Helping Hands blog

We have been having a good look at our own Parkinson’s journey and the live in care service we currently provide across the country. And the more people that we talk to, the more it becomes obvious that although the support we provide is as individual as you or I, the underlying reasons for success are often down to simple timing.

By Cathy Millwood, Chairman and Membership Secretary, MS Society, Stratford-upon-Avon and District Branch

Multiple Sclerosis, which literally means “many scars”, can be a life-changing condition and affects around 100,000 people in the UK.

Imagine an entire city of people with dementia. Sound like a movie? Well it’s not. It’s the United Kingdom in ten years time, when it is predicted that one million people - equivalent to the population of a city the size of Birmingham - will be living with dementia.

The Chancellor announced the 2012 Budget this week and depending on who you listen to it was either a Granny Tax budget or a Robin Hood budget. Here are some of main areas which effect older people, courtesy of Age UK.

Another week, another report into the state of social care in the UK. This time the conclusion was that the most vulnerable in our society are struggling to get access to GPs and routine medicines. This report, commissioned by the Care Quality Commission, followed one published by the Commission on Dignity in Care which called for an end to patronising language and an emphasis on compassion in the care sector.

A leading health expert Professor Peter Piot is calling Dementia a global health bomb, comparing the disease to the AIDS epidemic.

Recognising the key role that unpaid carers play in the community in and around Warwickshire, Alcester based live in care provider, Helping Hands has awarded the prestigious ‘Carer of the Year’ accolade to Denese Farley at the 2012 Pride of Stratford Awards.

Britain is an ageing society, improvements in medical treatments and facilities over the last fifty years mean that people are living longer than ever before. While this promotes independence and choice this situation also leads to isolation for older people in many cases. There are many people who live on their own with little or no contact with others. Their lack of structured social interaction, could lead to loneliness and depression, There is increasing evidence which suggests that access to social activity can result in improvements in health and emotional well-being.

A dignity code is being called for to protect elderly from abuse, undignified care and discrimination based on age as reported in the Daily Telegraph today. This call has support from the minister for care services Paul Burstow and his Labour shadow, Liz Kendall, as well as charities, trades union organisations and academics. It is expected that all care provider organisations will have to sign up to this code and eventually it will become integral to the contracts of employment for staff in all care settings.

As one of the country’s oldest and most respected live-in care providers, Helping Hands is in the fortunate position of having some of the country’s best professional carers working for us. But of course most carers in the UK are not professionals. There are 6 million people in the UK looking after someone who’s frail, disabled or unable to cope. These carers often work in silence, never complaining, never asking anybody for help.