Tag Archives: dementia

Dying patients should be exempt from social care charges

We need to talk about end-of-life care so fewer people face a lonely death in hospital. Free social care would be a start

theguardian.com,

 

A massage therapist works on the feet of a terminally ill hospice resident.

This week the care bill committee is debating who should be eligible for social care. MPs will also consider whether to add a clause that would enable exemption from social care charges for those at the end of their lives.

The amendment would also establish the need for better forward planning about where we would like to die. Most of us would prefer to be at home surrounded by the people we love, yet fewer than one in three are currently able to do so.

Why is it that 89% of those who die in hospital do so following an unplanned admission? In many cases it is because of the sheer exhaustion that comes with providing around-the-clock care. At the end of life there may be a period of days, but sometimes far longer, of complete dependency. Families go to enormous lengths to cope but, especially where there is only one person in a position to provide care, the elastic can only stretch so far.

Retired nurse aiming to tailor dementia treatment for sufferers

Saturday, January 11, 2014
12:30 PM

The 56-year-old said she had seen for herself the benefits of engaging with sufferers and wants to combine her passion with enterprise.

And by re-connecting people with dementia or Parkinson’s disease with their memories they could make more of today and feel valued, she said.

Mrs Ransome, who has worked within the NHS at Northgate in Great Yarmouth and in care homes, believed her business was unique in Norfolk, chiming with government thinking about helping people to stay in their own homes.Her work involves helping the mostly old folk maintain what function they have and to add interest to their lives they can share with others.

Carers also need to be cared for

All too often carers put their own wellbeing second to that of a sick family member

By The Sentinel  |  Posted: January 10, 2014

IT IS hugely positive that Staffordshire Fire and Rescue and community pharmacists are to work together to help protect vulnerable older people, particularly those in the early stages of dementia from being injured or killed in house fires.

As our population ages and dementia becomes a greater public health problem there will be an ever-growing need for such partnerships.

For too long older people suffering from this cruel disease have been sidelined by an overburdened welfare state.

Anything that strengthens the support network on which they depend can only be a good thing.