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Frank and Mary loved each other’s company. They would sit together and hold hands. Both had dementia and were living in a care home. Their closeness made them happy and their families were delighted. Mary wasn’t bothered when Frank called her by his wife’s name, nor that he began to intervene in her day-to-day life. They were besotted. He started sitting her on his knee, and, after a few drinks, they could be found canoodling in the corner. This is not a fictional scenario. It is a story told by a care home worker that touches on a taboo about dementia and sex. It is now well established that while sexuality and sexual intimacy may change with age – and…

More disabled people than ever before are choosing self-employment, but are being let down by poor support from government, according to new research from IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) and the Community trade union. The study, Making self-employment work for disabled people, claims that 611,000 UK disabled people now work for themselves in their main job. The report also found that although they overwhelmingly see self-employment as a positive way of working, they do not get the support they need from government. Click here to read more

Derwenthorpe is being developed by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) as an urban extension of more than 500 homes on the outskirts of York, England. This research finds that mainstream housing developers can successfully deliver sustainable homes and communities at scale that produce high-quality living environments. However, different levels of buy-in from residents mean that environmental and social measures need to be built into the model as far as possible from the outset. It recommends that: Greater emphasis on the design, space standards and aesthetics of new developments should be incorporated into Government-level directives. Housing providers must work with resident groups to set up inclusive governance structures to promote the long-term social sustainability of communities. Architects and developers need to ‘build in’…

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