Category Archives: Social care

Why social care professionals should pledge for NHS Change Day

March 3, 2014   Carers, hospital, Social care
Social care is essential to effective health services, we need to see more pledges about integration

 

Time for change! Pledges range from improving patient outcomes to being punctual for meetings.

NHS Change Day started with a single tweet in 2012. A small group of healthcare staff decided they wanted to work together to do something better for patients.

In 2013, more than 189,000 people made their own personal pledge to do something different to improve care. Last week, the 2014 total was already 280,000.

The mission of the day is to inspire and mobilise people everywhere to take action by making a personal public pledge to make a difference – no matter how big or small. Everyone counts and every pledge matters.

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Older women ‘let down’ by unsympathetic work culture

February 27, 2014   Carers, health, Social care
By: Information Daily Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, February 27, 2014 – 09:51 GMT      

 

Many women aged over 50 who are facing elderly care responsibilities will end their working lives in low-paid positions due to a “rigid workplace culture”, the TUC says.

Many middle-aged women are “trapped” in low-paid, part-time positions as they struggle to manage work, elderly care and child care responsibilities, a national trade union centre report has warned.

As average UK life expectancy continues its rise, immense pressure is being placed on the public sector, particularly in health and adult social care environments.

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How Smart Tech Will Take Care of Grandma

February 20, 2014   Alzheimer’s, Carers, Older care, Social care

Motion sensors watch an elderly man’s movement around his home

By Kiona Smith-Strickland

Lena Almquist, a Giraff robot and Malin Nilsson at the 4th Annual Elderly Festival in Örebro Sweden.

Giraffplus

February 4, 2014 12:30 PM

Motion sensors watch an elderly man’s movement around his home, looking for stumbles or extended stillness that could mean a fall or a medical emergency. Smart appliances look for changes in a woman’s routine and alert caregivers to possible distress. An automated home-safety assistant offers an Alzheimer’s patient a gentle reminder to turn off the stove before he walks away.

The great hope for senior care is that smart technology will provide an assist that helps older people live independently and stay in their homes rather than have to move to an assisted living center or nursing home. The question is, what shape will that assistance take? Out-of-the-way, non-intrusive sensors? Or actual robots, like the happy little helper in Robot & Frank? Some tech companies have already begun to design systems of both kinds.

Smart Home in a Box?

At Washington State University (WSU), computer science professor Diane Cook and psychology professor Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe have developed what they call a smart home in a box. Wall-mounted sensors monitor a person’s movement around the home, while other sensors track the status of water faucets, stovetops, and other appliances. An automated system can speak up and remind the resident to turn off the stove or alert him or her to other home safety concerns.

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