New, fairer funding arrangements, a review of the current settlement for older people and reforms to the benefits system are among the proposals put forward in a major new report on the social care system by The King’s Fund today.

Counsel and Care, the national charity working with older people, their families and carers to get the best care and support, has welcomed the Health Select Committee’s report into social care, but calls for interim measures suggested in the report to be taken up and implemented as soon as possible.

In December, we led Mature Times with criticism of reduced Government spending on Alzheimer’s research. In January, the Government replied to those comments. Here, Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research Trust, explains why - while welcoming some Government initiatives - she still feels the issue is not receiving the priority it deserves.

 It's easy being green. So why not help the Irish along on Saint Patrick's Day this Wednesday and pour out some naturally green grape refreshment.

 According to Wikipedia, Britt Ekland is ‘a Swedish actress long resident in the United Kingdom, best known for her roles as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and in the British cult horror film The Wicker Man, as well as her marriage to actor Peter Sellers and her high-profile social life’.

Mature Times editor Tony Watts talks to her – and discovers that there is a much bigger story to tell, including the reasons behind her passionate support of Alzheimer’s sufferers and their carers.

I write this, not from my Suffolk home but sitting at my desk on board ship -the Regent Mariner – and we are currently approaching what is often described as the world’s southernmost city.  At 55 degrees south, Ushuaia in Argentina makes this claim although, for many years, the Chilean town of Puerto Williams has disputed this.

Retired people form the country’s fastest growing demographic group and older households will represent half of all household growth between now and 2026 - making it important that the development, construction and care industries recognise this opportunity.