In Japan, I’ve watched a humanoid robot dance with a human physio, leading enthusiastic elderly people in a morning exercise routine. In Holland, I’ve visited old ladies in their homes with a nurse who brings her dog to cheer them up. In America, I’ve been to a care home where the residents run the library — whose shelves display books they’ve written themselves. As every rich country grapples with growing numbers of people living longer, getting frail or being crippled by loneliness, an important part of the answer lies in keeping people independent for as long as possible. 

A care system which promises us all more meaning in old age would be far more attractive than one which sounds like a last resort to manage decline. In the UK, the debate about social care has taken off again, with chancellor Rachel Reeves ditching a long-delayed plan to “cap” certain care costs. This has alarmed those who feared the cap was the only game in town. But Reeves’s instinct is right.

To fix social care requires bigger thinking, about both funding and the approach to those with disabilities. The only way to untangle what currently feels like a monstrous Gordian knot — with underpaid care workers, desperate families, GP shortages and clogged hospitals — is to change the narrative. Elderly social care should be framed as a positive investment for the whole of society.