Funeral planning takes priority

Planning for the care people need in later life takes a backseat compared to planning a funeral in advance.

People are much more comfortable with the idea of funeral planning than care planning, according to a survey by live-in care specialist, Helping Hands.

Nearly half – 47pc – of UK adults have discussed wishes in the event of their death with family and friends, whereas just 24pc have tackled the topic of how they would like to be cared for when they can no longer care for themselves.

The figures help highlight a lack of care planning amongst the population, said Helping Hands bosses.

Reasons given for not planning care included people who admitted to burying their head in the sand, those that felt their elder years were too far away to think about and there being no need to discuss care when they were not currently ill.

Lindsey Edgehill, care services manager for Helping Hands, said: “It’s well documented that we are an ageing population.

“The number of over 65s has increased by 1.7m since 1984 and people over the age of 85 are the fastest growing age group in the UK.

“The financial and social implication of the resulting care requirement is huge.

“No-one wants to think about a time when they may need help in their everyday lives but if people consider the care they want to receive, who will be involved in that care and how it will be financed ahead of time, the burden is lifted from the rest of the family.

“Guilt is a major factor within the care issue and additional research we recently undertook identified it as the main reason for people not getting help with the care of their parents.

“Planning for your own care before you need it empowers family members to make decisions on your behalf that they can be happy with as well as relieving the financial pressure that is often left for loved ones to cope with.”