Category Archives: Social care

Loneliness is not a bug with a technological solution

May 28, 2014   Carers, disability, Featured Article, internet, Social care
Helping elderly people to use the internet is a good idea. But let’s not mistake broadband connections for social ones

Shar

‘Anyone who has spent time with elderly people knows the real issues are much more complex.’

In the UK, four out of 10 over-65s do not have internet access. At a time when so much of our lives is conducted online – the payment of bills, access to information – that should be a real source of concern about potential social exclusion.

But does this mean that by widening internet access, elderly people will feel more socially connected? Or, even, more radically, as a new report suggests, could this be a solution for loneliness in old age?

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Crisis in social care system leaves disabled people without support

May 15, 2014   Carers, disability, Featured Article, Social care
By: Richard Kramer, Deputy Chief Executive, Sense
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2014 – 10:26 GMT   

For a long time now our social care system has been in crisis. Funding has been cut back to the bare bone and local councils are struggling to find the money to provide even the most basic care.

Chronic underfunding has left many deafblind and disabled people struggling to get the support they need.

Calls to Sense from deafblind people increased by 40 per cent last year, as they struggle to access the care they need at the same time as battling with the impact of the recent benefit changes. We are concerned that these problems will continue to get worse.

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Care agencies ‘must ensure recruits can speak English’

May 7, 2014   Carers, Featured Article, Social care
7 May 2014 Last updated at 10:01

Recruitment agencies should ensure care workers can speak English before placing them in vulnerable people’s homes, a government adviser has said

Dr Shereen Hussein, scientific adviser to the Department of Health, told BBC Radio 5 live that poor language skills could lead to bad care and abuse.

Figures from King’s College London say 20% of care workers are migrants.

Care minister Norman Lamb said communication skills would be required for the new Care Certificate.

The brother of one dementia sufferer told the BBC his carers struggled to communicate.

‘Exceptionally difficult’Phil, whose full name we have withheld, has a 62-year-old brother with a severe form of dementia. He employed carers for 18 months to oversee the care of his brother, but grew frustrated with the quality of the staff.

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