Caring in the Snow

While Warwickshire grapples with the worst winter weather for several decades, there is a small band of heroines and heros who are working steadfastly through the artic conditions to ensure that the most vulnerable people in the county are still able to receive hot food and help with personal care.  They are the  County's care workers  some of who work for SureCare.

Paying for Care

Paying for care for the future  is becoming a hot  political issue both nationally and locally.  Warwickshire County Council  (WCC) have an ongoing consultation on the increase in care fees with individuals making greater and, they say,  more equitable contributions to their  community care costs.  Care home fees are not under scrutiny at the moment but no doubt will soon be targetted for "equity" as well.

Supporting Admiral Nurses

Last week it was my pleasure to meet an Admiral Nurse -  one of only two who work in Warwickshire. Admiral nurses are specialist mental health nurses who specialise in supporting  people with dementia adn their families similar to MacMillan nurses who support people with cancer.

Positive Futures: Coping with Caring for Someone with Dementia

There are 820,000 people with diagnosed dementia in the UK and most of these will be living at home cared for by their families.  The whole family can be affected by the diagnosis of dementia and  family carers will wonder how they are going to cope with the life changes which will follow the diagnosis.  Caring for someone with dementia which can stretch for many year and is tiring. And isolating. And often leads to depression and anxiety for carers. Where can carers get help?

SPECAL is Special

SPECAL stands for Specialised Early Care for Alzheimers and is a method of communication which harnesses a person with dementia's  intact past memories to relate to present events and  so allows them to enjoy well being and a good quality of life.  I came across SPECAL several years ago and have been intrigued by the approach but only last week was finally able to access a course held at the SPECAL centre in Burford, Oxfordshire.  It was everthing I expected - good quality training which gave much food for thought and inpiration.

The Dementia Declaration

Readers will notice that there is a new badge on this blog site - The Dementia Declaration.  This is a campaign spearheaded by the Community Care magazine and involving a number of high profile bodies such as the Alzheimer's Society and the United Kingdom HomeCare Association.  Thy are quite simply calling for a full debate on the issue of dementia during the general election, a recognition of the increasing numbers of people with the disorder and the the need to make their care an explicit priority when allocating resources in the future.

Championing Dignity in Care

This week I became a Dignity Champion.  I felt quite privileged to be following in the footsteps of Michael Parkinson who has been the Government's Dignity Ambassador since 2008 and frontman for the Dignity in Care Campaign.  I am also joining a growing  group of people from all  walks of life - Dignity Champions -  who believe passionately that Dignity is a basic human right and that care services must be compassionate, person-centred as well as efficient.  Dignity Champions  promote dignity within the care sector and take practical steps to improve dignity for clients in service delivery.