Home Care Guide
Christopher Downie
How do you talk to parents about care at home?

How do I talk to a love on about their health? - CareChooser Home Care Guide - 2020

How do you talk to parents about care at home?
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Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

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Our home and live in carers have experience working with and supporting people living with multiple sclerosis. They can accompany you and loved ones to hospital, provide a superb level of care at home or help with errands around the home. Here's our short guide providing you with an overview of multiple sclerosis. If we can help contact us at 0208 886 0686 or use one of the forms to schedule a callback.

Previous conditions covered:

 

Outline

Multiple sclerosis (also known as MS) is a neurological condition, this means it affects the brain, nerves and spinal cord.

Symptoms

There are many different symptoms relating to multiple sclerosis that can occur in many different parts of the body. It's symptoms are sometimes only mild but it often causes severe disability. Most people won't be affected by all of these symptoms. 

A person's vision, speech, swallowing, movement in the arms and legs may be affected as well as difficulties with walking, balance, fatigue (feeling tired), spams, stiffness and bladder problems. Other symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be affects on memory, thinking, emotions and also sexual function. 

Care

Multiple sclerosis can be diagnosed by a neurologist following a visit to a GP. MS is best managed with drugs (as advised by medical professionals) as well as diet, exercise and other therapies.

 
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Home Care - What is a Local Care Expert?

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The best of online with Local Care Experts on your doorstep.

We're online. We have online home carer profiles and the care is tracked online in (near) real-time! It's practically instant! 

However we also offer the personalised home care service that our clients want and love. We come and meet you and your loved ones in person. A Local Care Expert in your area. 

We're hybrid offline-online, similar to Purple Bricks and Yopa. It's far easier to use than the broken agency model and you'll get the personalised service that isn't available with online agencies. 

So how does it work? 

Request a call back with your Local Care Expert who will then schedule a face-to-face consultation. We'll then visit again and introduce you to 1 or 2 carers that will consistently care for your loved ones. 

We already have dedicated Local Care Experts for London and for Haringey.  

We'd love to know what you think, if you have any ideas for us, do send us a message at hello@carechooser.com or pop us over a message on Facebook.  

If you think you'd make a GREAT Local Care Expert, be great at meeting our home care clients face-to-face, listening to their ideas, concerns and expectations and offering them local knowledge on the services and support available in your local area. We'd love to hear from you, get in touch with us at hello@carechooser.com or get in touch here. 

You'll need to fit into out trusting culture, be genuinely warm and caring and want to make a difference in your local area. 

Home Care Questions - Other Episodes:

CareChooser

Download our brochure below: 

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Home Care - How do the carer profiles work?

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Our carer profiles can be viewed online before you book, they give you a chance to understand a little more about the carer.

What do the symbols mean? Here we break down our profiles for you. 

We keep our profiles as up-to-date as possible, its worth double checking the status of the carer. Should you be interested in on of our carers there is a button below the profile where you can send a message to the carer.  Our telephone number is also below the profiles, so you can contact our expert care advisors to chat about a carer you are interested in or you can use the call back form and one of advisors will get back to you as soon as possible. Another alternative is the live chat at the bottom of the page, we're pretty responsive on there!! 

What do the carer profile symbols mean? 

These three symbols tell you which type of care the carer specialises in, home care, 24 hour live in care or night care. Some carers may be available for more than one type of care. 

DBS.png

This is the UK government's Disclose and Barring Service logo, formerly known as CRB  (Criminal Record Bureau check). Underneath this we update the status of the check; 'Checked & Approved' or 'Not Yet Checked & Approved' if we are in the process of approving the criminal record check. 

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This symbol is our location icon. Next to this icon will be the carers' current location, where they are currently living. This is often one of the key, major factors in whether the carer will be a good local match.  

This is our drivers icon! If this icon is present on the home carer's profile then they have both a driver's license and a car. If they have just one of the two; a car or a licence but not the other or neither the icon will be absent from the profile. 

