Category Archives: Carers
“It is a human right to be empowered to communicate”
Thousands of people in the UK may be living without access to a powered communication aid that would enable them to have a voice, according to research.
The research, Shining a Light on Augmentative and Alternative Communication, by augmentative and alternative communication (ACC) charity Communication Matters, found that 316,000 people in the UK are benefiting or may benefit from AAC support. Of those, 31,600 could be using powered communication aids yet only around 9,000 are.
The findings, which found great variation in service provision across the UK, stem from research carried out by the University of Sheffield. It highlights there is little consistency in identifying, assessing and providing AAC devices and many local areas are failing to make effective provision.
More help is needed for stroke patients
Charity calls for more emotional support for stroke patients
Adam Gretton, Health correspondent Wednesday, May 1, 2013
12:01 AM
Former soldier and stroke victim Darren Draper whose puppy Dash is helping him through his rehabilitation. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY
Calls have been made for the NHS to give greater psychological support to stroke patients after a new report revealed that the emotional effects were as devastating as the physical ones.
Too many stroke survivors and their families are abandoned when they leave hospital and left without the support they need to help them cope, according to the Stroke Association.
A poll of 2,700 stroke survivors across the UK found that 41pc said they felt abandoned after leaving hospital.
Some 59pc admitted that they felt depressed and two thirds said they experienced anxiety as a direct result of their stroke.
But, despite this, more than half said they received no information or practical advice to help them cope with the emotional impact.
Strokes affect around 152,000 people in the UK every year and the brain damage caused by the condition means that they are the largest cause of adult disability in the UK.
As part of the Stroke Association’s report, Feeling Overwhelmed, more than 200 people from across the East of England were interviewed about their experiences.
While hospital care is rated highly, the emotional strain on survivors and their families when they return home is underestimated – and often overlooked by health and social care services, said the charity.
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.
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