Judith Gregory: We must raise expectations about the quality of care

This will leave many people wondering why there is so much anxiety around the issue. Occasional press reports on poor quality examples of “care” in some care homes do nothing to calm these fears, but in reality our new report, entitled Low Expectations, finds that excellent care does exist, but that pessimism about life in care homes is leading people to settle for less.

There are 800,000 people with dementia in the UK and over 300,000 of them – more than the population of Doncaster – live in a care home for older people.

Four years ago, the Alzheimer’s Society launched a report called Home From Home, which detailed the experiences of people with dementia living in care homes. The report showed huge variations in the quality of care they received as well as a workforce which was in desperate need of more training in dementia care.

Now, in 2013, awareness of dementia has never been higher. The Government has for the first time set out a challenge to improve how they as politicians and all of us in our communities respond to dementia.

Dementia has been the subject of storylines on some of our most popular TV soaps, and leading scientists have declared the condition a global health concern on the same level as Aids and cancer.

Set against this background, Low Expectations explores whether the third of those with dementia in the UK who live in a care home are experiencing the quality of life we would all expect and hope for in our own older years. The report covers the key factors facing someone looking for a care home, the quality of life of those living in a care home, the role of homes in the community.

What this report finds is that, while across the country there are both good and bad examples of care, expectations – from people in care homes and their relatives to the staff who care from them and the public at large – are worryingly low.

Put simply, those who don’t have personal experience of care homes are scared of them and those who do don’t associate good care with a decent quality of life.

One of the biggest fears is anxiety about the potential for abuse of people with dementia to take place in a care setting. More than half (53 per cent) of UK adults said risk of a close relative being abused was the biggest concern they would have if a close relative went into care.

Fortunately incidents of abuse are still relatively rare and 64 per cent of people responding to the survey felt that care homes are doing enough to prevent abuse in care homes.

Among its recommendations, the report suggests that the care home sector must do more to respond to the challenge of abuse in care homes.

So what can society and the care home sector do to dispel the fear and raise expectations in society for those using and working in the care home sector?

The Government and the care sector must work together to improve public understanding that people with dementia in care homes can enjoy a good quality of life.

We need to further challenge perceptions of poor practice and promote care homes as appropriate places of care for many people with dementia, rather than residences of last resort.

Low Expectations recommends that people with dementia should have access to the same level of support from health and care services in care homes as they would in the community.

Further, care homes should seek to be centres of dementia-friendly communities, acting as focus points for activity and engaging with the local population by actively encouraging engagement with people outside the residential setting through volunteers going into care homes and residents going on visits into the wider community.

The Alzheimer’s Society is also working hard to raise expectations and quality of care that people with dementia, their carers and society as a whole has a right to expect from the care 
home sector.

The Society provides information to people with dementia and family members looking for a care home. We have produced a factsheet and 
a handy guide which advise people on the key things to look for when searching for a care home for a relative. Alzheimer’s Society also provides specialist dementia training to care homes.

We will also be working with the care home sector to encourage them to be part of our work aimed at creating Dementia Friendly Communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In a context of increasing scrutiny and pressure on budgets, the future sustainability and viability of the care sector is likely to depend on these expectations being raised.