BMJ  2007;334:913-914 (5 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39191.405833.80

Editorials

Health and welfare of older people in care homes

Improvements will depend more on reform of the whole system rather than on commissioners and champions

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

The welfare of older people who live in care homes has raised concern for decades in many countries.¹ Scandals surface on a depressingly regular basis, and although these enter the public consciousness, none provokes the outcry caused by reports of abuse of vulnerable people at the opposite end of the age range—children.

Two recent campaigns by the charity Age Concern England and partners focused on lack of respect for the dignity of older people. "Hungry to be heard" examined the problem of malnutrition in older people in hospital,² and it called for more help for those needing assistance with eating and drinking. But protecting patients' meal times from interruption will prove a difficult goal for frazzled staff in many acute hospital units. "Behind closed doors" campaigned for people to be able to use the toilet in private in all care settings and argued that this was a general marker of . . . [Full text of this article]

Ageing and Health Division of Medicine and Therapeutics, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Evans, G. E (2007). Role of primary care in improvement. BMJ 334: 1019-1019 [Full text]  
• Whitby, P. (2007). How to bring about changes. BMJ 334: 1019-1020 [Full text]  

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