Editorial

Citation

Klee, D. and Robertson, G. (2016), "Editorial", Working with Older People, Vol. 20 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-01-2016-0001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Working with Older People, Volume 20, Issue 1.

Deborah Klee and Guy Robertson

A national perspective in Working with Older People is represented in this issue with contributions from Korea, India and Portugal. Continuing with this global theme, the needs of migrant workers working in care homes in the UK is the topic of a paper by Manthorpe.

There are a growing number of migrant Indian workers in long-term care facilities for people with dementia in the UK. The experiences of these workers as they adjust to working life in the UK is variable but could be improved with attention from employers and HR managers by understanding and responding to their specific needs. The study found that many of these workers had ambitions to progress to caring roles within the NHS. With the right support and development these workers could provide a valuable resource to the NHS.

The needs of older workers are discussed in papers by Kim and Gonclaves. Kim’s paper examines employee retention among older workers in Korea, identifying the factors that contribute. Inevitably this includes health status, with some job types having poorer retention than others.

Goncalves paper examines the training interests of retired people and postgraduate training in the field of ageing in Portugal. Both of these groups had similar training needs.

Goncalves has made two contributions to this issue. The second paper reports on the benefits and challenges of an advocacy group for intergenerational policies. It concludes that an intergenerational approach is essential to Portugal’s social well-being.

Patel reports that fear of crime and the victimisation of older people is an emerging social problem in India. Emotional abuse is the most prevalent form of abuse, with most abuse mostly taking place in the person’s home. In the UK the most common form of abuse recorded is neglect and acts of omission. Abuse most frequently takes place in the home (National Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2015). So, there are similarities despite very different cultures and social environments.

The final two papers are from the UK. Skingley presents the findings of an evaluation of an arts and dance programme for older people, Edna. The physical, social and psychological benefits of dance are supported with statistical evidence. I am reminded of a paper by Chapwell (2014) bring on the health economists: time for rigorous evaluation of senior participative arts, in which the need for evidence to support creative arts was encouraged due to a lack of research. This paper makes a valuable contribution to this field.

The final paper is by Woods and addresses memory impairment associated with Parkinson’s disease. Some people with this condition and those that care for them are unaware of this complication. Poor medication compliance is one of the problems associated with memory impairment. This paper recommends practical strategies to manage memory impairment and lessen its impact on daily living and quality of life.

A varied and interesting issue for what will be my last as editor. The first issue that I edited was Volume 14 Issue 2, June 2010, nearly six years ago. It has been a great privilege and pleasure to read the contributions from authors around the world and to promote some of the excellent ideas and good practice shared. I hand over to Guy Robertson a member of the editorial board who I have worked with for several years. I know that Guy will do an excellent job as editor of the journal and look forward to reading future issues. I have asked Guy to close this editorial by introducing himself:

I am delighted to be taking over as editor from Deborah, who has handled the role superbly over the last few years. I see this a great opportunity which I am very excited about. The journal provides a mechanism for seeking out some of the best practice and most interesting thinking and sharing it with a wide range of practitioners and policy makers in the field. It is a particularly interesting time for the ageing agenda. There is a growing recognition of the need for society to respond strategically to the changing demographic profile of the country and a growing number of areas are showing an interest in becoming more "age friendly", despite the severe austerity facing the public sector. Other organisations are beginning to break new ground in looking at the psychological and emotional aspects of ageing, testing new approaches to building resilience and developing a growing evidence base about how to promote the wellbeing of older people. The future is not exactly "rosy", but there are a number of shafts of light breaking through the gloom!

As I sign off as editor I will look forward to finding those shafts of light in the excellent submissions made by our authors and readers.

References

Chapwell, C. (2014), "Bring on the health economists: time for a rigorous evaluation of senior participative arts", Working with Older People, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 4-9

National Health and Social Care Information Centre (2015), "Safeguarding adults annual report England 2014-15 experimental statistics", NASCIS, London, 28 October, available at: www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18869 (accessed 4 January 2016)