Let’s Talk About Care Podcast Launched
Let’s Talk About Care – new podcast launched featuring Gyles Brandreth and Esther Rantzen A new podcast from leading reviews sites carehome.co.uk and homecare.co.uk has launched on issues relating to care. The podcast features Gyles Brandreth in its first episode. Other episodes so far include Wendy Mitchell who talks about living with early onset dementia and Esther Rantzen, who discusses loneliness and carebots. The Let’s Talk About Care podcast is hosted by Jill Rennie, Sue Learner and Angeline Albert. They have regular guests on the show from various backgrounds, including experts, policy makers, those working in the industry and celebrities who have stories to tell about care. Sue Learner, editor of carehome.co.uk and homecare.co.uk and Let’s Talk About Care co-host, said: “The idea of the podcast is to shine a light on different areas of the care sector and give people support and information as the podcast shows there are always others out there going through the same experience. Whilst it is a serious topic, there’s also a lot of humorous and heart-warming stories to tell and we are hoping to inspire people.” Co-host Jill Rennie and news editor of carehome.co.uk and homecare.co.uk, said: “We were delighted to have Gyles on to kick off our first episode and he certainly delivered an entertaining show. He spoke eloquently on the power of poetry and keeping your brain active – I’m certainly going to be digging out my old poetry books to memorise a line or two!” Episode one features writer, broadcaster and former MP Gyles Brandreth. He has experience of navigating the care system having supported his mother in her care decisions as she entered her nineties. He talks about his new book of poetry Dancing by the Light of the Moon and his campaign to get everyone to memorise poetry off by heart again saying it can help people with dementia.Episode two features Wendy Mitchell, who is living with early onset dementia. She has written a book Somebody I Used to Know and in the podcast she reveals the battles she goes through on a daily basis and how she has always been a “glass half full person” which helps her through difficult days. For her, her “biggest fear is not knowing who my daughters are. I don’t know, it may be tomorrow so I focus on the present and enjoy the now”. Episode three features broadcaster and campaigner Esther Rantzen, who talks about how technology has its limits when it comes to care – doubting care robots, robopets or Alexa can banish the loneliness facing too many elderly and disabled people this Christmas. She also that says “as a Jew”, allegations of anti-semitism in the Labour party “worries me”, England should have an “older people’s commissioner” like Wales and the right to die is a “human right”. Angeline Albert, news editor of carehome.co.uk and homecare.co.uk and Let’s Talk About Care co-host, added: “The painful loneliness and ageism suffered by too many of the country’s elderly is exacerbated by a lack of political will to find solutions for social care. This is laid bare in our podcast with Esther Rantzen, founder of The Silver Line helpline, in her poignant reminder that older people and the disabled just want to ‘feel part of the human race’”. You can listen to the podcast Let’s Talk About Care on Spotify and apple or at www.carehome.co.uk/podcast.
Stevenage nursing home residents visit primary school for lunch
School caterers HCL, alongside a primary school in Hertfordshire, are piloting a new project that brings elderly people from local care homes into school so children and elderly residents can share a fun lunchtime together. Four Care Home residents, along with two carers from Roebuck Nursing Home in London Road, Stevenage, visited Shephalbury Park Primary School in Burydale in December as part of a project that will continue to see monthly visits from senior citizens to the school. The delighted children set up a special dining room for lunch with their special guests to enjoy meals served by HCL, the leading school caterers in Hertfordshire. On the menu was roast chicken with sage and onion stuffing and roast potatoes with seasonal vegetables and gravy, plus a reduced sugar dessert. Studies suggest this type of collaboration can decrease older people’s loneliness, delay mental decline, lower blood pressure and even reduce the risk of disease or death. The project also aims to promote and narrow the intergenerational gap. Mr Conway, Headteacher at Shephalbury School, said: “We’re delighted to partner with HCL and Roebuck Nursing Home. There was a really lovely atmosphere throughout the morning in the school, everyone was smiling, and the children were thrilled to see their elderly guests enjoying their favourite meal, chatting about their lives and what they enjoyed doing, and playing some games. “As a school, we think it’s important to promote intergenerational activities. The potential benefits for children include positive changes in perceptions and attitudes towards the elderly, increase in self-confidence and positive behaviour in school.” Parents of the children were very supportive of the visit saying that their children had been telling them all about their experiences and the conversations they’d had with the guest visitors.” Doreen, Resident at Roebuck Nursing Home, said: “It was a lovely lunch, in a specially decorated room by the children. The children were so well behaved, it was the highlight of my week. I enjoyed my morning spending time with the children, we spoke about their schoolwork and played a few games. “Things have changed a lot since I was in school, with the children using more technology and remembering our school meals were never as tasty as what we ate today. It is fair to say school lunch is a lot better now than it was back then and it was nice see the world from these wonderful children’s perspective.” If the project is successful it will see residents from different care homes across Stevenage visiting Shephalbury School once a month where they will share lunch provided by the school’s caterers, HCL at no extra cost to the school or care home.
