The elderly have diverse health-care needs and the frail elderly, because of associated co-morbidities, carry a significantly high mortality during their journey of care. Adequate planning and coordination between teams and an accessible and flexible interface between services will help ensure a safe, smooth journey for these people.
With an ageing UK population people are living longer and enjoying longer periods of retirement. It is projected that the number of people over the age of 65 years in the society will rise from the present 16% to 20% by 2051 (Office of National Statistics, 2004). These demographic trends have consequences across all areas of public policy and add to challenges in health and delivery of health care. Society’s expectations of old age mean that people are not only living longer but are expecting to have improved quality of lives through minimizing disease and other risks, thus contributing to successful ageing.
In the 2001 census the population of the UK was estimated to be around 59 million, of which the ethnic minorities comprised just over 4.5 million (Office of National Statistics, 2001). People from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (the south Asian communities) made up nearly 2 million or 4% of the total UK population. The health-related problems of this section of the population are in many ways different from the native Caucasian population. Moreover, this section of the population is itself heterogeneous, with different cultural and religious beliefs and varying dietary and lifestyle habits.
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