Legal & General : Caring for Britain report

Caring for Britain

Journeys through care

Caring for Britain

Journeys through care

The stories

The stories in this report show that there is much more to be done to support older adults. They also show that there is some ground‑breaking thinking, research and delivery happening right now. This report also contains the stories of real people, who have shown great courage to share how their lives have changed during their care journeys. The authors are grateful to Tony Watts, leader of EngAgeNet, for his work in writing the personal stories, based on interviews he conducted during the spring and summer of 2020 - for this reason, and decades of campaigning for older adults, the 'last word', of the report belongs to Tony.

Legal & General Thought

Leadership Commitment

A vigorous national debate, about the issues that affect our customers, colleagues and shareholders, is an important part of national life.

We want to stimulate the big conversations and ideas that can contribute to the progress of our society and our economy.

Legal & General is delighted to support the work of Think Tanks and of academics and specialists in areas relevant to our business.

As part of our commitment to encourage debate and freedom of speech we exercise no editorial control over the conclusions or recommendations made by our contributing authors.

Legal & General

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Foreword

Professor David Grayson, CBE

I hope after you have read "Caring for Britain," that you will share my sense of excitement and possibility. The possibility for good later lives; for extended healthy lifespans. The possibility that many more Britons can enjoy greater choice in later life. The possibility that digital technology and Artificial Intelligence offers for greater personal independence for longer and for more personalised health care. The possibility to build a preventive National Health Service rather than a reactive National Sickness Service.

At the heart of this timely paper is the aspiration that Tony Watts expresses: that all older people should be able to lead rich fulfilling lives connected to family and friends. The paper skilfully intersperses the stories of individual older Britons who have confronted the realities of today's care system, with the stories of individuals and organisations working for disruptive innovation and radical improvements in the quality and quantity of care available.

The stories told by Marguerite and Ken, by Phyllis and Peter, by Brenda, by Marion and Jack, and by Monica are powerful insights into both the good and the bad aspects of the care that older people use today.

Each of the organisations in this story of a journey through care come from different places. Some are entrepreneurial charities. Some are for-profit enterprises with purpose. What binds them is

their purpose; what they all have in common is an absolute commitment to empowering the people who need care, their families, their carers, their medics and their advisers. All of these people, from consultants to care professionals to financial advisers work together to create an ecosystem that helps those who need care to meet their goals.

Telling the stories of the energy and innovation of start-ups, the research from our universities, the insight of charity leaders, the advice of financial experts

and the experience of care professionals shows the power of what is happening around us all right now - people with vision are working for the people

who matter far more than ownership distinctions, the users of care.

There are millions of people dedicated to caring, and even in today's circumstances, there are reasons

to be hopeful about the future. This report is about what can be done, and is being done, today. The leaders, who have written about their lives and their organisations, are out there right now, contributing to the care of millions of people. It is right that we should all consider how to build a better, more integrated health and care system but it is also right to recognise that there are people with ideas, energy and compassion who are changing the system every day, right now.

As a Legal & General customer, I am delighted that L&G has taken such a powerful, leadership role on making Later Life better for many more Britons. "Caring for Britain" is one more tangible example of this leadership. I hope that L&G will now use its convening role to generate an informed conversation around how the innovations described in the paper, can help to reinforce each other and spur further innovation from public, private, charity and social enterprise sectors.

As Tom Lord reminds us in his essay, COVID19 has put added onus on healthy lifestyles. We should use this once in a generation moment, to create radical improvements in support for a good

When your loved one starts to change, that is a very disempowering moment. Being able to bring someone in, and being able to keep in touch with that carer, is a way of empowering a family when it feels like they're losing control."

and healthy later life, where individuals and their families have genuine choices.

As a campaigner, I want this report to stimulate more positive collaboration and further innovation.

Rachael Crook, co-founder and CEO, Lifted

Caring for Britain

Journeys through care

Positive developments	£5m
Newcastle post-COVID
in UK care, happening	care home prototypes
right now

1new kinds of leaders like Rachael, Max

and Andrew

2the development of new and better homes for older people, discussed by John Galvin, Adam Hillier and Tom Lord

3high quality information enabling marketplace tools to empower care users

- pioneered by Andrew at Care Sourcer

3,000

New homes being built for retired people

4new roles for employers that Emily outlines

5

7

new independence- at-home-technology from Chris at Current Health

new cloud-data-processing, like Max at Birdie Care, that can spot early signs of health problems coming down the tracks

£6m

of grant funding to deploy to companies helping the healthy ageing market

6new phone apps that empower families and friends from Rachael at Lifted