Many of us, and I count myself in this group, have lived life in the fast lane far too much, with little time left to reflect and consider. I am getting better at this now. Hitting the pause button is now a universal experience. The question is what does it bring? What reserves can we pull on? How can we apply previous learning to something we have never experienced?

One of my best reads this year on health and wellbeing has been Sally Davies and Jonathan Pearson- Stuttard’s book, Whose Health is it Anyway, published in November. It sets out a total health ecosystem where local government, business, the Private Sector, and social and commercial drivers invest in health, prevention etc.,

There has been a coming together of thinkers who come from different disciplines, including economists, policy developers and health professionals. They are all saying things that now need to be listened to and incorporated into the recovery programme into the New Year.

The Death word, as a normal part of life’s cycle is important to bring out into the open and everyday parlance, particularly with children’s education in mind as it is part of our life course.

The power of the smile is known and experienced by us all, particularly important for those living with dementia. I found in visiting my mother for many years across different care homes I visited as both a professional and a relative non verbal communication and human connection without words are part of the poetry and pain of dementia.

Care homes need to be fully integrated part of the wider system that is focusing on person centred outcomes over tasks. I am eager to tackle this one as soon as we are able to emerge from the Covid war of uncertainty.

‘Stop-watch’ care home visits, lack of transparency of life in a care home since lock down, fear, occupational deprivation and boredom and the rising burden of insurance bills …..

I remember a time when I visited a care home and I caught the eye and smiled at a lady who was walking towards me down a corridor, momentarily lost in her own world. She looked up and came up very close, cupped my face and stroked it in gentle caresses. She had no words. I had never met her, but her soft nurturing touch was powerful, and I shall never forget it as a response to warm engagement.

We have heard a lot about the sense of touch recently on the radio. Touch ‘hunger’ has been proposed as a syndrome that people feel when they have been deprived of sufficient human touch.
For those in care, the functional touch to assist in every day activity is still experienced but other forms of touch are less likely as we have become ‘touch sensitive’ with physical distancing required of this Covid virus control.

Since the beginning of time, whatever your beliefs the human condition is programmed to form meaningful relationships with others. These can take different forms. We know that we are valuable human beings throughout the life course, from cradle to grave. Sadly, our society and how it is structured tends to still be ageist although we have added years to life through good public health over the years, for us to enjoy. - Read more……