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of hospital geriatric beds is being officially restricted and where
the local authority, with an acknowledged scarcity of social
workers, home helps, etc., is expected to bridge gaps which, with
increasing numbers of aged persons, will tend to get even wider.
Arrangements for determining the extent of need and priorities
must be continued under the impending re-organisation.
What are these needs? Previous Annual Reports have covered
the subject fully but a restatement of matters of greatest importance
to the aged is given below :—
1. Maintenance of Health. Loss of health complicates the life
of the old person, the quality of which then becomes
dependent upon official and voluntary bodies.
2. Preventive Measures. Physical and mental stimulation and
early attention to disabilities revealed by Geriatric Advisory
Clinics.
3. Financial Provision. Sufficient resources to provide a suitable
and sufficient balanced diet and fuel in winter for the
maintenance of actual body heat.
4. Avoidance of Loneliness. A stressing of the advantages of
preparation for old age, a generosity of spirit and the cultivating
of friendships, all of which are vital to the elderly.
Assistance with these aims can be achieved by ample use of
lunch clubs, old people's clubs, church organisations, etc.
In this context of loneliness we are, today, witnessing the
breakdown of the nuclear family, a situation which is encouraged
by population mobility ably assisted by local authority clearance
and rehousing schemes, and an increasing number of aged persons
are fast becoming isolated from relatives and friends. Cottages
in the country and seaside residences, considered as havens by
many retired people are often, in themselves, precursors of loneliness.
Here, undoubtedly, is a field in which closer co-operation
between health, social and housing departments in future housing
policies is warranted.
Although, today, to be young is often regarded as a virtue in
itself and to be old a misfortune, it would be as well if we
remember that we all share the same human conditions separated
only by time. The elderly suffer the same range of illnesses, both
physical and mental, as do other sections of society, which can
be treated in the normal way—they must not always be considered
as synonymous with senility. Moreover, we must ensure that our
elderly do not become "shuttlecocks" or "pawns" in a game
between the geriatrician, the psychiatrist and the welfare officer,
many of whom start with an assumption that the geriatric is in