News tagged with 'healthcare'

The 16 to 22 May 2022 marks Dementia Awareness Week in the UK. Organised by the Alzheimer’s Society, it is the largest and longest running campaign by the charity and aims to encourage greater awareness of the condition. The focus this year is on diagnosis, with a range of ways to get involved.

Part of the purpose of the campaign is to dispel the many myths surrounding dementia, such as the symptoms being normal to aging. It is a progressive disease that damages the nerve cells within the brain, affecting memory, communication, and concentration, as well as personality and emotions.

For care homes, providing the right support for residents with dementia is crucial. While many of the initial symptoms are similar between patients, the condition can progress in varying ways, making individualised care provision even more important. One of the main considerations is environment.

Caring for Dementia Residents

Living with dementia requires making changes to everyday life, from washing and eating to hobbies and socialising. Care homes can support dementia residents by introducing small adjustments to interior living spaces, particularly those used most regularly such as the bedroom and bathroom.

Perception can often become confused, turning otherwise ordinary features into sources of concern – for example, having lights that are too bright or dim can be unsettling, or storing items away where they are easily forgotten. Working to an individual’s needs is important when making modifications.

Creating Dementia-Friendly Interiors

The safety of care home residents is always a primary concern, but for people with dementia, there are often extra requirements to help minimise risk. Additions such as non-slip vinyl flooring, fold-away mirrors, and soft surface furnishings can be included in rooms to prevent accident and injury.

Visibility should also be a key point to reduce confusion for dementia residents. Furniture should have a clear function and be well spaced around a room. Contrasting colours can help identify pieces from the walls and floors, while open or clear-fronted wardrobes and cupboards can also be helpful.

Aesthetics are also important for both practicality and wellbeing. Traditional styles and subtle shades of the ‘dementia colours’ – red, blue and green – can help with both spatial awareness and memory. Less is more as it can help reduce the confusion caused by clutter and create a more calming space.

Care Home Furniture Solutions

At Andway Healthcare, we specialise in providing a wide range of products and services suitable for care homes, including dementia-friendly options. One recent addition is our Contour dementia range of bedroom furniture, which has been designed with resident safety, visibility, and reliability in mind.

The Contour set features a double wardrobe, a three-drawer chest, and a three-drawer bedside unit. With handle-free easy opening, dementia residents can quickly and easily see what is inside, while the traditional style aids with memory and recognition. Every piece has rounded corners for safety and the bedside cabinet can be locked for security. Get in touch with our team to find out more.

Deal or No Deal - Brexit Implications for the Care Industry

Spending so much time in your care homes and with care home owners and managers, we can see and feel the rising tide of concern over the potential implications of Brexit – whichever version we end up with!

Although the EU has limited legal jurisdiction over how health and care services are organised and provided in member states, the UK’s vote to leave the EU will have major implications for health and social care in England.

Whether a No Deal option sees us crashing out of the European single market and the customs union, or Theresa May’s ‘compromise’ deal being accepted somehow in Parliament, either way current arrangements that play a vital role in the facilitating the delivery of healthcare via access to workforce and goods and services, is going to significantly change.    

Second because EU directives affect many areas of UK law that impact on the delivery of health and care services. Third, because the vote has ushered in a period of significant economic and political uncertainty at a time when the NHS and social care are already facing huge financial and operational pressures.

Two years of Brexit negotiations and all its ensuing media coverage have already had an impact, especially on the recruitment and retention of EU nationals in some parts of the workforce, which is contributing to shortages of key staff. 

The policy of freedom of movement and mutual recognition of professional qualifications within the EU means that many health and social care professionals currently working in the UK have come from other EU countries. This includes nearly 62,000 (5.6 per cent) of the English NHS’s 1.2 million workforce and an estimated 95,000 (around 7 per cent) of the 1.3 million workers in England’s adult social care sector (NHS Digital 2017; Skills for Care 2017). The proportion of EU workers in both the NHS and the social care sector has been growing over time, suggesting that both sectors have become increasingly reliant on EU migrants.

The care industry therefore welcomes the recent announcement that EU citizens currently living in the UK will be able to remain. We hope it will persuade as many of them as possible to stay and continue to make a valuable contribution to the health and care workforce.

Employers are being advised to make initial steps in refreshing all contracts, particularly right to work eligibility, with a longer term view to contract renewals at the point we leave the EU.

EU nationals will need to understand the impact of Brexit on their immigration status, and employers who rely on EU nationals will need to review and protect the stability of their business.

Employers are being advised to consider supporting and encouraging early applications for permanent residence from those employees who qualify

The UK’s membership of the European single market, customs union and Euratom has provided significant benefits. Securing equivalent access to new drugs and treatments must be a priority in the next phase of negotiations. 

The government has set an ambition for the UK to be a world leader in life sciences and medical research. To fulfil this ambition, it will be essential for the government to make good any loss in EU funding for research and development and that the UK continues to benefit from the collaboration of researchers and scientists across the EU. 

Perhaps most importantly, if independent forecasts are correct and more recently the Bank of England forecast that Brexit will have a significant long term negative impact on the economy, this will of course reduce the funding and resources for health and social care.

For ourselves, we are seeing a large number of price increases coming through already, an uncertainty in the global currencies resulting in a weaker buying position for us in some instances and overseas suppliers already looking for ‘UK’ contracts as opposed to EU based law. There is no doubt we have an unsteady ship to steer.

Authored BY MD Jayne Graves

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''Hack away at the inessentials.'' Bruce Lee