Person Centred Care

We hear a lot about "person-centred" care in the care sector to the extent that you can't be delivering "good" care unless it's "person-centred" now.  But what does it mean?   Trying to discover what it really means is not straightforward and there seems to be many interpretations.   It can mean individualised care or a set of techniques to use with people with dementia or just a value base. 

The best definition which I've found for person-centred care is from Dawn Brooker* who describes four elements to person centred care using the following "VIPS" model:
1. Valuing people with dementia and their carers - promoting their rights and inclusion regardless of their age or abilities.
2. Treating people as Individuals with all their history, personality, preferences and resources.
3. Understanding the Perspective for the person with dementia, their experience and empathising with them.
4. Recognising the need for a  Social environment which enriches and promotes relationships and focuses on the abilities of the person with dementia.

This is an excellent  blueprint for person-centered care planning and delivery and for developing our domiciliary care service within SureCare.  We value people by ensuring that they get the time and quality of service which they deserve.. We treat each client as  an individual who has choice and aim to focus on supporting the client to make the most of  his or her abilities. We aim to provide a service which supports people in their own homes to remain part of their community and lead as full lives as possible. 

For more information on SureCare services please go to http://www.surecarewarks.co.uk/

*See Person Centred Dementia Care by Dawn Brooker ISBN 978-1-84310-337-0

Social Care - An Election Issue

It's a well known fact that the population of Great Britain is getting older -around 34% of the population is over 50 and this is set to rise to 40% by 2026.  This is a huge challenge to all involved in the social care sector as  it is estimated, that over 1.7 million people will require social care.

The National Audit Commissio's report, Under Pressure, published this month is a sobering read on the costs of care for an aging population.  It says that increasing levels of public debt coupled with falling income from taxation  means that the Government will be under pressure to cut public spending. Consequently,  Local Authorities will be under pressure to cut their levels of spending just  as more and more people are going to be requiring care.

The reasons for the increase in care is that age-realted health conditions are on the increase. Older people disagnosed with Dementia, for example,will double over the next 30 years to 1.4 million and the associated costs will treble to over £50 billion a year.

The cost of  future care was debated accross the country last year in a government consultation following the green paper on Shaping the Future of Care Together.  The paper proposed a National Care Service  with three main options for funding future care:  the first is for a partnership of people and the State sharing the cost based on ability to pay, the second is a voluntary insurance scheme and the third is a compulsory payment of £20,000 which can be deferred until after death. 

Paying for social care is a tricky question and none of the major parties in government seeming to want to get to grips with the issues favouring instead sensationalist prouncements such as "free care  for everyone with cancer" or a £20,000 "death tax".   Attempts to find common ground has so far been unsuccessful with all parties blaming each other for the collapse of talks.

With a general election looming the funding of social care will be high on the agenda as it should be.  We should be listening closely to what the main parties are saying about social care and what their propositions are for funding care in the future.  They have all known about the demographic time-bomb for many years and have been reluctant to accept responsibility and make unpalatable decisions.  This issue won't go away - and it affects us all.  Who will give us  the care we need when we grow old? Will they get our vote?

For more information on SureCare Home Care service please go to www.surecarewarks.co.uk


 

Where is the Love? - Valentine's Day thoughts

Valentine's Day is a celebration of love and I would like to take the opportunity to think about love in my business.  In social care we do see a lot of people in difficulties, with illness, disability and difficult family situations.  However, there is also a lot of love in this business which isn't often recognised.

I often meet people who give up their jobs and livelihoods to look after a spouse or a parent or other member of the family.  Parents with a disabled child who dedicate their whole lives to  their child and never have time for themselves.  Neighbours and friends who give their time and compassion to those who need them even though they have their own lives and difficulties.  These are all carers whose love and dedication is needed to save the economy £81 bn each year yet get so little recognition for their  vital role in society. Lets think about carers on Valentine's Day.

Care Workers often get bad press  - I'm sure that many people will have seen  some of  the TV expose of bad domiciliary care agencies or read press reports of  cruel care  work practices. The really good Care Workers never get any press time.  I have met lots of wonderful care staff who work with great dedication, compasssion and loving kindness with their clients.  I'd like to celebrate these wonderful people who work in difficult conditions on low pay and without any recognition for the excellent work they do year in and year out.  In the recent bad weather many of these workers were true heroines and heros ensuring that their clients received a service even if it meant  walking through the snow for miles to get to a client's house.  Lets think about Care Workers on Valentine's Day.

