BMJ 2002;324:1534-1535 ( 29 June )

Editorials

Long term care for older people

Increasing pressure for change

See also News p 1542

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Long term care is a reality for thousands of frail older people, a source of great anxiety for many more and, across the developed world, a political hot potato that shows no sign of cooling. The heat is fuelled by two factors. Firstly, current government policy in many countries is widely perceived to be unjust, with older people themselves paying an ever greater proportion of the costs of health care. Secondly, the rising percentage of older people in the population, while fuelling doom laden economic projections, is inexorably increasing the power of the older vote, producing democratic pressure for change that is gradually intensifying. This week's changes to the funding of long term care in Scotland will further intensify this pressure (p 1542).

Very shortly after winning power in May 1997, the New Labour government in the United Kingdom sought to deal with the problem by appointing a royal commission . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Who will care for the oldest people in our ageing society?

Jean-Marie Robine, Jean-Pierre Michel, and François R Herrmann
BMJ 2007 334: 570-571. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Long term care for older people

Tom R Dening and Michael O'Donnell
BMJ 2002 325: 660. [Extract] [Full Text]

Shooting the messenger
BMJ 2002 324: i. [Full Text] [PDF]

United Kingdom divided as Scotland introduces free personal care for elderly people

Bryan Christie
BMJ 2002 324: 1542. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Dening, T. R, O'Donnell, M. (2002). Long term care for older people. BMJ 325: 660-660 [Full text]  
• Kite, S (2002). Upstream from death. JRSM 95: 529-530 [Full text]  
• Kafetz, K. (2002). What happens when elderly people die?. JRSM 95: 536-538 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Issues of Perceived Value

Ned Hoke
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2002 [Full text]

Older than old

Michael O'Donnell
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2002 [Full text]

Long term care for older people: dementia is the main issue

Tom R Dening
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2002 [Full text]

full funding from what source is long overdue?

Stephen F Hayes
bmj.com, 1 Jul 2002 [Full text]

Re: Long term care for older people: dementia is the main issue

John C Campbell
bmj.com, 5 Jul 2002 [Full text]

Long Term Care

Kalman M Kafetz, et al.
bmj.com, 12 Jul 2002 [Full text]

All NHS HEALTH CARE IS NOW FREE BY LAW

Stephen Squires
bmj.com, 13 May 2003 [Full text]