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| Elderly hands © Sangita Mistry |
‘The Colour Purple:
Caring for the elderly in a multicultural UK’
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) states that in 1983, there were just over 600,000 people in the UK aged 85 and over. Since then the numbers have more than doubled reaching 1.3 million in 2008. By 2033 the number of people aged 85 and over is projected to more than double again to reach 3.2 million – accounting for 5 per cent of the total British population
As the ageing population is on the increase my aim is to highlight the different care needs of the elderly, but more specifically from different ethnic communities. Through extensive research I discovered that there are many commonalities as well as differences in their needs, and why people of that generation choose to be around others of the same cultural background. I visited a number of culture-specific care homes, residential housing, nursing homes and various elderly day centres across the country as part of my research.
