Category Archives: Social care
Improving dementia care: ask those who have lived with the illness
Personal experiences are often ignored by the social care system, but professionals can learn a lot from patients and their families
- Beth Britton
Dementia care training is a competitive marketplace, populated mostly by people from academic and scientific backgrounds. They can tell you the statistics, what the latest research has discovered, and the widely recognised methods we should all be following when we provide care to a person with dementia.
What is often missed is the understanding about what dementia is really like – both for the individual and their family.
I’m not an academic. University wasn’t an option for me; my dad needed me and there was nowhere else I was going to be other than by his side. He lived with vascular dementia for 19 years, going 10 years without a diagnosis and then spending nine years in three different care homes. Dad’s dementia began when I was just 12 years old, and went on to dominate my teens and twenties. He passed away in 2012 aged 85.
450,000 elderly people 'facing Christmas alone' this year
Age UK is calling for elderly people to contact its support services rather than spend Christmas alone as research finds that many have no-one to turn to as the festive period approaches
By Graeme Paton
6:30AM GMT 12 Nov 2013
More than a quarter of pensioners are not looking forward to Christmas because of loneliness and concerns that it brings back bad memories, according to research.
Some 26 per cent of older people – the equivalent of 2.8 million in Britain – suggested that the festive season would not be a time of happiness this year.
It emerged that some 450,000 over-65s faced the prospect of Christmas alone while large numbers of also feared it “brought back too many memories of those who had passed away”.
Research also found that almost one-in-five had concerns about not being able to get out because of the cold weather and shorter days.
Council care-rating website goes live
By Richard Johnstone | 11 November 2013
A website allowing people to compare local adult social care services has been launched by care and support minister Norman Lamb today.
The Adult Social Care Outcomes site brings together existing data into one location to allow service users to find out more about care services in their council area, and compare options.
On the website, individuals can select their local authority, or type in a postcode, to find out how carers and service users rate local services. Ratings cover areas including quality of life, satisfaction with services, and safety.
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