Five-year plan to support older people in Cardiff

A report which outlines how older people in Cardiff will be supported over the next five years is to be presented to Cardiff Council’s Cabinet when it meets next week Thursday 20, 2022.

The Ageing Well Strategy sets out a series of proposals with a focus on how the Council’s internal services can work closely to meet the needs of older people, whilst supporting the work of independent and third sector providers and the Regional Partnership Board. The strategy has six key aims:

Supporting older people to stay active and connected in an age-friendly city

Supporting older people to live independently at home through strengths-based preventative services

Working in partnership to deliver high-quality sustainable care

Supporting informal carers and valuing their role

Ensuring our services meet the needs of the most vulnerable

Proactively Modernising our Services

Cabinet Member for Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, Cllr Susan Elsmore said:

“Cardiff’s population is ageing, and while it is positive that many of our citizens are living longer, unfortunately, some older people may live with poor health and live with ageing associated diseases such as dementia.

“At a time when the care sector is already under severe pressure and workforce retention and recruitment are presenting real issues, there has never been a more important time to reflect on our approach to services and how we can support both our older citizens and the care sector more effectively.”

It is projected that by 2031 the number of people:

Aged 65+ will increase by 17.8%; those aged 85+ will increase by 9.2% and over 90 will increase by 5.9%

The number of people that struggle with activities of daily living will increase by 17% by 2030, this will apply to 1 in 4 older people (over 65).

The number of people living with dementia will increase by 30.1% by 2030 and 41.1% for severe dementia.

Cllr Elsmore added:

“With a vision of Supporting older people to live well in their homes and communities, the Ageing Well Strategy sets out our commitment to work together with our partners to support older people to stay well and to live independently in their own home for as long as possible and, when care is needed, to ensure that this is provided to a very high standard.

“Social isolation is a growing issue for older people and carers, this had been made worse by the pandemic. We have already applied with our partners to be recognised as a World Health Organisation, Age-Friendly City, ensuing our city is as accessible as possible for our older citizens.

“Akey part of this new strategy is a commitment to ensure that even the most vulnerable of our older citizens are able to stay active and connected to their community, through our network of community hubs, our older persons day centres and by supporting a range of community and voluntary activity.

“There is a key focus on prevention in the Ageing Well strategy and by providing the right support at the right time, older people can be aided to remain independent at home and long stays in hospital can be prevented.  We plan to further strengthen our services to support better outcomes for older people.”

Cardiff, like the rest of the UK, is currently facing unprecedented demand for health and social care services and recently issued a statement about the current care crisis Statement from Cardiff Council, the Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and the Welsh Am (cardiffnewsroom.co.uk). The strategy recognises the importance of supporting and working with the Social Care workforce in order to provide good quality care. The Cardiff Cares Academy, developed recently by the Council’s Into Work Service, will be further developed to ensure that training, mentoring and employer support is available across the sector.

Cllr Elsmore added:

“We are very pleased that the Welsh Government have recognised the vital role that care workers play in supporting vulnerable citizens and the additional funding announced recently will help us to move towards the real living wage for carer workers in Cardiff.

“This, together with the support that we can offer in terms of training and recruitment, will help to address the longstanding issues with employment in the care sector.”

The report also asks Cabinet to agree to the development of an Independent Living Wellbeing Centre which would see the development of a single facility to act as the centre for independent living, containing a warehouse and distribution centre for equipment and include a new smart house for training staff and the wider sector on the range of technology and equipment available to support independent living.