Growing Old - Attitudes to the elderly are changing, writes George Frew.

Back then, there were a lot of theories among the medical profession about the whole business of ageing, most of which have thankfully been discarded.

In the fifties, it was believed that what older people really wanted was to withdraw from life in preparation for death so it was OK to leave them sitting around in hospital corridors or in nursing homes, more or less waiting for The End.

Sian Wade and Sue Hall are both senior lecturers in Gerontology at Oxford Brookes University's School of Health Care based in the JR II building in the city.

Gerontology essentially the study of older people and their well-being celebrates the biggest annual date in its professional calendar from September 8 at Keble College with a conference which goes under the banner of 'Old Age in a New Age'. And both Sian, a former ward sister and Sue, previously a psychiatric nurse, hope that the conference will help raise the profile and importance of older people as well as focusing on the work of the School of Health Care's research department.

As Sue says: "Recognition of both would be nice."

Recognition that older people the term 'elderly people' has fast become a pejorative one in professional circles deserve more in terms of care and attitude is at the core of what drives both Sian Wade and Sue Hall.

"What we are doing here contributes towards the fight against ageism," explains Sue. "It's about examining attitudes, about thinking about what you say."

At one time, of course, the prevalent attitude towards older folk, albeit unspoken, was, "Well - never mind, they'll be dead soon."

"You're right," agrees Sue. "Some people don't think that older people have the same feelings, or can be treated the same as anyone else but treatment is not down to age."

"In the health service, ageism gets worse, it increases," says Sian.

"In primary health care there are high standards but there's a political side as nurses become mini-doctors and it all becomes about doing things to people rather than undoing them. "The skill in treating dementia, for example, lies in not getting the patient to challenge you and the immediate environment or how you treat someone can cause the challenge."

Sue agrees: "On a course I teach, nurses have said, 'We think it's down to us' that the patients are wandering or shouting and that's not because the nurses are being unkind or cruel, it points to understanding the illness.

"And that means recognising that there is a person still inside there. If you go into some places and look at the patient's record, it's as if their life started on the ward."

Sian says: "Something that Age Concern have picked up on is that it is politic to approach an older person by calling them by their surname. A lot of them get upset otherwise.

"And it's wrong to think that older people can't learn anything new - they may learn it slower, but they learn it better and they remember what they learn."

A story in this newspaper recently focused on local companies whose stated policies included the employment of older people. But did either Sue or Sian feel that this was often just politically-correct lip-service?

"Well, it's a fact that companies who do employ people over 60 or 65 don't have to contribute to pensions," points out Sue, "but B&Q, for instance, are insistent that older people make more reliable employees." The question of health care and social care can raise problems all of its own.

As Sian points out: "Older people present differently when they're ill - now, as a nurse, I'd pick up on that. But how do you help someone who isn't qualified to recognise the condition? The NVQ in caring has helped because it helps people feel more valued."

"We are not out to criticise anyone, " insists Sue. "A lot of thought goes into care and it's all about educating a mass of people to help a mass of people. We want to enthuse people to value their skills as carers and realise the important work they do. But people have begun to realise that change is possible, that it doesn't have to about being in a fog - and that realisation is like switching a light on."

The School of Health Care welcomes sponsorship for the conference next month.

Any companies getting involved would clearly be doing a lot more than paying 'lip-service' - they'd be putting their money where their mouth is.

Meanwhile, Sian Wade has just been appointed Nurse Consultant in the field of Gerontology, as part of Mr Blair's 250 so-called 'super-nurses'. She'll be taking up her new role in Birmingham, since no such position exists within Oxfordshire.

Perhaps that in itself is a cause for righteous rage.