Care Sector Ball confirms headline partners for 2020
The leading supporters for the care sector’s biggest fundraising event have been confirmed for 2020. Specialist care provider, CareTech plc, and independent grant-making foundation, the CareTech Foundation, will once again be headline partners for the event. CareTech plc and the CareTech Foundation have supported the Ball as Headline Partners from the event’s inception. Their combined support represents a £30,000 contribution to the Ball. The Care Sector Fundraising Ball, which this year raised a staggering £200,000 for charities in the care sector, was first established in 2018. Since then, it has raised a total £345,000 for charities in the care sector. Organisers are confident that next year’s Ball will build on the success of previous years, and the beneficiaries for the 2020 event will be the Care Workers’ Charity and Alzheimer’s Society. Haroon Sheikh, CEO of CareTech plc, said: “The company is delighted to be supporting this amazing event for the third year. As a leading provider of social care for young people and adults with learning disabilities, we take our responsibility to the communities we serve very seriously. The Ball provides an excellent opportunity for us to support two powerful charitable causes close to our hearts and we look forward to this year’s event raising even more funds for them.” Jonathan Freeman, CEO of independent charity the CareTech Foundation and Vice-Chair of the Ball Organising Committee, said: “Over the last couple of years, the Care Sector Ball and the organising committee have shown just how much this event can achieve, raising desperately needed funds for the care sector. The Ball is a perfect opportunity, not just to support these deserving charities, but also to take a moment to recognise the outstanding work of the UK’s care workers. I’m very pleased that we’re able to support it as it enters its third year, and I’m confident that the Ball will continue to be a real success.” Avnish Goyal, founder of the Care Sector Ball and Chair of Hallmark Care Homes, said: “We are hugely grateful to CareTech plc and the CareTech Foundation for once again supporting the Care Sector Ball. Without their support, it is unthinkable that the event could have been so successful in 2019 and raised so much for our two worthy charities. We’re all hugely ambitious about what can be achieved in 2020, and having CareTech plc and the CareTech Foundation as our Headline Partners has got us off to a tremendous start.” Next year’s Care Sector Ball will be on Saturday 26th September 2020. Already, almost 50% of table sales have been confirmed in under two months. Places are going fast so please contact info@caresectorball.org.uk to sponsor a table now.
UK’s leading care home reviews site launches first ever TV advert
carehome.co.uk, the UK’s leading care home reviews site is launching its first ever TV advert on Boxing Day.Every year carehome.co.uk sees a huge rise in the number of people looking for a care home after Christmas, with nearly a half million extra people visiting the site during this time. The increase in traffic is the result of many families realising over the Christmas period that their relatives are not coping well on their own.You can watch carehome.co.uk’s TV advert at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyE62v4XyXQ&feature=youtu.beAndrew Bennett, Marketing Director at carehome.co.uk, said: “With the post-Christmas period being peak time for those searching for care, we hope the TV advert will bring more people to carehome.co.uk so we can assist them in finding the right care home. “The advert is aimed at strengthening the carehome.co.uk brand with the specific goal of increasing the numbers of visitors to the site and ultimately boosting traffic to our care home profiles. “The advert will make more people in the UK aware that we have nearly 150,000 in-depth reviews of care homes, which give a real insight into what they are like. “When it comes to searching for a care home, carehome.co.uk continues to be the ‘Go To’ site, receiving over 90% of care home directory traffic and we anticipate the ad will build upon a hugely successful 2019 and help carry the momentum through to 2020 and beyond.” The TV ad, which launches on Boxing Day and runs till 19 January across multiple channels including C4, ITV3, Sky Arts and BT Sport, has three key messages. Mr Bennett added: “We wanted to show how easy the site is to navigate through to relevant and useful content. “Secondly, we wanted to show the depth of information held on carehome.co.uk. This includes the number of care homes we list, the types of services covered and the sheer number of reviews. It’s all here and in one place. “Thirdly and this is possibly the most important, we wanted viewers to come away with an understanding of how seriously we take our reviews process. Reading reviews is such an important part of choosing a care home for a loved one and you have to be able to completely trust every review. It’s important for the person searching for the care home and for the integrity of carehome.co.uk. We have a continuously evolving review checking process which comes across in the ad.” The TV advert was produced by Happy Hour and filmed at Barchester Moreton Hill Care Centre in Stroud, which provides 24-hour nursing and residential care, alongside expert dementia care. Tina Marsh, Team Leader at the care home along with Steve Chamberlain, the Activities Coordinator, both star in the advert.Andrew Bennett, carehome.co.uk’s Marketing Manager, said: “We received fantastic support from Barchester Moreton Hill Care Centre who kindly allowed us to film in their care home and to keep the advert authentic we used actual staff. We are extremely grateful to Moreton Hill and especially to Steve and Tina who came across so well on screen.” Daney Thomas, General Manager at Moreton Hill said “It was fantastic to have our home chosen for this advert. The team here are proud of our work and hope this reflected that the care of residents is always at the forefront of everything we do.” Tina Marsh, Team Leader at Moreton Hill and former Carer of the Year said “It was exciting to be filmed in this advert. I have worked at Moreton Hill for over 20 years and this was a new experience for me. This care centre is a fantastic example of how to provide effective nursing and residential care while feeling at home and I hope that comes across.”
