Why the media should challenge stereotypes of elderly care

The media must drive awareness to the positive aspects of care if we are going to change the way people feel about it, by George Ames

A four-letter word beginning with C? Care: for some, the word itself conjures up images of wipe-clean seats, tell-tale smells, misery, reliance on others and downward spiral. Grim but hardly a surprise that this is what most of the general public associate with care, and in particular care in later life, when you look at how it is covered by the media. At Forster, we have conducted an audit of recent media coverage of care – with depressing results.

This month column metres – not inches – have been devoted to the presenters of the BBC’s When I’m 65 season, saying: “I’d rather take my own life than face illness in old age”, or “I don’t think it’s too over-dramatic to say that I think care homes, by and large, are prisons that people are sent to as a punishment for being old”, and that the prospect of moving into a care home fills them with “enormous dread”.

Yikes! Look beyond this recent run of stories and you’re faced with coverage from the last six months revolving around scandal, failures, underfunding, lack of dignity and unnecessary death. The papers remind us about the fragility of the financial situation – questioning how on earth Great Britain PLC can foot the growing care bill.

Does all this reflect the reality? For some yes, but certainly not all. There are also positive stories to be told by those providing and receiving care. So, how can we encourage the media and the general public to think differently about care and all it entails? It’s not easy – but it’s certainly not impossible.

Organisations working in this area must use their communications to reframe care so it isn’t seen as a life sentence. Encouraging the public to look beyond the grim stories and asking them to take a more balanced approach is essential. More voices must join this debate, highlighting the opportunity to prepare for a better end of life and fostering better understanding of the financial responsibilities involved and what assistance is available.

Yes, improvements are needed within some corners of the industry but let’s not tar everyone with the same brush. There are armies of underrated and underpaid nurses and carers who dedicate their lives to helping others and ensuring they can live as independently and fully as possible. The services these people provide, quite simply, give life to others and they are largely invisible in the media discussion.

We will all need these services sooner or later, and so it is vital to engage the public with this debate now to ensure better care for all – presently and in the future, care is a catch-all term covering a cornucopia of support services to help people live lives they want to for as long as possible.

Care homes, in-home care, respite services for exhausted relatives and carers … through to dog walking, helping with the gardening, good neighbourliness and being engaged with the community in which you live. They are all forms of care that contribute to better lives for people who use them.

Driving awareness to the positive aspects of care and fostering a broader discussion is essential if we are going to change how people feel about the four-letter word beginning with C.

It’s less about “need” than about “life”. It isn’t something to hide from, it’s something to find out as much as possible about before a crisis hits and people are forced into making decisions under stress. This will only happen if care organisations create better communication and engagement.

George Ames is director at Forster Communications.