Dementia patients in England facing ‘national crisis’ in care safety | Social care | The Guardian

Regretably this is the state of social care in the UK and not just for dementia, but every aspect of social care, be it for children or adults, care homes, home care, supported living, etc.

Staffing is a major problem both the quantity and in many instances the quality for due to the lack of quantity, some providers are accepting anyone who applies, irrespective if they are totally suitable.

There are some very good providers who do employ good quality workers, but it is becoming so hard to find the quality in the UK and due to immigration policies not that easy to recruit from outside the UK.

Funding is a major proble, which this Government is totally bignoring, like all previous Government before them.

Why, well it is because social care is not held in the great esteem that is the NHS and even there funding is very restricted, thus, leading to severe staff shortages throughout the NHS and not just for nurses and junior doctors.

So, the crisis is so severe in the NHS and even more so in social care, but we have an uncaring Government, just as we have had since the start of social care. For social care has never been look at and given the recognition it really deserves and so much needs.

By many, it is viewed that anyone can work in social care and deliver all that is required, but that is so far from the truth that it can be. For working in social care is not just turning up and doing what you wish too. For to care with good quality a care worker needs to fully understand the responsibilities that are there,

1. understanding the rights and choices of the person being cared for
2. showing the cared for person respect and the dignity needed
3. respecting the cared for persons property and belongings, especially when the care is being provided in the cared for persons own home, but also in their room in a care home.
4. not only providing care but when needed, deal with areas of finance, safeguarding and many others
5. to follow the individulised Care Plan

The above are only some of the areas for there are many others.

Many persons being cared for will have some equipment to help with their care, hoists, stand aids, specialised baths, specific food requirements and how they are feed, maybe ‘peg feeding‘ or others and many more.

So, much training is required, which needs to be understood and followed correctly.

But the remunerations they receive fail completely to take these responsibilities into account and then there is expenses, such as for travel and others which are not completely taken into account

Then there are the working conditions and others, such as not fully entitled to all holiday pay and no sick pay other than the totally insufficient Statutory Sick Pay

Social care as been the forgotten care service for way too long and there remuneration is one area where great improvements can be made, for many care workers are only on the National Living Wage to be £10.42 from 1 April 2023 and currently £9.50 per hour, when £14/15 would be so much more realistic, but this Government does not wish to know, so Social Care will get so much worse, which will have a very severe impact on the NHS, which it is already doing, but the impact will get so much worseand so will severely impact on the NHS to recover from their own crisis. For the NHS can’t exist without Social Care as Social Care can’t without without the NHS.

So, Government, for once just listen and then act as is required, breaking the actions or more correctly the inactions that have gone before.

Human Rights need respecting, even by Governments

 

 

 

Source: Dementia patients in England facing ‘national crisis’ in care safety | Social care | The Guardian

Solving the crisis in Social Care

Social Care is just as important as Health Care, but does not receive the support is should do.

With this in mind please could I mention that the forthcoming Budget is an important opportunity to address the crucial issue of funding for Social Care, but will it.

Boris has promised, but will he keep his promise and even if money is made available will it be sufficient.

Boris has now mentioned it will take 5 years to get the funding, Social Care can not wait that long.

Boris needs to be told this is not good enough, so it is essential we keep the pressure on Boris and my petition ‘Solve the crisis in Social Care could be the means.

Please see below

We now have the New Year 2020.

However, if the ‘Crisis in Social Care’ is not Solved soon there will not be many more New Years for the care, required for persons in need of care, to be provided by Local Authorities due to their lack of funding. This will then have a much greater impact on health care provision, which is itself in crisis.

I have therefore created my latest petition, please follow the link

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care

For more information please follow the link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w0f2skyxy37udqb/Solve%20the%20crisis%20in%20Social%20Care.docx?dl=0

This Petition needs You, please sign to show your support for you will not know when you or someone in your family will need social care.

New campaign to support LGBT people living with dementia | Care Industry News

The Guinness Partnership is proud to announce its support for a new campaign to ensure lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people affected by dementia have their voices heard and can get better access to support and advice services.

Source: New campaign to support LGBT people living with dementia | Care Industry News

How to reduce your risks of dementia : The Conversation

Many people do not want to think about dementia, especially if their lives have not yet been touched by it. But a total of 9.9 million people worldwide are diagnosed with dementia each year. That is one person every 3.2 seconds.

