A Sheffield event highlighted that understanding real needs of elderly people and signposting available services have been crucial for better social care.
Panellists from academy and charity groups in Sheffield discussed the intersectionality of ageing issues and more intersectional methods for elderly people’s care at the University of Sheffield’s Diamond building yesterday.
The panel was organised by the Festival of Debate 2023, a programme that reflects communities in South Yorkshire and broader movements for social change, along with the charity Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care (SCCCC).
People were invited to attend the event to hear specialists reflect on the support available for older people in Sheffield and to ask questions.
Intersectionality and ageing
The concept of Intersectionality was first raised by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, and indicates that people are positioned in the society with multiple social categories such as age, gender, social class.
The panel was hosted by Loma Jones, the equity, diversity, and inclusion lead at SCCCC that helps the elderly, who emphasised the significance of including diversity in the conversation around ageing.
“Everybody is different, if everyone grows old, then what variety is that?” said Ms Jones, “So many different people with so many different areas of life we are trying to think about and we need to talk about it to make sure we’re not missing out on them.”
One participant pointed out that it is important to understand the true needs of people rather than making assumptions about them for coming from any tagged group.
Factors affect accessibility to social service
Both Alfred Sandy, from Darnall Well Being, and Ismail Yussuf, a manager at a charity offering help to Sheffield Somali community ISRAAC, stated that cultural differences and language barriers make it difficult for social service workers to provide support.
Sandy illustrated how females and males have completely different ways to access services in Muslim community as an example. He suggested that social services could be localised to each individual culture.
According to Dr Hawa Yatera of the Sheffield United Women Affiliation, a charity that works to empower women, the lack of data on how social services are offered to those from various cultural backgrounds could potentially be a problem.
Impact of the pandemic
Additionally, the influence of Covid was mentioned as well.
Tammy Wilson, operational lead at SCCCC, noted that the mental health of many elderly people and their established routines have been affected due to the pandemic. Some of the places they used to visit often have been closed since then.
Furthermore, Ms Wilson and Mr Yussuf noticed that financial pressure was also considered as an important factor keeping people from accessing the services, especially under the cost of living crisis.
Moreover, according to Mr Sandy, many older people are unaware that there are resources out there for them, which makes it challenging for them to make use of these services.
Information is the key within the process. “We need to know more,” one attendee said.