This icon indicates which health conditions the carer has previously worked with and supported, this could be either as a home carer, live in carer, night carer, in a care home setting or on a voluntary basis, some carers also have personal experience caring for family members with certain conditions. If you'd like further information about the carer's history, we're more than happy to provide the information. 

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This icon on the profile indicates whether the carer has completed home care or social care training, certification or has completed qualifications. They will be listed below the icon on the profile along with information on the level at which the qualification was obtained such as NVQ, degree level and for Health and Social Care qulaifiactions will detail the level from 1-5. Level 1 is a fairly basic level, level 2 and 3 are both good levels. Level 4 is quite advanced and level is a management level qualification. 

This icon indicates the availability of the home carer. For live in carers this section may indicate when they are available or the length of their live in care shifts. Some carers do 1 week slots, others do 2, 3, 4 or 5 week or more slots. For home care and night care this section may indicate the hours the carer is currently available for. For more information and to check the current status of this please get in touch with our advisors to check. 

Home Care Questions - Other Episodes:

Our 'Building Success Between Customer and Carer' brochure is free below. 

CareChooser

Home Care Questions - Previous Episodes:

Download our brochure below: 

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Home Care - How do I make the care a success?

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You've heard the horror stories, the care went badly... the carer left... So how do you make care a success?

We've been doing a lot of work around our vision as a company. What we stand for? Why we're doing it? How we're going to meet our vision. We've done some Facebook live videos around our trusting culture recently and we've more to do around this. 

We don't micro-manage our carers, tell them what to do, order them around and force them into anything. We give them a level of control over their own schedules, we build in flexibility and most importantly we trust them. By adding an extra layer of trust, our carers are more positive and proactive.

To give some insight into the social care industry; keeping carers is difficult. Nationally around 48% of carers leave within their 1st year, 36% leave each and every year, around 900 a day. Having worked as a carer prior to founding CareChooser in social care and also as a teacher and behaviour specialist in Special Educational Needs I am aware that carers and other professionals have little or no autonomy; zero control over decision-making and the average pay is £7.69/hour!

So what are we doing about it? 

We pay our carers form 60 to 75% more than the average, we have a trusting culture, we treat them warmly and we have reasonable expectations over time and tasks. Stressed, over-worked carers never last long. It ends up being short-term and a conveyor belt of carers. 

But unfortunately this alone is not enough. 

If care is to work, be positive and long lasting. We need all sides to be fully on board with our trusting culture, which is why this week we've launched our new brochure 'Building Success Between Customer and Carer - Preparing for Care and Success' 

We know this is not for everyone, this may not be for you and that's ok. But it is how we do things at CareChooser and it is a requirement for clients to join us, because it works. Positivity, trust, realistic expectations and taking the time to build a positive, warm relationship will result in the relationship being a long term one and your loved ones care will receive great care.

As I said, I know that this is not for everyone, but if you're considering CareChooser for your loved one then you should join us in our trusting culture and offer a level of flexibility to the carer. You should be reasonable and considerate about time and about tasks. It's often useful to consider the tasks and the amount of time it would take to do that task well. You should greet the carer warmly and create a warm relationship and you should give it a little time, a new placement takes a while to get the hang of for everyone. It'll take a little time for your loved one to adapt to having a new person in the house and it'll take the carer a while to get up to speed with the placement. 

If you'd like to speak with me or have any questions for me, I'm making myself personally available to answer any questions you may have. 

All the best, Christopher - CareChooser Founder

Home Care Questions - Other Episodes:

Our 'Building Success Between Customer and Carer' brochure is free below. 

Home Care Questions - Previous Episodes:

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Home Care - What should I look for in a carer?

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Home Care Questions - Other Episodes:

If you're thinking about getting home care to help support a loved one or looking at the option of a care home. There are lots of things to consider and think about. What should I look for in a carer?

