One of our top priorities is to support people to maximise healthy independent living and we are aiming to achieve this by helping people to stop developing health conditions and supporting those with disease to halt or slow progression. We also want to make sure you can take greater care of your own health so you can live a longer and healthier life.
What social care services are available?
Many people’s first impression or thoughts of social care might be a residential care home. In fact, there’s a wide variety of social care services available and most people will be able to have care provided in their home.
Falls
Falls and fragility fractures are a significant challenge within health and social care with the incidence increasing at around 2% each year. National data has shown that the rate of falls increases with age, and in any one year, one in three people over the age of 65, and one in two people over 80 will fall.
The impact of falls becomes more severe with age, with hip fractures being the most frequent fracture caused by falls, and the most common cause of accident related death. This is a particular challenge in the East Riding of Yorkshire, with the ageing population, where it is estimated that there are 20,000 falls per year.
Here is a guide on ten steps to staying steady and reducing the risk of falls.
Keep warm keep well
These leaflets give advice on staying well in cold weather, covering issues such as financial help, healthy lifestyle, flu jabs and heating.
Physical activity guidelines for older adults
The NHS website has a useful page on physical activity guidance for older adults.
The Silver Line
The Silver Line is the only free confidential helpline providing information, friendship and advice to older people, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call 0800 4 70 80 90 anytime.
Walking works!
Walking has been described as the perfect exercise. Click on this link to visit the Walking Works website to find out how walking can help everyone live happier, healthier lives.
Guide to healthy ageing
NHS England, in partnership with Age UK, Public Health England, and the Chief Fire Officer’s Association and older people themselves, has published a Practical Guide to Healthy Ageing.
The guide helps people to stay physically and mentally well by providing hints and tips on how to keep fit and independent. It recognises, as we all should, that there is always something we can do to improve our health and wellbeing. For older people who may be starting to find things more difficult to do, it is particularly important to take active steps to slow down or reverse some of the health challenges we are all likely to face.
To help people understand their potential risk of living with frailty, the guide includes a simple, walking speed test. Taking more than five seconds to cover a distance of four metres is highly indicative of frailty, with the proviso that there is no obvious alternative reason for walking slowly such as a previous stroke or knee/hip arthritis. This is not meant to be a diagnosis, but it can provide a good indication that someone should consider making changes to their daily lives so that they can better manage their frailty or reduce the chance of it becoming more serious.
End of Life planning and care
Dying is an inevitability we will all face. It is a topic most of us shy away from discussing, but talking about it can make all the difference to the person reaching the end of their life and those around them. Click here to read more about the range of support that is available.