Category Archives: Carers

Carers’ rights: what you need to know

November 30, 2012   Carers, disability, Older care

What advice and information can professionals working in the sector give to people caring for older or disabled loved ones?

 

Carer’s assessments are intended to look not just at carers’ caring responsibilities but at their ability to work too.

The theme for carers rights day, which takes place on Friday 30 November, is getting help in tough times. To mark the day, there are three things that are pivotal for carers to receive help.

Get a carer’s assessment

Older or disabled people needing care should always have a community care assessment for their needs, but carers also have the right to request a carer’s assessment from their local council. Importantly, they don’t need to be caring full-time to have an assessment of their needs.

Read More

CQC Widget aims to improve information on care throughout England

November 29, 2012   Carers, internet, Older care, social workers

Improved historical information on care homes.

November 29, 2012 | By |

Today the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is launching a raft of new digital improvements including an email alert service, an information sharing CQC Widget and improved historical information on care homes.

The email alert service will allow people to sign up for the most up-to-date standards and quality reports about care providers across England. The alerts will provide direct, timely and reliable access to CQC activity about health and social care providers.

The alerts service will continue to be developed and expanded to enable all users (including Commissioners, MPs and Journalists) to tailor their subscription by all types of services (Hospitals, Care Homes, Dentists and Other Services) as well as by geographical area, local authority or constituency.

 

The CQC widget gives one click access to the latest CQC inspection reports and findings. Organisations regulated by the CQC will be able to embed a summary of their inspection results on their own websites, and include a link to the full report on the CQC site. The reports tell the public whether organisations providing health and social care services meet our national quality and safety standards.

Read More

Report recommends ways to get older people online

November 29, 2012   Carers, Independent living, internet, Older care
Family carers need the Internet
29 November 2012
By Rachael Fergusson

New report says older internet users are less isolated, lonely and feel more in control than non-users.

New report says older internet users are less isolated, lonely and feel more in control than non-users.

Older people who use the internet are more likely to feel in control, and be less isolated and lonely than those that do not, a new report has found.

‘Nudge or Compel?: Can behavioural economics tackle the digital exclusion of older people?,’ has recommended a number of ways to get older people online and tackle digital exclusion.

Published by the International Longevity Centre – UK, a leading think tank on longevity and demographic change, the report said that over 7.5 million adults had never used the internet, and the majority of non-users were older, had disabilities or were in the lowest social classes.

The report highlighted new analysis of data from the ‘English Longitudinal Study of Ageing’ on the behavioural traits that accompanied internet usage among older people. It showed that people who said they used the internet, tended to report feeling more in control of various aspects of their lives, and were also more likely to say they ‘hardly ever or never’ felt isolated, the same went with feeling lonely. While those that said they did not use the internet were more likely to say they ‘often’ felt isolated from others.

Those that did not own a computer were also more likely to feel they were unable to learn a new skill, while those that did were more likely to agree they could.

Read More