 

The 1st thing we look for in a carer is whether they fit with our vision, it's really important to us that everyone involved with CareChooser is warm and caring and wants to make a difference to their local community. 

Qualifications

A good level of qualification is Health and Social Care Level 2. You can get higher, level 3 and level 4. Level 5 is for home care management skills. Level 1 is quite basic, level 2 is a good level of qualification. This may or may not be important to you, we find some of the best carers don't have social care qualifications but have experience caring for loved ones and are warm and caring. 

Skills

It's important to look into which skills are important to you as a family. Do you need a driver? Is the carer local enough to not need to drive? The tasks you need may affect this, does your loved one have lots of appointments to go to?

Is cooking an important skill for your carer? Personal care is an important one, check that the carer is willing to do personal care. All carers have their preferences, if personal care is a part of the care it's advisable to check this. 

Price

Check the price of the carer, per hour, per day, per night or week and check it fits within your budget. Also check that the price of the carer includes the home care companies fee and is the full amount you'll fee. The prices on our profiles are include our fee. The prices vary slightly based on the carer's skills and qualifications. 

Likes and dislikes

Get to know the carers likes and dislikes, our home care profiles tell you about the person, what they enjoy doing rather than just the clinical information. 

DBS

Check the status of the carer's DBS certificate. Our profiles will say what stage the check is at 'Checked & Approved' or 'Not Yet Checked & Approved'. Also check that an enhanced DBS check has been done. 

 

At CareChooser the most important factor we consider is whether the carer is warm and caring. Get in touch if we can help you find a carer or if we can help in any way. 

📞 0208 886 0686 

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Home Care - What Should I Consider?

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Are you feeling like you don't know which questions to ask? Unsure about what to consider and feeling alone and abandoned by care professionals. As part of My Support Network, our network of support for you we've put together a short guide of things to consider if you're in need of some support to help with your loved ones. 

Home Care Questions - Other Episodes:

If you're thinking about getting home care to help support a loved one or looking at the option of a care home. There are lots of things to consider and think about. But what are they? 

Here's our list of questions to consider.

What type of support do I need? What do I need help with in order to support my loved one?

What type of medical or health condition do they have?

What types of things can they remain independent with and do by themselves?

What types of things will they need support with? Emotional support, physical support, what other tasks might they need help with?

Will they need some level of personal care?

How much care will my loved one need? Think about how long each task would take.

What type of care will my loved one need? 2-4 hours of care, full day care, night care, 24 hour live in care.

How much will the care cost? What is my budget? Will I qualify for a direct payment?

How long might they need the care for?

Are there specific things that they may need in a carer? Are there necessary qualifications, certificates or training that need to be considered to meet the need? What skills will the carer need? What would make a good match?

Will we need to prepare our loved one for the care in any way?

Coming up with the answers to these types of questions may help the family make a decision about the requirements for care.  They may also help you get an idea of the carer you are looking for and what would make a great match. 

If you need any help answering any of the questions, we are more than happy to offer help and support in any way we can and you can find a deeper version of this where we've explored the different answers to the questions for you. 

My Support Network is how we support you. We're here to support you, we're always at the end of the phone (if we don't answer immediately it's because we're helping another client) or we can make a short trip to visit you in person. 

Call us on 0208 886 0686 or 07792939454

Or request a callback:

 

Let's Defeat Elderly Loneliness

Hi, I'm Christopher the founder of CareChooser. We match carers to clients needing care in their home. I’m also a Dementia Friend and a Dementia Friends Champion. Recently I shared an article from Good Housekeeping magazine on research done by the University of California proving sadly that loneliness plays a large role in the decline of the elderly.

So I thought I'd spend a few minutes thinking about ideas about how to defeat loneliness.

1. Invite some one around for tea or go to theirs…

2. If you fancy volunteering there is a great organisation called Contact the Elderly. You can volunteer to have tea with the elderly. I think I'd be pretty good at that!

