Older families initiative

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When we talk about "older families", we mean people with learning disabilities who are living with their parents, brothers or sisters who are over 65.

Older families need the same kind of support as other families but often need even more help as they get older.

Older families need practical support to go on living together and to make plans for the future before an emergency happens. However many older families are socially isolated and are not in touch with services they could benefit from.

The Older Family Carers Initiative aimed to make sure that families received:

  • the best possible support to help them in their current situation
  • help with planning for emergencies
  • support to start planning for the long-term future.

The project built on findings from the Growing Older with Learning Disabilities (GOLD) programme that ran from 1998-2002.

It aimed to improve the lives of older people with learning disabilities by developing a better understanding of their concerns and how best these could be addressed.

The report on this work Today and Tomorrow focused on inclusion, health, older family carers, where people are living, dementia, Down’s syndrome and terminal illness.