Bluebird Care Ranked 16th on Top 100!
Bluebird Care, the UK’s largest homecare provider, has ranked 16th on the prestigious Elite Franchise Top 100 for 2020. Elite Franchise is the definitive publication for the franchising sector, and each year, they produce a list of the top 100 UK franchises. The core criteria used to determine the rank of a franchise include; longevity, financial performance, network size, contribution to the industry and communities, support, innovation and future plans. Bluebird Care was established in 2006 and their network is comprised of over 200 franchises. Each region has its own dedicated Business Development Manager and Quality Manager, as well as the network’s Franchise Support Centre. The Staff Guide App, created by Bluebird Care, also acts as a manual for franchises, offering in-app training and guidance. Speaking about Bluebird Care, Penny and Nick from Bluebird Care Wellingborough said: “The network is like family, they mostly go on with their own lives, but are always there to support you when you need them.” Bluebird Care maintains quality assurance in their network using their training academy, which has its own prospectus and offers many City & Guilds certified training courses. This ranking follows the introduction of Bluebird Care Assist’s innovative Health and Wellbeing Check Service that was launched earlier this year. This technology is used to regularly monitor customer’s vital signs and it detects early stages of a decline in a person’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, and can therefore be a beneficial tool for care given at home. Over the next five years, Bluebird hopes to further expand the size of their business, while maintaining a strict focus on the high quality of care they provide. Their expansion plans will soon be revealed, and Brand Manager, Charlotte McKenzie said “the plans will embrace the opportunities for developing specialisms in complex care support.”
Harrogate Neighbours cut fall assistance times thanks to emergency lifting chair
Harrogate Neighbours cut fall assistance times from 6 hours to 15 minutes thanks to emergency lifting chair. Harrogate-based Yorkshire Care Equipment have supplied local charity, Harrogate Neighbours, with a Raizer emergency lifting chair. The specialist lifting device is now regularly used by the team across their domiciliary care services and at The Cuttings, their extra care housing facility. Residents live independently in private apartments with a care team on-site 24/7 to provide assistance if needed. In the past, the care team had struggled to safely help residents back up quickly. They didn’t have the appropriate equipment to allow a carer to lift someone back to their feet on their own. So, they had to rely on waiting for ambulance call outs. The Homecare Manager at Harrogate Neighbours said: “On average, we deal with around one fall per month where the resident needs assistance. Before we got the Raizer, we were having to ring an ambulance every time. Sometimes, the person who had fallen would be laid on the floor for up to six hours waiting for the ambulance to get to us. Then they’d have to be hoisted up by the paramedics.” “But now, we are able to help someone straight away. The Raizer is pretty instant. We had one resident who fell at 12.10 and by 12.25 they were sat in the dining room having their dinner. Anyone can use it, it’s really simple. We include it in manual handling training for new staff and no one is scared to use it.” The Raizer emergency lifting chair is a unique fall assist product because it only needs one carer to operate it. This saves time and money for care staff both at The Cuttings and across wider healthcare services. Harrogate neighbours have been able to support the local community, as well as The Cuttings residents, using just one Raizer lifting device. This is because the chair splits down into 7 lightweight pieces for transportation. The domiciliary care team can pack everything up into the rucksack provided, put it in the back of the car and use it out in the community. Since receiving the Raizer, staff have used it more than eight times to help people up after a fall. Lynsey Robinson, Senior Team Lead at Harrogate Neighbours, described one of her experiences: “I used it in a carpark when someone had blown over in the wind. It was on concrete, so I was a bit worried, but it worked brilliantly. Everything was very relaxed and now everyone swears by it.” The Raizer has been designed to provide a stable lifting experience on a range of surfaces. It can lift people up to 150kg in weight and can provide up to 100 lifts on just one charge.
