Author Archives: Maureen
South Lanarkshire: Countdown to Caring Callers going live
Countdown to Caring Callers going live
Aug 14 2013 by Lynda Nicol, East Kilbride News
Whether you’re an older person living alone in South Lanarkshire or you know of a friend or family member who is, help is now at hand.
Good Morning South Lanarkshire, a new telephone contact scheme to offer vital support, is just days from going live.
An enthusiastic group of young telephonists are making final preparations before hitting the phone lines across the region.
The caring callers’ aim is to check that older people throughout the area, especially those at risk of isolation, are safe and well in the mornings.
The pilot scheme, set up by Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (VASLan), will also support key agencies, carers and families by acting as an early warning system if there are any issues.
Social work practice with carers ‘lacks clarity and consistency’
Carers’ assessments uncommon and seldom used to inform service users’ support plans, finds government-funded research.
Social work practice with carers “lacks clarity and consistency”, resulting in carers’ needs not being assessed or informing service users’ support plans, research has found.
Though carers were involved in all stages of the personal budgets process for service users, separate assessments of their needs were uncommon and seldom conducted before service user support was planned, found the York University study on carers and personalisation. Researchers based their findings on a survey of 16 councils, in-depth research in three of these and interviews with carers and service users.
Carers’ role valued but assessed narrowly
Carers were commonly involved in supporting service users who had cognitive or communication impairments during assessment and this role was valued by service users and practitioners alike.
Managers and practitioners said carers were routinely asked about their willingness to continue providing support at this stage, aided by prompts on service users’ assessments forms, and some practitioners used these to ask carers about their own support needs.
Millions volunteering in retirement
Millions volunteering in retirement
Source : Press Association
Published on 13 August 2013 02:00 PM
Two-fifths of older people are doing their bit for charities and their communities by engaging in voluntary work.
A poll by the Royal Voluntary Service found that one in five – around 2.2 million people over the age of 60 – help out with at least two different charities.
The research found that more than a million (11%) volunteer for three or more charities, with hundreds of thousands (6%) helping four or more good causes.
Men are most likely to volunteer their services to health charities or local football clubs, with women likelier to help children’s charities or lunch clubs.
The vast majority (83%) of the volunteers said they help because they believe charity work is important. Half of those polled said it helps them as they enjoy having a purpose in life.
But 3% of those questioned said that volunteering gives them the time they need away from their partners.
