November 2013
Featured in this insight: Medical & healthcare, Public health & wellbeing
Study reveals that the elderly are frightened of care homes: New research carried out by the think tank Demos has found that fewer than one in four adults would be willing to consider moving into a care home if they became frail in old age, many citing the risk of being badly treated, abused and neglected by staff was their main concerns.
The poll of 2,000 adults suggests an overwhelmingly negative perception of the social care system with only a quarter (24%) reporting that they would consider moving into a care home, compared with two-fifths (43%) who would not. Furthermore, many of the respondents claimed they associate isolation, boredom, illness and abuse with care homes. Of those who would rule out moving into a nursing home, more than half (54%) said they feared being neglected or abused.
Commenting on the findings, Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat MP and former health minister said:
“The poor reputation of the care service leads people to put off thinking about making plans only to find they are making difficult decisions when their lives hit a crisis”.
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