3. A smile always always goes a long way and helps to defeat loneliness.

4. Keep in touch via the telephone.

5. Get the person a diary and start to fill in some events or calls on different days.

6. Number 6 is interesting, how about signing up to Borrow My Doggy or in my case, Borrow My Chicken.

If anyone else has any ideas about how we can defeat loneliness, post some ideas below.

All the best, Christopher

CareChooser Win NatWest & Royal Bank of Scotland Pitch Award!

CareChooser celebrated winning the NatWest and RBS pitch award on Tuesday. CareChooser's founder Christopher Downie pitched the innovative home care business at the London launch of Entrepreneurial Spark powered by NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Christopher gave a 60 second pitch of his personal story and how CareChooser helps and empowers families to choose their own carer. Christopher's Grandad needed carers at home but the family were left disappointed and disillusioned with the level of care which prompted Christopher and the team to start CareChooser, giving families more of a choice in who cares for their loved ones at home. 

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There were 5 exceptional pitches in the final of the competition, from 5 fantastic entrepreneurs.  Manish Shah of Copofi, an innovative mortgage provider for Air BnB and short term lets. Richard McCormack, founder of Effortless3D, offering intuitive 3D scanning. Barbara Njau, the founder of First Rate Tutors, quality providers of qualified tutors and Sammy Gunnell, the founder of the Benchwarmers, a popular London based brand and the only providers of vintage basketball gear to Londoners.

The award of a cool £1000 was awarded by Ross McEwan CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in Angel on Tuesday at the launch of the new hub which was also attended by Jenny Campbell, the new star of BBC's Dragon's Den who was watching on from the front row! 

Watch the video of the launch event here and Christopher, a little overwhelmed and very shocked!! 

What else could you buy for £200 million?

13.3 million hours of CareChooser care!

Brazilian footballer Neymar has been bought for £200m. It had me thinking, what else could you buy for 200 million pounds?

The average hourly rate at CareChooser for an hour of care is currently £15-16. At £15 that would buy 13.3 million hours of care. Incredible!

It would also buy 266,666 weeks of 24 hour, live in care.

In terms of Social Care on a wider scale. The £200m would pay for the 1 third of all of the private care in the whole of England for a whole year and you could pay for all of the private care in Wales for 13.3 years!

If you'd like to choose a carer, get in touch with us at hello@carechooser.com or send us a Facebook message or on the live chat below, it'll cost £199,999,985 less than a Brazilian footballer!

Call: 📞 0208 886 0686

How Does Night Care Work?

Our new Q&A series - Your night care questions answered.

If you have any other questions for our team do get in touch via live chat at the foot of our website, Tel: 0208 886 0686 & 07792939455 - Email: hello@carechooser.com

Why night care?

Caring for a loved one during the night can be really tough, night after night can really take it's toll. Having some support through the night once or twice a week can really help to give some much needed respite.

I'll have to have night care every night, right?

Not at all, night care is becoming increasingly popular amongst our clients. Many of clients have night care support once or twice a week. In fact we find flexible night care once or twice a week works very well and live in care is usually a better and much more affordable way to find night care on a longer term basis.

Will there be a different care each time?

No. We're taking a different route to the traditional agency model where you get 7 different carers across 7 different days and potentially hundreds across the space of a few months. You'll meet and select one carer and over time they'll build a strong relationship with you and your loved one.

Will the carer recieve minimum or close to minimum wage?

No. Different again! We empower our carers, we pay them up to 75% more than at other agencies and we allow them to set their own rates of pay. We give them more time with clients (minimum 1 hour visits) and manageable reporting online. We celebrate our carers and they stay with us and build strong, long lasting relationships with their clients. There's a caveat to this, we find that our clients who get the best results, work with us to empower the carers. Allow them time to settle in, time to build a relationship and have reasonable expectations on time and tasks. We understand not everyone wants to work this way, if we are not a good fit, we'll point you in the direction of another company.

