Liane McIvor 13th June 2022

Professor Les Mayhew is to lead a review to identify the level of unmet need for housing-with-care for older people in the UK.

All older people should be able to access suitable housing and care support if they need it according to Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO), the body representing the UK’s retirement community sector.

The organisation is calling for improvements in how care is provided to older people and the housing options available. Care provision, it says, needs to focus more on keeping people well, to become more person centred and to be delivered more efficiently.

It states thousands of new homes are needed to support independent living and activity and to provide a genuine alternative to care homes, thereby, enabling care homes themselves to concentrate on providing complex care to older people with the highest levels of acuity.

THIIS Magazine source: https://thiis.co.uk/review-launches-to-assess-the-shortfall-in-care-provision-and-suitable-housing-for-older-people/

A survey conducted by ARCO in 2020 found that nearly 90 per cent of people think the UK Government should widen housing options for older people and that more than half of older people are interested in moving but lack good local downsizing options.