Members of the Forum will have received notice of the Annual Assembly to be held at Carr’s Lane Church Centre in Birmingham city centre. Along with the notice, they will have received an agenda for the day and a booking form.
The theme this year is based on the All Party Parliamentary Group’s paper and inquiry entitled “Living Well at Home“. This subject is not a simple matter of what might be described as ‘home comforts’, but considers the concerns and obstructions encountered by those in later life who would like to live in accommodation (whether owned outright or rented) which better suits their changed needs.
For example, according to the inquiry report, there are many older people who own their homes outright and would like to move to smaller and better suited accommodation, but cannot do so as there is a dearth in the availability of such suitable accommodation. These people own and live in homes which are now too big for them and want to downsize, but cannot do so because there is little, if anything, suitable to downsize to!
Consider also those who live in rented accommodation. The inquiry report establishes that a great many of older people in such accommodation can end up in care homes not because they need to be in care homes, but because of the failure to make (or a significant delay in making) adaptations which would allow them to live longer in their homes. The psychological consequences, in a word, are depression. With the multiple value of costs this imposes on health and care services when compared to the cost of a home adaptation.
There are many other issues besides the above. The Assembly provides the opportunity and vehicle for all interested parties – home-owners, social housing managements, tenants, social and care service providers, equity-release businesses, and so on and so on – to have a say and to supply feedback to the inquiry secretariat.
The principal speaker at the Assembly is the editor of this APPG inquiry report – Jeremy Porteus. He is also a Director of the Housing Learning & Improvement Network.
Please do attend if you are able. As at last year’s Assembly, there is a consultation where the Forum will collate your contributions, ideas, concerns, suggestions and responses, and then submit that information back to the APPG.
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West Midlands Later Life Forum 