How long does the shift last?

Flexible. We'll come and meet with you and do a consultation (always free!) we'll work together to see which hours will work best. 8 to 9 hours works well, but we're flexible and can work around you to get the best fit.

What's a waking night?

There are different ways in which night care can work. Carers can be awake, alert and monitoring during the shift (waking night) or they can sleep in and be on call during the night, we find monitors and being based in close proximity works well.

How much does night care cost?

As with our day care, hourly care and live in care, we have night carers with a range of skill sets, experience and training. Each carer will charge a rate based on these skills which will be stated on the profile (includes our rate). The average price is around £15-16 per hour.

We have a great Care Success Team, if there's any way we can help at all get in touch. Choose your night carer today. 

What is Live in Care?

Our new Q&A series - Your live in care questions answered.

If you have any other questions for our team do get in touch. Live chat at the foot of the page, Tel: 02088860686 & 07792939454 - Email: hello@carechooser.com

What is live in care?

A carer will live in with your loved one providing one-to-one care allowing them to stay at home within their familiar surroundings.

Do carers require their own room?

Yes, with live in care, carers require their own private room. However, it's not necessary for the carer to have their own bathroom, this can be shared.

How does it work?

There are many different ways that live in care can work. A carer can work a few weeks at a time and then take a break with a second carer taking over. Another option is for live in care to be provided for 5 days a week, the benefit of this option being the consistency of having just one carer. There is also the option of the carer living in permanently, the client and carer would then agree hours and days off.

How about food and drink?

There's usually a informal arrangement with the carer and the client eating together.

When would the carer have breaks?

This is flexible and it will be agreed with the carer you choose to work with. Usually the carer will have a 2 hour break during the day, this can be covered by family or by visirting carers.

How do the nights work?

The live in carer would sleep during the night but could be on call during this time. There are different rates for this depending on the need. Up to 2 calls per night and up to 5 calls a night.

Anymore than that and a visting night carer will be needed the live in carer wont't be able to function the next day.

We find monitors or call alarms work very well.

How much does live in care cost?

Live in care provides very good value for money. Live in care starts at around £847 per week.

There are different rates depending on calls at night, whether the carer drives or not and CareChooser Plus carers. Full details on the pricing page.

The carer's weekly cost will be displayed on their profile with the amount being the total amount due.

Could we have a live in carer for a couple?

Yes, we can provide care for a couple at home. The cost is slightly higher but provides very good value for money compared to day and night care and compared with care homes.

What sorts of things would the live in carer do?

A carer provides home care which is tailored to your loved one. Such as personal care if neccesary, supporting your loved one with washing, grooming tasks and helping to get up in the morning and going to bed at night. The carer will could also support with preparing meals, housekeeping, doing the shopping and taking your loved one to appointments. Again, care at home is designed to be flexible and we can tailor the tasks very much to your needs.

How would I keep track on my loved ones' care?

Each client has a secure page on the website. The carer will track certain aspects of the care on our care journal. It's customisable to the individual client, quick and easy for the carer so they don't spend hours writing in folders and they appear instantly on the client page.

Our team of advisors which include a nurse and a our experienced GP also keep track of the car e and can provide support for carers and families when needed.

Do you just provide live in care in London?

No, CareChooser provides live in carers across the country. We only work with families we can really help and carers that we deem to be compassionate.

Choose your live in carer today, get started today.

Find a Private Carer via Video

At CareChooser we are very excited at the launch of a new way to find a private home carer. You can now meet with our team and carers via video on desktop, tablet or on your phone. We're offering this service free of charge to help you find the carer that's the best fit for your family. The video meets will be available to families searching for quality care at home right across the country and you'll have our support throughout.

