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if people in their 70s and beyond stop helping others the NHS would collapse, tomorrow, but there is even more you can do

THE NHS, AND MANY OTHER ORGANISATIONS DEPEND ON PEOPLE IN THEIR 60S AND BEYOND

If people in their seventies and beyond stopped helping others the NHS would collapse the next day.  People in their sixties, seventies and beyond already play a huge part in providing help to other people.  Sometimes of course it is for a spouse but they also play a very important part in communities helping neighbours, organising lunch clubs and voluntary transport, acting as councillors and many other roles.

As the population structure changes with the increased proportion of population being aged over sixty five and as Camilla Cavendish points out in her excellent book called Extra Time the number of people aged over sixty five is greater than the number of people under six in every country in the world for the first time.  So a new need emerges, the need is to use those experienced in their sixties and beyond. Unfortunately because of negative attitudes people who are classified as being part of “the elderly” are often overlooked when organisations  seeking volunteers.

What people have overlooked, and this includes many people in their 60s and beyond is that they have acquired valuable assets over the years, not financial assets but social and psychological assets as Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott describe in their book The Hundred Year Life
​
1.    The first category of intangibles is productive assets.  These are the assets that help an
        individual become productive and successful at work and should therefore boost their
        income.  Obviously, skills and knowledge will be a major component of this category, but
        there is much else as well.
2.     The second category is 
vitality assets.  Broadly these capture mental and physical health
        and well-being.  Included here are friendship, positive family relationships and partnerships,
        as well as personal fitness and health.
3.     The final category is transformational assets.
  Across a 100-year life, people will experience
         great change and many transitions.  These transformational assets refer to their self-  
         knowledge, their capacity to reach out into diverse networks and their openness to new
         experiences. “
​People make huge contributions already, set out below is an example of something a retired computer manager does which he did not even think of describing when first asked what contribution he made to his local community


 "I support my local U3A by providing computer expertise.  I am a "helper" to the committee.  At the moment I am helping them set up an online database for membership records. In addition to being a member of a wine tasting group of the U3A I am the convener of the Android users group. That is a self help group that shows older people how to make use of Android mobile phones.  In addition to that, because I've had a long career in computing and have had many local clients. They still call me for help and still recommend me to their friends.  It's not a full-time business by any stretch of the imagination.   I also like to spend Wednesday mornings listening to reading with primary school children with one of the local schools."

More than ever the NHS and society needs the assets of people who have hitherto simply been categorises as 'retired' and this is increasingly recognised by the NHS as part of social prescribing and the good news is that one of the best things you can do to reduce your risk of dementia is to become a volunteer 


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