Lack of confidence in arranging elder care

Only 40% of the ‘sandwich generation’ (those aged 40-60 who look after both their children and their older relatives) feel confident making decisions about arranging care for their elderly relatives, according to new research by consumer organisation Which?.

The research also found that 44% of respondents with elderly relatives are worried about this responsibility.

With so many different care and support options for people to consider, including home care, care homes, and sheltered housing, this a complex and difficult decision to make. So it is unsurprising that around a third (36%) of those surveyed by Which? said that they would struggle to find enough time to arrange care. Half (48%) said they did not have time to make careful and considered decisions about looking after their elderly relatives.

Finding the right information for their circumstances is also hard – a third of people who had researched elderly care said they wasted time looking at information that was not relevant to them (32%) or spent too long exploring options that turned out to be unsuitable (34%).

Three in ten (28%) said that it was not easy for them to find the information they needed, and a further 40% thought there was not enough information available about the process of organising care.

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