This number is growing: around 50 million people live with dementia today, and this number will rise to over 130 million worldwide by 2030.

You do not have to wait until you are 65 to take action. In the absence of treatment, we must think of ways to protect our brain health earlier. This month is Alzheimer’s Awareness month — what better time to learn how to reduce your risk of dementia, whatever your age?

In my work at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute, I address cognitive, health and lifestyle factors in aging. I investigate how we can maintain our brain health, while reducing the risk of dementia as we age. Currently, I’m recruiting for two clinical trials that explore the benefits of different types of cognitive training and lifestyle interventions to prevent dementia.

There are three dementia risk factors that you can’t do anything about: age, sex and genetics. But a growing body of evidence is discovering early-life, mid-life and late-life contributors to dementia risk that we can do something about — either for our own or our children’s future brain health.

 

Source: How to reduce your risks of dementia : The Conversation

Alzheimer’s disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause : The Conversation

More than 30m people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s disease – the most common form of dementia. Unfortunately, there is no cure, only drugs to ease the symptoms. However, my latest review, suggests a way to treat the disease. I found the strongest evidence yet that the herpes virus is a cause of Alzheimer’s, suggesting that effective and safe antiviral drugs might be able to treat the disease. We might even be able to vaccinate our children against it.

The virus implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), is better known for causing cold sores. It infects most people in infancy and then remains dormant in the peripheral nervous system (the part of the nervous system that isn’t the brain and the spinal cord). Occasionally, if a person is stressed, the virus becomes activated and, in some people, it causes cold sores.

We discovered in 1991 that in many elderly people HSV1 is also present in the brain. And in 1997 we showed that it confers a strong risk of Alzheimer’s disease when present in the brain of people who have a specific gene known as APOE4.

The virus can become active in the brain, perhaps repeatedly, and this probably causes cumulative damage. The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease is 12 times greater for APOE4 carriers who have HSV1 in the brain than for those with neither factor.

Later, we and others found that HSV1 infection of cell cultures causes beta-amyloid and abnormal tau proteins to accumulate. An accumulation of these proteins in the brain is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Source: Alzheimer’s disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause : The conversation

Alzheimer’s disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause : The Conversation

More than 30m people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s disease – the most common form of dementia. Unfortunately, there is no cure, only drugs to ease the symptoms. However, my latest review, suggests a way to treat the disease. I found the strongest evidence yet that the herpes virus is a cause of Alzheimer’s, suggesting that effective and safe antiviral drugs might be able to treat the disease. We might even be able to vaccinate our children against it.

The virus implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), is better known for causing cold sores. It infects most people in infancy and then remains dormant in the peripheral nervous system (the part of the nervous system that isn’t the brain and the spinal cord). Occasionally, if a person is stressed, the virus becomes activated and, in some people, it causes cold sores.

We discovered in 1991 that in many elderly people HSV1 is also present in the brain. And in 1997 we showed that it confers a strong risk of Alzheimer’s disease when present in the brain of people who have a specific gene known as APOE4.

The virus can become active in the brain, perhaps repeatedly, and this probably causes cumulative damage. The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease is 12 times greater for APOE4 carriers who have HSV1 in the brain than for those with neither factor.

Later, we and others found that HSV1 infection of cell cultures causes beta-amyloid and abnormal tau proteins to accumulate. An accumulation of these proteins in the brain is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Source: Alzheimer’s disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause : The Conversation

Dementia research must study care as well as cure : The Guardian

Social care faces an annual funding gap of £2.3bn by 2021 – by which time nearly a million people in the UK will be living with dementia. With no way to slow or stop the diseases that cause dementia, it is set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer.

While the NHS can’t offer people with dementia the same options as for other long-term conditions – because there is no cure or effective medical treatment – people with dementia must rely on the cash-starved and crumbling social care system. The social care and dementia crises go hand in hand.

Solving the care crisis goes beyond throwing money at the situation. Funding is desperately needed, of course, but we can’t simply pour more cash into a fundamentally flawed system. After decades of squeezed budgets and successive governments failing to put a long-term plan in place, we have a limited social care offering that too often leaves people with dementia footing the bill.

In the battle to meet rapidly rising demand with ever-shrinking resources, care providers must be as efficient and effective as possible. So why does investment in dementia research heavily focus on a cure for future generations, while less than 5% of funding goes to researching the best care possible for all those affected today?

