later life

People aged 55 and over. The elderly men and women in the population. Old people who may be retired and suffering from chronic disease

Our later life Blogs

Care and support of older people with learning disabilities chosen for NICE social care quality guidance and standards in 2015

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Background NICE (National Institute of Health and Care Excellence) provides guidance and quality standards for health and social care in England. Its evidence-based guidance is produced to support health and social care professionals to ensure that support provided they is of the best possible quality and offers the best value for money. Following a Department [read the full story…]

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Study suggests use of resin-bonded bridgework more cost effective than removable dental prostheses in older partially dentate patients

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The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness analysis of two different tooth replacement strategies for partially dentate older patients; partial removable dental prostheses (RDP) and functionally orientated treatment based on the shortened dental arch concept (SDA). Partially dentate patients aged 65 years and older seeking replacement of missing natural teeth, had a [read the full story…]

Rate of falls in older adults with learning disabilities substantially higher than in general elderly population Netherlands study finds

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Background Falls and fall-related injuries are a common and serious problem for older people. Nice guidance published in June last year suggested that 30% of people over 65 and 50% of people over older than 80 fall at least once a year. Falls are estimated to cost the NHS more than £2.3 billion per year. [read the full story…]

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‘Beating the Blues’ intervention shows promise for reducing depression and improving quality of life in older African Americans

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This paper reports the findings of a study exploring a new approach to treating the symptoms of depression in older African Americans. This a group of the population with very high levels of general health care needs – the result of a combination of factors including the USA’s political and social history but also modern [read the full story…]

Trial shows that implant overdentures did not result in better dietary intake than conventional dentures at 12 months

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Studies have shown that edentate patients have poorer nutrition than those with no teeth The main aim of this study was to assess whether mandibular two-implant overdentures (IODs) improved the nutritional status of older people compared with those wearing a conventional denture (CD). Patients over the age of 65 who had been edentate for a [read the full story…]

Little practical engagement of people with learning disabilities with issues of death and dying despite in principle support for right to know

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We have posted previously about end of life issues for people with learning disabilities, for example, pointing to the impact of training in palliative care as well as to resources such as the films made by Change for the dying matters coalition that can be used to help include people with learning disabilities in discussions [read the full story…]

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Barriers experienced by dentists in delivering care to older people

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An increase in the proportion of older people in the population is evidence, with those aged 65 years of age and above expected to increase from 19 to 25 % in Europe by 2025.  Coupled with an improvement in oral health over the past 30 years this means a higher proportion of these older people [read the full story…]

“Decision-makers need to think differently about how to commission long-term condition services” says study

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The aim of this paper, written for commissioners, managers, and health decision-makers, was to look at how commissioning works for people with long-term conditions such as dementia. The authors carried out a multisite mixed methods case study research, involving three ‘commissioning communities’ and using interviews, documents, and meeting observations to reach their conclusions. A commissioning [read the full story…]

Limited evidence on the benefit of providing oral healthcare education to care home nurses on their attitude and their oral hygiene care skills

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Oral care is an important element of care for older people in care homes as oral health is often poor and can deteriorate rapidly causing pain discomfort and impacting on nutrition and quality of life.  With growing numbers of older people this is an area of increasing demand. This aim of the review was to [read the full story…]

Moderators of outcome in late-life depression: should we be prescribing antidepressants to older people?

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Meta-analyses are an incredibly useful tool for synthesising evidence. However, such analyses typically use aggregate data, meaning the average scores or outcomes for treatment groups, which can cause problems if we’re trying to dig a little deeper into the question of ‘what works’ to answer ‘what works, and for whom?’ The ‘for whom?’ question is [read the full story…]