Creating a Happy Christmas for Someone Living with Dementia
Spending time with loved ones over Christmas is what the festive season is all about, and for those living with dementia it’s just as important. There are, however, considerations to make when spending the Christmas season together, in order to make it an enjoyable and relaxing experience for all. Dementia wellbeing brand, Active Minds, have put together their top tips for creating an enjoyable day for someone living with dementia. Food & DrinkEating and drinking is considered a big part of Christmas traditions, and the Christmas meal itself can be fantastic for evoking memories and encouraging conversation. If the person living with dementia is able, involve them in the cooking process or perhaps talk about recipes from the past. The smell and taste of the food can be a highly sensory and engaging experience for all, which has numerous wellbeing benefits.It is important to remember when serving a Christmas dinner, that appetite may change as someone progresses along the dementia journey, so try not to overwhelm them with too much food. Alcohol consumption should also be considered and taken only in moderation; whilst it can be enjoyable to consume with others, dementia is linked to memory loss and the person living with dementia may consume more than they are aware of, which may lead to confusion. Quiet SpacesChristmas can be overwhelming, with a variety of noises, visitors and increases in decorations, so setting up a quiet space for the person with dementia to spend some time can be beneficial for relaxation. You can also have the opportunity to spend some time with the individual away from the chaos of Christmas day. VisitorsToo many visitors all at once may be confusing and overwhelming for someone living with dementia. Try and stagger visits throughout the day or introduce the person with dementia to each person in smaller groups rather than all at once. For those with later stage dementia, it may also be beneficial to show photographs of each visitor before they arrive and talk about that person to create familiarity. Time TogetherChristmas day activities can be a lot of fun, whether you’re taking part in a family tradition board game or perhaps having a sing along. These can all be fantastic for someone living with dementia also. Small considerations may have to be made, for example playing a dementia friendly board game, using dice cards instead of rolling dice or perhaps playing music or watching films from the person with dementia’s childhood; these dementia games can help evoke memories and spark conversations, as well as being relaxing social activities for spending some time together. Care HomeFor those living with dementia who may be spending Christmas in a care home, it’s important to bring festivities to them. Whether this is visiting with various family members, joining them for a Christmas meal or opening gifts together. Christmas is a fantastic time to reminisce so why not take photographs of Christmases of the past and sit with your loved one and talk about each one.
Borough Care Signs Up To Reward Gateway
Borough Care, the largest not-for-profit provider of care for older people in Stockport, is providing a range of attractive benefits and incentives to staff through Reward Gateway. Reward Gateway offers a huge range of high street discounts, which allows employees to save and earn money back on everyday shopping. Borough Care will also be using Reward Gateway links to help staff improve their wellbeing, by providing access to counselling services and financial management advice. Jayne Hennessey, Head of Human Resources at Borough Care, says: “At Borough Care we value the contribution made by all our employees and are keen to help make life as stress free as possible; so they can concentrate on continuing to provide exceptional care to our residents. We are always on the look-out for ways to incentivise and help people with their daily lives, which is why we decided to link up with Reward Gateway. Through the new system, our staff will be able to take advantage of a wide range of benefits.” Reward Gateway will also host Borough Care’s ‘My Hub’, which is a one stop shop for all the software and cloud-based sites the company uses. This will make it quicker and easier for Borough Care staff to access company information. Jayne Hennessey continues: “Making sure we have the best possible tools in place to effectively communicate with our teams is really important, especially as the majority of our staff are based in our homes and work shifts. We are embracing the digital age, to ensure staff can quickly and easily find out about what’s happening in the business and share information.” Find out more about Borough Care here
Live-in care provider supporting older people to vote
With the general election just around the corner, a national live-in care provider is ensuring those they care for are supported to make their vote. Promedica24 provides around the clock care in people’s own homes. The 1-1 support that is provided enables care workers to accompany individuals when accessing the community, including visiting the polling station. Care workers have also been on hand to remind people of their right to vote, provide them with accessible information and ensure they are aware of the general election deadlines. Paula Beaney, Quality Assurance Director at Promedica24, commented: “Everyone has the right to vote, and with social care continuing to be a high priority subject for many, those who are receiving care and support need to have their chance to help shape the future.” Older people continue to be more likely to vote than the younger generations, and YouGov reported that 84% of people aged 70+ turned out to vote in the 2017 general election. Paula added: “Although older people are more likely to vote, when they become less able it inevitably becomes more difficult for them to do this. This could be for a number of reasons including mobility or awareness of the date and location of the voting station. “As during the previous elections, our carers will be on hand to support the people they look after in exercising their voting rights. Many of our clients find it very important to be able to visit the polling station on election day and have their say on national and local matters. But some of them would not be able to do this without carer’s assistance. “Our role is to integrate those we care for into the community and ensure they still feel important in their role in society. Voting is one way they can do this.” Promedica24 provides live-in care, as an alternative to residential care, allowing those with care needs to remain in the comfort of their own home. For more information about live-in care services visit www.promedica24.co.uk