If finding the right private carer is proving difficult or you live in a different area to your loved ones, our video meetings could prove to be a great solution for your family. Up to 8 people can meet at a time too meaning multiple family members can have input in the decision to choose the carer. You'll meet with one of our care advisors and the carer where you can get to know and get a really good feel for the carer before choosing which care professional to work with.

If you're interested in meeting our carers and choosing the best the fit for your family via video get in touch with us via one of our get started forms, call us on 0208 886 0686, email us at hello@carechooser.com or use the live chat below and we'll arrange the best time to meet. We can hold a free video consultation together to get a feel for your ideas, concerns and expectations of the care, we'll send you profiles of carers in your area that meet your expectations with details of experience, qualifications, dementia training and more. This can be followed by a free video meet with the carers you choose.

For more information get in touch today. www.carechooser.com or try our premium carer service at www.carechooser.com/premium

Quick Guide to Preventing Falls

Each year 1 in 3 adults over 65 falls with 20-30% of these falls causing moderate to severe injuries. So what steps can we take to help to prevent falls in the home?

  1. Remove clutter, organise cables and remove rugs which are a massive trip hazard.

  2. Dark or poorly lit areas are a hotspot for falls. Ensure easy to use lamps are by the side of the bed, consider nightlights and brighter bulbs.

  3. Furniture. Ensure furniture is tucked back out of the way, in particular side tables. Choose taller furniture with armrests and ensure there is enough space to walk around furniture safely.

  4. Choose low heel, comfortable, slip-resistant shoes and ensure they are easy to get on or off.

  5. Ensure all items are stored within reach. Items stored in or on cupboards that are either too low or too high create a risk of falling.

  6. Bathrooms are a hotspot for falls in the home. Install shower grip bars, add non-slip mats in and outside of the shower and add a raised toilet seat.

CareChooser's advisors are experienced at working on programmes and initiatives to prevent falls. We can come to the home of your loved one make suggestions to help to prevent falls.

Call us on 0208 886 0686, contact us at hello@carechooser.com or use the live chat at www.carechooser.com.

A Million Things to do? Our 3 tech tips to help.

You've got a million things to do. 

We know the feeling. CareChooser's home care team use simple technology to help. 

1. Trello - A fantastic to do list like no other. Again you can see it on your phone via an app or online. Looks great, very easy to use. See multiple to do lists open at the same time. You can have different lists for parents, children, shopping... https://trello.com/christopher41031910/recommend

2. Apple's Notepad -

Looks great, simple to use, you can see your notes on your iPhone and iPad.

Great for keeping track of longer thoughts and things to do. 

3. Alerts for Calendar - Add items to your calendar and then set an alert to beep and remind you at the time, 10 mins, an hour or days before. Great for remebering home care consultations, pay bills and sending cards... on time... (usually!) 

The Mum Test at CareChooser

We often get asked how we find our carers. We're asked how we check and approve them and what we check and approve.

We base our search for carers on many criteria, good strong Health and Social Care qualifications, experience and additional skills to name a few but we also have extra criteria that carers must comply with to join us. Firstly they must be able to prove through face-to-face competency based questions that they are able to meet our values and that they have it within them to provide that extra personal touch of quality that sets us apart. Then there's the final, crucial criteria - 'The Mum Test'. We ask ourselves...

Would they do for our Mum/Dad?

Once carers have passed these criteria during application, phone and then face-to-face interviews we then approve Enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) checks, identity checks, right to work checks and checks of qualifications. We work with our provider of choice UCheck to verify and approve identity and DBS checks.

If you're looking for hourly or live in care, all our carers have passed 'The Mum Test'.

Get in touch with CareChooser today on 0208 886 0686 or hello@carechooser.com

Can a Robot Care?

The BBC today reports that robots could be used to help, support, enhance and complement carers in care homes and those delivering home care. The robots communicate verbally and through gestures and may be able to pick up signs when an elderly person is in pain. 

