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Description
Older people are much more likely to have long-term conditions. They are also more likely to have multiple conditions which can increase the complexity of care required. Increasing obesity and unhealthy lifestyles among younger age groups could change the services people will demand as they ‘store up problems for the future’. It has been projected that the number in the UK with dementia will double in the next 40 years (Alzheimer’s Society, 2012) and that one out of every three people over the age of 65 will develop dementia. It is important to understand which conditions will be prevalent in the future, as this will influence the workforce required to deliver care. Multimorbidity, and the ability of the health and social care workforce and patients to balance the benefits and risks of multiple treatments and services (Guthrie, 2012), presents a challenge to the single-disease framework of most healthcare and medical education (Barnett, 2012).
