Christian care home/bungalow scheme preserves scale and environment

 Here's another of my occasional pics of care homes in the locality. This one is (from the front) a well-preserved Edwardian house, and run by a charity for Christians. Note the in-keeping handrails for the stepped entrance, but this is not the crucial point, there's a flat entrance at the side and the steps preserve the Edwardian style at the front. This is a very attractive environment, although you might not fancy the care home rooms  with the side view that you can see on the left below.

Another desirable aspect of this scheme is that the garden has been changed to provide a series of bungalows.So there are more and less independent aspects to it. It also fits the scale of the area much more than the overlarge luxy private scheme I blogged about a while ago. Because it relates well to the area, and it does not seem so keen to make money, it looks a more attractive prospect for living. I wonder how hard you have to work at being Christian?

Search 'care homes' to find previous posts on care provision in the Sutton area.

Older people should have a stimulating life even if they need care

An interesting case study of the misuse of a Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (DoLS) authorisation, which demonstrates the importance of good practice. Care homes and hospitals have to take out these authorisations if they're going to stop you doing things that normally you would be free to do, for example go out on your own if you're unsafe. My view is that it's not good enough just to comply with the safeguards; here you have a man who was legitimately deprived of his freedom, because he was at risk when he was living on his own with dementia. But once admitted to a care home, they did not work at trying to give him as much freedom within the constraints that were necessary, and so lumbered him with a more miserable life than they needed to do. I can't say often enough that just caring for older people won't do, you have to give them a worthwhile life. Even though someone has their freedom curtailed in some respects, it's still possible to give them freedoms in many other aspects of their lives. Social workers should be supporting care staff to do that, even if the managers of the care homes isn't good enough to manage it on their own.

This comes from the annual Care Quality Commission review of the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The development of these safeguards has been going very slowly, and it is suspected that a lot of care homes and hospitals are breaking the law. It seems that, while there is some good practice, there are still a lot of people who do not know about the safeguards, and so cannot operate them correctly. Although there is confusion about what deprivation of liberty is, what the DoLS scheme does is force you to think it through. The CQC review provides a lot of interesting case studies and citations to recent legal cases, and comprehensive links to guidance.

Link to the CQC review.

Why people with dementia should be involved in worship

An interesting leaflet from MHA (the mainly Methodist organisation for housing and care for older people) and the CCOA (Christian Council on Aging) which I picked up while passing through a Methodist Home (this is what they call themselves; they seem to have dropped the word that the 'A' in the name originally stood for).

It is about worship and people with dementia, and is one of a number of leaflets about spirituality; the CCOA has a huge variety. The point is that although people with dementia may not have the same sophistication of appreciation of their Christianity that they once had, they can often appreciate the involvement in ritual that has been present for important parts of their lives. Worship for people with dementia, according to the leaflet, should be fairly brief, involving, use familiar materials and use well-known symbols, such as candles. Don't close your eyes when praying - it makes people feel cut off. the leaflet suggests suitable hymns and readings for particular themes.

Link to the leaflet on the MHA website (scroll down for downloads).