Getting Old
BBC Radio 4 is devoting the month of January to Care in the community. Discussions this week dealt with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. ‘Women’s Hour’ and ‘You and Yours’ approach the problems from different angles. Each day a Podcast of the programme is available, and if you have an aging parent, or are at the butt end of the nursing home jokes, they are worth a listen. There is something to learn for everybody.
One horrendous fact I learned on Wednesday was that for 2008-09 if someone foster’s a young child the allowances are about £121.68 per week. Yet if you are a full time carer for the elderly the allowances are £48.00 per week and that is means tested! If the carer earns over £100 per week the allowance is reduced. If the same patient is admitted to a Nursing Home or Home for the Elderly, the fees range from £500-£600 per week. Very often when someone ill remains within their home it falls to one person to provide the care 24/7 (£48.00), while in a Nursing home the staff change at least every eight hours providing fresh energy to look after the patient.
There is a lot to be said for a fatal heart attack!
steph said,
January 12, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Very true, Grannymar … but not just yet please!
As my young ‘uns like to constantly remind me…
“you’d better behave yourself ‘cos we’ll be the ones to choose your nursing home”
Grannymar said,
January 12, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Steph I know that mantra! Someone I love chants it every now and then!
Why do you think I work so hard at all this technology stuff? I have to prove I still have my Marbles.
chrisb said,
January 12, 2008 at 3:30 pm
When you see the figures in black and white it really brings it home how little carers are actually paid and some get nothing!
Wisewebwoman said,
January 12, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Now I see why I have to put aside a little stash of pills for THE DAY. I’ve seen too many, sans marbles, in “homes” GM, and Sweet J, not for me….
XO
WWW
Grannymar said,
January 12, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Chris ~ Carers do a wonderful job and should be recognised.
Now, now WWW we have a lot of living to do and blogs to read before we get to that stage!
Baino said,
January 12, 2008 at 8:18 pm
The maximum carers allowance for a single here is 244 pounds (sorry can’t find the symbol on my keyboard!) and that is means tested and asset tested which means all assets except the family home are considered. They might qualify for other pensions such as unemployment benefits or a Carer’s Payment or a Parenting payment on top of the allowance. It’s still nowhere near enough considering the sacrifices some people make. I also believe that a vast majority of ‘carers’ are employed and therefore don’t qualify for any government assistance. It’s quite a big focus here at the moment and one of the election promises of the Rudd Government was to delve more deeply into the role that unpaid carers play . . they keep people out of the health system and need to be financially rewarded for doing so.
Grannymar said,
January 12, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Another angle is that most carers have no training to begin with.
Nancy said,
January 12, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Grannymar,
Over here, Foster parents do get an allowance but Carers get NOTHING…
Claire said,
January 13, 2008 at 1:11 am
And they say a nation is judged by how it treats it’s most vulnerable citizens.
I know that I plan on doing my utmost to see that my parents don’t have to go into a home but don’t tell them that, we like to bring up the threat of Shady Pines every now and then.
Grannymar said,
January 13, 2008 at 10:17 am
The thing all Governments seem to forget is that the Entrepreneurs of today would not be here but for the dedicated love, labour and sacrifice through years of war, rationing and general hard times before modern appliances and conveniences were the norm.