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Care of the Elderly:
This is a problem which is much in the public eye. Improving
social conditions and modern medical methods have led to a vast
increase in the number of elderly in the community.

Fortunately, the majority of our elderly are 65 years young rather
than 65 years old ! This increasing problem has been recognised,
and efforts both national and local are being taken to deal with it.
I am pleased to record that in Finchley a number of large houses
have been purchased for conversion into old people's accommodation
and several sites are being considered for the erection of old people's
dwellings. The activities of the statutory and voluntary bodies in the
district are most praiseworthy and cover a considerable amount of
work in this field, but I often wonder if efforts are being channelled
in the right direction. In medicine the care of the elderly has been
recognised as a speciality, but unfortunately there is a tendency to
place the elderly in the community in a similar special category. I
feel a re-appraisal of the problem might reveal the desirability of
building on the family unit, the directing of our services both social
and financial to keep the elderly in their own family group, for
example, the re-planning of flats or houses to accommodate
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