Category Archives: dementia
Cuts in services leave dementia victims in fear
Dementia victims face crime wave on doorstep
A LOOMING £1bn cash crisis could leave dementia sufferers at greater threat from rogue traders who are exploiting cutbacks in social services to target some of the most vulnerable members of society.
Trading standards officers in Yorkshire have warned the rising numbers of pensioners who are suffering from mental illness are being placed at increased risk as care professionals are no longer available to ward off the advances of doorstep criminals.
The Alzheimer’s Society claims a £1bn funding gap is looming in social care nationally, as local authorities are forced to strip back resources to cope with the Government’s austerity measures. North Yorkshire County Council alone is faced with making savings of more than £90m across all its departments, and finance directors have warned front-line services including social care will be hit.
Many dementia sufferers will be left with a reduced level of care in their own homes, prompting fears they will be targeted by organised gangs of criminals who are travelling to the region to prey on the elderly.
Care homes on the brink as bailiffs move in
Care homes on the brink as bailiffs move in
, Sunday 28 April 2013
The total of private care home operators going bust grew by 12 per cent in the past 12 months. The annual rate of failures among private providers has more than doubled since the economic crisis began, with 250 residential care operators shutting.
Councils, a vital source of income for private-care providers, are slashing referrals and now seeking to shut their own facilities to meet savings targets. Andy Burnham, the shadow Health Secretary, called the wave of closures a “crisis”.
Providers are said to be caught in a perfect storm of diminishing income while struggling with fixed costs and debts left behind from their rapid expansion during the economic boom. Campaigners claim it will be elderly people – many dementia sufferers – who suffer.
Mr Burnham warned that the closures were part of a wider collapse in social care driven by spending cuts imposed on town halls. One authoritative study places the amount cut from Britain’s adult social services at up to £2bn.
How to improve your memory!
Clenching fists ‘can improve memory’
Memory can be improved simply by clenching the fists, a study suggests.
Clenching the right hand for 90 seconds helps in memory formation, while the same movement in the left improves memory recall, say US psychologists.
In an experiment, 50 adults performed better at remembering words from a long list when they carried out these movements.
The researchers think clenching a fist activates specific brain regions that are associated with memory processing.
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