Tag Archives: Older care

Fifteen-minute care visits are not good enough

June 17, 2013   Carers, Social care

Almost three quarters of local authorities are still commissioning care visits to the elderly lasting only 15 minutes, figures show.

By

8:17AM BST 17 Jun 2013

Many councils buy in care from outside firms in blocks of a quarter of an hour, leaving carers trying to complete a range of tasks with each pensioner in a short space of time.

These tasks can include dressing, washing, and heating up meals, as well as cleaning up incontinent pensioners and administering medicines.

Charities have warned that such short visits mean the carer does not have enough time to do all this.

Read More

Getting connected with help from the Post Office

June 16, 2013   Carers, internet, Older care

We’re helping customers to Get Connected Man assisting woman with a digital device

Having basic online skills is increasingly becoming an essential part of daily life. It is not only frustrating for those people who can’t access the internet but is also increasingly becoming a disadvantage. Those not using the internet are excluded from the benefits of being online. From the better deals and savings available online through to keeping in touch with friends and family, applying for jobs or pursuing passions and interests.
Read More

Worcestershire leads drive to defuse dementia time bomb

June 11, 2013   anorexia nervosa, Carers, dementia

NHS figures show Herefordshire and Worcestershire have some of the highest dementia cases in the UK

The good news is that most of us are living longer.

The not-so-good news is the longer we live, the further we seem to be from meeting the challenges of caring for an ageing population. First came the pensions crisis, and now it’s the dementia time bomb; the long-term residential and nursing care of elderly dementia patients and how we are to pay for it.

The caring services are clearly at risk of becoming victims of their own success. Having extended the length of average life-spans, they now have to meet the growing demands on their resources and expertise.

NHS projections make disturbing reading. Last year, the number of dementia patients, (diagnosed and estimated undiagnosed) in the West Midlands stood at 70,739. By 2021 this number is forecast to reach 90,038.

Read More