The need for a cure for dementia is as pressing as ever, but we also need care research to develop practical solutions that can benefit people with the condition and their carers. Improving knowledge and practices among health and social care professionals, as well as the quality and inclusivity of the wider system, is just as important as developing medical treatments.

 

Source: Dementia research must study care as well as cure : The Guardian

How our dementia campaigns kept dementia on the agenda in 2017 : Alzheimer’s Society

How we kept dementia on the agenda all year round

Rosie Leatherland, Public Affairs and Campaigning Officer, talks us through a year of campaigning for people affected by dementia.

2017 was a year that dementia was placed firmly on the agenda and we couldn’t have done it without your help.

From dominating the snap election with the dementia tax debate to confirming Government commitment to consult on a long term social care solution; there has been plenty for us to campaign on.

So what have we achieved this year with the support of our fantastic campaigners? Here are just a few of the highlights.

 

Source: How our dementia campaigns kept dementia on the agenda in 2017  :  Alzheimer’s Society

It’s time to tell the truth about dementia-By The Purple Angel founder | Care Industry News

Things you always wanted to know, or should know about dementia, but were too afraid to ask and healthcare professionals are sometimes too frightened to tell you to tell you.

Those with dementia MAY, and I have to STRESS, “” MAY “” show some of these symptoms

Confusion and repeated questions are very common; please remember they are not doing this to” WIND YOU UP”. Every time they ask a question it is the very first time they have asked it, according to them.

1. Swearing and Anger; even though they may have never have sworn in their life, they just like you will have heard people swear many, many times. So they know the words and are very familiar with them. Try not to be so shocked, this may be a form of release because their inhibitions have changed.
2. Inhibitions; some may start to walk around completely naked in front of others with no conscience whatsoever, they may also start to speak their mind and say exactly what they are thinking and feeling. They may be a lot sharper in tone and lose their temper quickly. This is all born out of frustration.
3. 4. Violence; this is a tricky one but has to be spoken about, even the mildest mannered of people may lash out at loved ones and strangers. They may bite, scratch, nip punch, spit at you, kick out or worse, please remember it’s not them, but the disease.
4. Incontinence; believe it or not on diagnosis many doctors and medical staff don’t raise the subject. Yes it does happen and for those affected it can have a bad impact on everyday life. Generally incontinence starts with small accidents, small damp patches etc and increases. Please remember the signal from the Bowel and the bladder has been disrupted and the person living with dementia has no idea that the need to ‘go’.

In all honesty, if they KNEW what was happening they would be MORTIFIED as would you, SO NO NEED TO CHASTISE AT ALL!!

6. Frustration; Try to imagine you have this disease as in Lewy bodies, and knowing there is no cure, no remedies, and the chance is, you will forget ALL that you hold dear but you can do absolutely NOTHING about it.

Wanting to scream and shout is a huge understatement and why it often happens

 

Source: It’s time to tell the truth about dementia-By The Purple Angel founder | Care Industry News

What about the carers and loved ones presents at Christmas asks The Purple Angel founder | Care Industry News

Prolific on social media he spends his time talking about dementia, changing people’s opinions and furthering the course for people to live well with dementia. A fight that can only be won with public support.

The Purple Angel campaign is now recognised across the globe.

Norman or Norrms as he prefers to be called sent Care Industry News a comment on living with dementia and the people he works with; particularly at Christmas.

“I sit and often think that a lot of the time it’s the loved ones who miss out at Christmas, the carers and those who make sure we, with dementia, are ok, so how can we help at this special time? Well here`s one way I hope ….

“If you know someone who has dementia this Christmas and is living with a wife, husband, loved one, family member or carers please ask them what their spouse used to like or do etc. when they were younger.  This disease is all about short term memory but most of us can remember way, way back with clarity. Once they have told you, it might be something like favourite sweets, songs, singers etc.

“Then, all you have to do without the spouse, person who hasn’t got dementia etc. knowing is to go, out and buy that as a present, wrap it and put under tree and wait until Christmas day.

“Can you imagine the person with dementia giving such a present to a loved one, especially when it’s something they both used to do, or listen to, or cherish together?? And how amazing that would be? Imagine the look on their faces when they receive this and ask WHO GOT THIS?? And you say MY DAD did, or my MUM did or whoever has dementia did?? How wonderful would that be?

 

Source: What about the carers and loved ones presents at Christmas asks The Purple Angel founder | Care Industry News