were not familiar to them. For example, one person had enquired “what do you do with pilchards?”. The young people had expressed a desire to expand the range of their cooking skills as well as learning more about locally grown healthy food.
In addition, to a great many benefits, the Caring Cooks Project provided for the youngsters lessons on healthy eating and food preparation to create healthy food from ingredients commonly supplied by local foodbanks and how to growing organic healthy food that is affordable and accessible.🥦🍎🥒
It’s so easy for us all to forget that “we don’t know, what we don’t know”; how often in our lives has it been an older person who has helped or advised us in a way that has lasted a lifetime?
Well done Sandwell Advocacy for arranging this marvelous project,! 👏 And well done to the young people for being open to learning! And let’s all look out for more opportunities for intergenerational socialising – safely of course!
Learn more about independent advocacy here: www.opaal.org.uk
So for the readers of this page, the idea of us moving to a cashless society sparked a great deal of interest! It seems like someone at least was listening, because a couple of days ago the Government announced it would be consulting on getting cash back without making a purchase.
Here is what the Guardian Newspaper said about it - what do we think of the proposal?🤔 Over to you!
Plan for UK shops to offer cashback without a purchase
www.theguardian.com
Cashback was second most popular way of taking out money last year but EU rules limit its use