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Background A growing number of older people provide unpaid care, but contemporary research evidence on this group is limited. Aim This study aims to describe the characteristics of older people who provide unpaid care and how these vary by socioeconomic position. Methods Using recent information from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA wave 9, 2019), we analysed cross-sectional data on 1,282 unpaid carers aged ≥50. Data on sociodemographics, health, social wellbeing, care intensity and caregiver–recipient relationships were extracted. Total net non-pension wealth quintiles were used as a relative measure of socioeconomic position. Differences between the poorest and richest wealth quintiles were examined through logistic regression. Findings Most older carers in ELSA were female and looking after another older person. Poor mental and physical health and social isolation were common, and socially patterned. Compared with carers in the middle wealth group, the poorest group were more likely to be living with the person they cared for (odds ratio (OR) 1.56 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03–2.36]) and more likely to experience loneliness (OR 2.29 [95% CI 1.42–3.69]), dependency (i.e. the need for help with activities of daily living) (OR 1.62 [95% CI 1.05–2.51]), chronic pain (OR 1.81 [95% CI 1.23–2.67]), a higher number of diseases (OR 1.75 [95% CI 1.15–2.65]) and fair/poor self-rated health (OR 2.59 [95% CI 1.79–3.76]). The poorest carers were also less likely to have a high quality of life (OR 0.51 [95% CI 0.33–0.80]) or be in work (OR 0.33 [95% CI 0.19–0.59]). Conclusion Our findings suggest that financially disadvantaged unpaid carers (and their households) may have the greatest needs for intervention and support. Focussing resources on this group has potential to address social inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Care home residents comprise a significant minority of ambulance patients, but little is known about how care homes impact ambulance service workload. This study aims to quantify differences in the workload of ambulance paramedics associated with patient residence (care home vs private). This was an observational study using routine ambulance service data and Clinical Frailty Scale scores from patients attended by 112 study paramedics between January 1, 2021, and June 30, 2021. 3056 patients (459 in care homes) aged ≥50 attended by the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, England. This study used 2 outcome measures of treatment: time spent at scene and conveyance to hospital. Anonymized patient data and incident time logs were collected from ambulance electronic patient care records. The relationships between care home residency, conveyance to hospital, and time spent at scene were investigated using ordinal logistic regression and quantile regression. Models were weighted to address potential sampling imbalance using anonymised call logs containing all eligible ambulance callouts. Care home residents were less likely to be conveyed to hospital [odds ratio: 0.75 (0.59-0.96)] and received shorter treatment time than community residents [median −7.0 (−12.0, −1.9) minutes for patients conveyed to hospital, −2.8 (−5.4, −0.3) minutes for patients discharged at scene]. Our results suggest that care homes provide support that reduces demand on the ambulance service and other "downstream" services in secondary care. This study also points to a need to enhance care for older people in private households to contain the demands on ambulance services. These findings have implications for countries like England, where ambulance services struggle to meet target response times, which may affect patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background frailty is a condition of reduced function and health due to ageing processes and is associated with a higher risk of falls, hospitalisation, disability and mortality. Objective to determine the relationship between household wealth and neighbourhood deprivation with frailty status, independently of demographic factors, educational attainment and health behaviours. Design population-based cohort study. Setting communities in England. Subjects in total 17,438 adults aged 50+ from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Methods multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic regression was used in this study. Frailty was measured using a frailty index. We defined small geographic areas (neighbourhoods) using English Lower layer Super Output Areas. Neighbourhood deprivation was measured by the English Index of Multiple Deprivation, grouped into quintiles. Health behaviours included in this study are smoking and frequency of alcohol consumption. Results the proportion of respondents who were prefrail and frail were 33.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 33.0–34.6%] and 11.7 (11.1–12.2)%, respectively. Participants in the lowest wealth quintile and living in the most deprived neighbourhood quintile had 1.3 (95% CI = 1.2–1.3) and 2.2 (95% CI = 2.1–2.4) times higher odds of being prefrail and frail, respectively, than the wealthiest participants living in the least deprived neighbourhoods Living in more deprived neighbourhood and poorer wealth was associated with an increased risk of becoming frail. Those inequalities did not change over time. Conclusions in this population-based sample, living in a deprived area or having low wealth was associated with frailty in middle-aged and older adults. This relationship was independent of the effects of individual demographic characteristics and health behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about frailty in the ambulance setting, or its association with outcomes relevant to ambulance services. We sought to measure frailty in people aged ≥ 50 attended by an ambulance, and describe the relationship between frailty, odds of conveyance to hospital, and duration at scene.Methods: An observational study between 01/01/2021-30/06/2021 in North East Ambulance Service, England. Participants were aged ≥ 50 attended by an ambulance, excluding patients requiring immediate treatment for a life-threatening condition or with Glasgow Coma Scale < 15. Paramedics (n = 112) measured patient frailty using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Additional information was extracted from ambulance care records. Weighted regression models examined associations between frailty, hospital conveyance, and duration at scene.Results: Three thousand and fifty-six callouts were observed (mean patient age: 78.1 years, 57.2% female). Frailty prevalence (CFS ≥ 5) was 58.7%. Median duration at scene was 47.0 min (interquartile range 34.0-67.0 min). Ambulances spent a median of 8.2 (95%CI:5.4-11.0) minutes longer with frail patients than non-frail patients. Frail patients were less likely to be conveyed to hospital than non-frail patients (OR:0.75, 95%CI:0.60-0.94).Conclusion: Frailty is common among people aged ≥ 50 attended by an ambulance and an important influence on workload. Ambulance services need a good understanding of frailty to meet patient needs. As populations age, community support should be prioritised to deliver appropriate frailty care and reduce demands on ambulance services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 vaccination in many countries, including England, has been prioritised primarily by age. However, people of the same age can have very different health statuses. Frailty is a commonly used metric of health and has been found to be more strongly associated with mortality than age among COVID-19 inpatients. Methods: We compared the number of first vaccine doses administered across the 135 NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) of England to both the over 50 population and the estimated frail population in each area. Area-based frailty estimates were generated using the English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing (ELSA), a national survey of older people. We also compared the number of doses to the number of people with other risk factors associated with COVID-19: atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, learning disabilities, obesity and smoking status. Results: We estimate that after 79 days of the vaccine program, across all Clinical Commissioning Group areas, the number of people who received a first vaccine per frail person ranged from 4.4 (95% CI 4.0-4.8) and 20.1 (95% CI 18.3-21.9). The prevalences of other risk factors were also poorly associated with the prevalence of vaccination across England. Conclusions: Vaccination with age-based priority created area-based inequities in the number of doses administered relative to the number of people who are frail or have other risk factors associated with COVID-19. As frailty has previously been found to be more strongly associated with mortality than age for COVID-19 inpatients, an age-based priority system may increase the risk of mortality in some areas during the vaccine roll-out period. Authorities planning COVID-19 vaccination programmes should consider the disadvantages of an age-based priority system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two years, Help the Aged has worked with colleagues across Europe, through the Age network of 160 aging organizations, to help excluded older people feed their views into the European National Action Plans on Social Exclusion; to better understand the barriers faced when consulting older people.