The Paralympics And A Legacy For The Disabled

August 29, 2013 Carers, disability

29 August 2013 | General News, Politics | By: BethPH

The Paralympics And A Legacy For The Disabled

A year after the ‘breakthrough moment’ of the Paralympics, attitudes towards the disabled have been slow to change, according to disability groups.Cuts to disability benefits and the government’s ill-judged ‘shirkers vs skivers’ campaign have thrown something of a spanner into the works of public perception of the disabled, with 81% of those surveyed saying they felt attitudes hadn’t improved. 22% felt attitudes had actually got worse.According to a survey by disability charity Scope, negative perceptions have been driven by the government and media:

84% of those that say attitudes have got worse saying the ‘benefit scrounger’ rhetoric from politicians and the media has had a negative effect on views of disabled people. The poll by Opinium found that nearly one in five (17%) of disabled people report they have either experienced hostile or threatening behaviour or even been attacked.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) say they ‘very consciously do not use the language of ‘scroungers’ and ‘workshy’, but when even the likes of Iain Duncan Smith aren’t above misusing statistics to imply that claimants are fraudulent, it’s hardly reassuring. A further division between those with visible disabilities compared to those without has been highlighted by campaigners — leading to a climate of disbelief and hostility.

Despite the huge public enthusiasm for the Paralympics, its success has proved a bit of a double-edged sword with athletes being held up as aspirational examples for disabled people. But as Paralympic dressage rider Sophie Christiansen says:

Kidney checks on hospital patients ‘would save lives’

August 28, 2013 Carers, hospital

28 August 2013 Last updated at 00:00

Kidney checks on hospital patients ‘would save lives’

By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

Most people who develop AKI are over the age of 65

Hospital patients should have their kidneys checked to spot a potentially lethal condition affecting one in six of those admitted, say new guidelines.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says the NHS in England could save at least 12,000 lives and millions of pounds a year if it follows its advice.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is almost entirely preventable but kills up to one in every four sufferers.

Good hydration is key, says NICE.Basic checks

Healthcare professionals should be monitoring their patient’s kidney function by checking they have enough to drink or have been given a fluid drip.

They should also keep close tabs on how much urine patients are passing and may want to order blood tests to help them spot early warning signs of dehydration.

Dementia sufferers more likely to be diagnosed with urinary or fecal incontinence

August 27, 2013 Carers, dementia

Dementia sufferers more likely to be diagnosed with urinary or fecal incontinence

August 27th 2013

Patients with a diagnosis of dementia have approximately three times the rate of diagnosis of urinary incontinence, and more than four times the rate of fecal incontinence, compared with those without a diagnosis of dementia, according to a study in this week’s issue of PLOS Medicine by Robert Grant (Kingston University and St. George’s, University of London) and colleagues. Furthermore, patients with dementia and incontinence were more likely to receive incontinence medications and indwelling catheters than those with incontinence but without dementia, the authors state.

The authors analyzed records of patients in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database, a database of nearly 500 UK primary care practices. They extracted data on 54,816 people aged 60 years with a diagnosis of dementia and an age-gender stratified sample of 205,795 people without a diagnosis of dementia from 2001 to 2010. The THIN database does not distinguish nursing home (care home) residents from those who live in their own homes.

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