Skill-building for older people, so that they can take control

An experienced social worker in the US (you may be confused that it's about Rochdale, but it's a Rochdale in New York somewhere) talks about how he became interested in working with older people. This is important because a lot of social workers (who of course train when they're young) are mainly interested in working with children and young people. Older people, as a result don't get their fair share of the good social workers - although he makes the point that you have to earn trust, it doesn't come with a degree.  He emphasises supporting and not competing with older people's community organisations and recognising the issues that are important to them - crime in this instance even though most professionals think concern is over exaggerated. Nevertheless, it's a real concern for many older people, and it's important to take it seriously. It's also good to help people feel they can do something about what's happening to them, so they gave observational skills training to the older people, so they could be good witnesses when crime affected them.

A positive skill-building approach to working with older people, which recognises they can take control and can build their own contributions to the community; they don't have to have things done to them.

Link to the article.

Granny pods - keep older people in garden sheds

I'm intrigued by the American Association of Retired People promoting the idea of granny pods in your back garden. Yes, it allows older people to 'age in place' as the American jargon has it, but however luxurious this means keeping your older relative in a garden shed. Even more than with a 'granny annexe' it makes them very clearly subsidiary to the life of their younger relatives.