Summary
Independent Age (using the services of ComRes) conducted a survey which indicates that many people avoid talking about getting old and planning for loss of independence in old age. People tend to find conversations about end-of-life care particularly difficult to broach. The disadvantage of such reticence is that families may then be taken by surprise and risk making rushed, possibly ill-advised, decisions about their care, housing and financial arrangements.
The charity has produced an online guide to help families consider raising the difficult subject of ageing and related implications. Links are provided to a number of downloadable guides to assist planning for the future, on a range of relevant topics:
- Talking about getting extra help at home.
- Talking about how the family can help.
- Talking about moving.
- Talking about who will make decisions.
- Talking about end-of-life planning.
Reference
We need to talk about getting old, says charity. London: BBC Health News, July 11th 2016.
This relates to:
Reference
Advice for family and friends. London [Online]: Independent Age, July 2016.
The following Independent Age report summarises the research into why families avoid talking about the challenges of older age, based on an online survey of 2,066 people conducted by ComRes, plus focus groups and interviews.
Reference
Davies, A. [and] Osborne, C. (2016). We need to talk about caring: dealing with difficult conversations. London: Independent Age, July 8th 2016.