Softbank Robotics are the Japanese company manufacturing the bots. Similar robots are being used in Japanese hospitals to help lift patients and serve food. 

This got us thinking so many questions... 

Can a robot care? How much could it do? Is it ethically correct? Should we change and future proof the name? CareBotChooser or RobotChooser? How would an elderly person feel about a robot companion? What does a robot made tea taste like? Could it join us in a tea?

We'd love to know what you make of this. Add your questions and comments below.  

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The New Way To Find Care at Home

CareChooser provides a new way for you to find home care. Our home carers can support you and your loved ones for an hour or two or can offer full time live in care. Conversations with us can be started on our website via our live chat application or by telephone, we’re more than happy to offer advice. 

We offer a free home care consultation. Following this, advice will be taken from our medical advisors, who have over 60 years of experience working in the NHS. We’ll then send you profiles of our carers for you to choose from. 

We tailor our aftercare conversations and updates to fit with your preferred channels of communication as well as time and frequency of choice. We offer updates via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, text message or telephone. 

Call CareChooser on 0208 886 0686, at hello@carechooser.com or why not start a conversation using the live chat application below?

What is Dementia?

Q) What is Dementia?

A) An umbrella term describing the symptoms that are caused when the brain is affected by certain diseases and conditions.

The most common of these is Alzheimer's disease, followed by Vascular Dementia, Fronto-Temporal Dementia and Dementia with Lewy Bodies.

Last week CareChooser completed the Alzheimer's Society's brilliant Dementia Friend training. The training advocates 5 main points which CareChooser pledges to implement in it's home care.

  1. Dementia is not a natural part of ageing.
  2. Dementia is caused by diesase of the brain.
  3. Dementia is not just about memory loss.
  4. It is possible to live well with Dementia with support and understanding.
  5. There is more to a person that the Dementia.

There IS more to the person than the Dementia. Despite the negative associations, the stigma and the fear surrounding the disease. We need to look past the Dementia and see the person, their life and their acheivements.

Our home carers have a strong understanding of Dementia and can provide help and support to those with the condition to live well.

Dementia friendly activities

Supporting a loved one, diagnosed with dementia to take part in creative, stimulating activities can be hugely beneficial and can encourage independence, communication and social inclusion.

Keeping occupied and stimulated can bring pleasure, help to express feelings, relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression, promote a sense of belonging and can be beneficial for mental and physical health.

Which activities are Dementia friendly?

Everyday tasks such as folding clothes, helping to prepare meals and drinks and laying the table are a simple way to keep loved ones involved and keep them active.

Multi-sensory activities can offer a different way of connecting with a person with Dementia such as planting lavender or mint, baking, playing with colourful, textured objects or with objects that make different sounds.

Drawing, painting and crafts make great activities that everyone can join in with. Gentle exercise and short walks are a great boost for physical well being and remembering happy memories from the past can boost mental well-being and self-esteem.

The Alzheimer’s Society provides Memory Cafes and has ‘Singing for the brain’ sessions which are free to those diagnosed with dementia and can also offer emotional support.

CareChooser has creative carers that are great at connecting and engaging those diagnosed with Dementia in stimulating activities. They can also take some of the strain, giving you back the time you need to spend with your loved one.

Caring for an elderly relative, a positive start

The festive, holiday period and in particular the new year can trigger happy memories but also bring back feelings of pain and sadness. Try to strike a balance acknowledging the pain and sadness the person may be feeling whilst also refocusing on the positive.

The new year is invariably a time to reflect and look forward. This could be a time where many different feelings come to the fore. There may be a great deal of sadness for an older person if they perceive themselves as a burden and those who are carers for their parents or grandparents may be feeling guilt that they can’t do more or tired and physically and emotionally drained if they are doing too much.

These kinds of feelings are best discussed honestly. Acknowledge but challenge negative language like ‘burden’. We encourage independence for older people no matter what their abilities and alter the amount of support depending on this.