Older people from black and minority ethnic groups are often overlooked, writes Pat Healy. They need services geared to their specific needs

WHETHER AN ageing African-Caribbean woman enjoys a healthy and active life can depend on such arbitrary factors as how close she lives to a shop that sells traditional foods, as much as whether she uses too much salt when she cooks. If her son develops renal failure, his chances of living a comfortable life, or even of survival, are severely limited because few black and minority ethnic (BME) people are willing to donate their organs.