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CARE OF THE AGED
The three former Metropolitan Boroughs which are now the London Borough of Camden
had a proud record of service for the elderly. With the advent of the new Borough, however, a review
was essential, for there were now new responsibilities and it was vital to ensure that services
met current needs. Reports upon the care of the elderly have often shown that services are not
adapted to meet increasing needs, especially for those over 75 years old. Accordingly an appraisal
of existing services and expected requirements was made.
The 1961 census showed that in Camden there were then 26,680 women over the age of
60 and 9,919 men over the age of 65. Of these, 6,102 women and 2,737 men were aged 75 - 84 and
1,188 women and 417 men were over the age of 85. More than 10,000 of those over retirement age
were living alone.
The Welfare Department provides residential accommodation for the elderly, services
outside the home, work groups and visiting and provision of aids of the handicapped. The Health
Department and associated voluntary organisations are concerned with the care of the elderly in
their own homes, including visiting, casework and the provision of meals on wheels, chiropody,
home help and 'good neighbour' services, and home nursing. These services are dealt with at
length in other sections of this report.
To provide services for some 37,000 elderly persons, one must know their actual wants.
Some are still working; others live with or near their families and may not need any help from us.
There remain many - some infirm, others living alone or with an elderly spouse - who need help,
but do not receive it. Only too often they accept infirmities and deterioration in their physical
condition as the normal result of ageing, yet many of these conditions (such as failing eyesight,
deafness and foot defects) can be alleviated. Moreover, isolation enhanced by physical defects
tends to go hand in hand with mental deterioration. This in turn may create other problems, such
as suspicion (leading to a refusal of help) or accumulation of dirt and rubbish.
VISITING
If old people are to be helped, they must be visited regularly by someone with specialised
knowledge, such as a health visitor or other public health nurse who can get in touch with their
general practitioner, if required, and can advise and assist the old people to obtain further forms of
support.
In April, 1965, there were eight nurses and one social worker fully occupied with emergency
calls and with the care of the very infirm who need weekly or more frequent supervision, so that
little routine visiting of other elderly people was possible. Visiting of old people was also carried
out to a limited extent by health visitors.
Following the review referred to above, a plan to increase regular visiting of old people
was approved. It was decided to increase the number of staff employed exclusively for domiciliary
visiting of the aged to 20 in the first instance, to allow the 10,500 old persons aged over 75 to be
visited each three months. The Borough has been divided into visiting areas, each allocated to a
geriatric visitor, working from a local welfare centre and responsible for regular visiting in the
area. Much thought was given to the type of visitor needed, and although it was felt that, where
possible, health visitors should be used, recruitment difficulties in this field suggested that it
would be more practicable to appoint visitors with basic nursing qualifications and an interest
in the welfare of old people.
Prom such regular visiting I expect that increased demands will be made upon related
services, particularly home helps and chiropody, and financial provision has been made accordingly.
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