There are many volunteers who work in social care providing a huge range of services which are vital to supporting people lives and well being. From providing talking books for the visually impaired to hot dinners for homeless people there are many many people who give their time for love and compassion for those who are less fortunate.  This pool of volunteers is getting smaller as fewer people are taking on volunteer roles and it often falls to older retired people to fill the gaps. Volunteers are also vital to our society and their work often goes unnoticed in our busy world.  Lets think about all the volunteers amongst us on Valentine's Day.

So there is a lot of love in social care and it seems an ideal time on Valentine's Day to think about all the people who work in our field with love and dedication.  I salute them all and wish them all a very Happy Valentine's Day!

For more information on carers please go to the SureCare website at http://www.surecarecarewarks.co.uk/

Dementia in the News this Week

There has been a lot of interest in dementia in the news this week.  The Alzheimers Society started the debate with their report which says that dementia care is not getting enough funding and research into dementia falls far behind other high-profile illnesses  - in fact £12 is spent on cancer research for every £1 which goes into dementia research.  A lot of  the media picked up on this story  - on BBC IPlayer there were at least five radio programmess covering the story with many listeners calling in with their own harrowing stories of looking after someone with dementia - lack of support, information and delays in diagnosis.   All were calling for more money to go into dementia research.

Another story which made the headlines was that the incidence of dementia has been underestimated and that there are around 821,884 people who have been diagnosed with dementia which is a big increase on the 700,000 previous estimates. 15,000 of these are under the age of 65.  The total numbers of people who will be affected by dementia will reach 1m by 2021. 

The cost of dementia care has also been reported in the press.  The total cost to the economy of dementia is £23bn per year.  Every dementia patient, according to researchers from the University of Oxford, costs the economy £27,647 - nearly fives times more than a cancer patient and eight times more than someone with heart disease.   However, it is the costs met by carers and residential care, rather than the expenses of the NHS  which really pushes up the burden of dementia.   And to come a full circle, these costs bear no relation to the amount of money which is being put into funding the research into the treatment and prevention of dementia.

 World famous author, Terry Pratchet kept dementia in the news too when he gave the David Dimbleby lecture on Tuesday evening, 2 February.  His lecture was called Shaking Hands with Death explored how modern society needs to deal with terminally  ill people and how they might have a good death.  Sir Terry gave the introduction and his "stunt Terry" - aka  Balack Adder actor Tony Robinson - read the lecture.  He did an excellent job with passion and humour and you could tell that Terry heartily approved by his big beaming smile. 

It's heartening to see the subject of dementia getting such a lot of attention in the media. For too long the word "dementia" has been whispered and not openly mentioned.  It is said that dementia is where cancer was 50 years ago - but thanks to a number of high profile people living with dementia like Terry Prachett and the work of various dementia charities,  it is now being openly recognised and debated and given media time. However, without more funding into  research and treatment of dementia it still has the potential to be the timebomb which overwhelms the NHS.

Please visit our website at http://www.surecarewarks.co.uk/

A Busy Week!

It's turned into a really busy and interesting week! 

On Monday I was very pleased to welcome  my new Care-Cordinator - Lynda .  She joins SureCare with a wealth of experience in domiciliary care and is going to lead on the operational side of the business.  Great to have her on board! We are going to be a formidable team!  In the picture below, I'm on the left and Lynda is on the right.

On Tuesday, Lynda's second day we had our very successful "Time for a Cuppa" Day which was really well supported and raised £103 in total.  It was a great opportunity for Lynda to meet some interesting people who work in our building as well as a number of our friends and colleagues in the 4Networking group to which I belong. Thanks to everyone who helped us by  making  cakes and made such generous donations to our chosen charity forDementia.

 This week Lynda and I are putting together our recruitment packs and literature and looking at the best way to recruit care staff.  We are looking forward to welcoming our first care support workers to the SureCare Warwickshire fold soon.  Watch this space!!

For more information on SureCare Warwickshire please visit our website: www.surecarewarks.co.uk