62% of people feel more concerned about the welfare of their older loved ones in the colder months. Health issues, loneliness, mobility issues, adequate heating and safety are shown to be the main areas of concern. Shona works for Greensleeves Care charity and explains how best we can help our elderly family members.
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00:00 The message that we want to get across to families at this time of year is that their
00:06 older loved ones worrying about their older loved ones, they are not alone in doing so.
00:11 I think it can feel like quite an isolating frame of mind for relatives as well, but there
00:18 are many other people out there who are going through exactly the same thought processes
00:24 as yourself at the moment.
00:26 Winter can be a challenging time, especially for the elderly. According to Age UK, 52%
00:32 of older people, that's 8.5 million citizens, were concerned or very concerned about winter.
00:38 Older people are more susceptible to the severe impacts of common respiratory diseases and
00:43 loss of muscle mass and other age-related physical changes mean they're less able to
00:47 regulate temperature. In recent years, the issues have been exacerbated by the cost of
00:52 living crisis. Many retirees on fixed incomes simply can't afford to heat their homes as
00:57 necessary due to skyrocketing household bills.
01:00 What we tend to see at this time of year is that we have a huge increase in the number
01:05 of enquiries that we get around help and support that people might need. I think what tends
01:11 to happen is families spend maybe a prolonged period of time with their loved ones over
01:16 Christmas and they really begin to start to notice things that they maybe aren't seeing
01:22 during shorter times visiting throughout the year.
01:27 And it's not just physical health that can take a knock during this time of the year.
01:31 It can be harder to sustain social connections, increasing the likelihood and severity of
01:35 loneliness and isolation too.
01:38 They find that the days are shorter, it's darker, it's a lot colder. There may be concerns
01:44 around mobility. Are they warm enough? Are they eating well enough? Have they kept up
01:52 with all their vaccines and stuff like that? Can they get out? Can our older loved ones
01:57 get out to do their shopping as they would throughout the rest of the year? Have they
02:01 got enough food in? So there's lots of concerns, lots of stresses for not only the older relative,
02:09 but also for the families and the impact on the families at this time of year.
02:14 So what can we do to help ease the problem?
02:16 Charity Greensleeves Care has launched their new Warmth of Care campaign to help spread
02:21 awareness of winter vulnerability in the elderly and help families decide which course of action
02:25 is best.
02:26 If you haven't seen someone for a while, whether that is a family member or a neighbour, an
02:32 older neighbour, just checking. Have you seen lights going on in the home? Have you seen
02:39 their meal piling up? Have there been pottons left on the doorstep? And just knocking on
02:43 the door. Our older loved ones are worried about the cost of heating their homes at the
02:48 moment, shopping, you know, just getting the milk in so that they can have a warm cup of
02:54 tea or coffee, making sure that they are having maybe a warm drink or at least one warm meal
02:59 a day because it really does help with their physical health.