Cameron wants dementia training for NHS staff : what about social care staff, then?

David Cameron announces dementia training for all NHS staff http://gu.com/p/46xjf

Dementia friends - a new type of volunteer service

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31557377

One step towards preventing #Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's researchers find molecule that delays onset http://gu.com/p/45pam

There are too many older people in prison: many could be freed

An interesting article on how many ageing people there are in prisons -and a poem on setting them 'free'. The author of an academic study of how older people cope in prison, Tina Maschi, among other things a social worker, wrote a song 'We are all ageing prisoners' to raise issues about the situation, including the lack of public awareness how many older people are in prisons around the world. The website asks you to respond to the song, which you can listen to on the site.

there is also a list of publications from the study (and others the author was involved in) that you can download.

Link to blog article from Fordham University

Link to downloadable publications from the study

Amazing series of pictures of older people's real achievements in sporting activities

 

An amazing series of pictures showing older people who have renewed their lives taking up sporting activities that we associate mainly with younger people.

 

Link to HuffPost photoarticle 

Firefighters see the risks in older people's homes: do we use their local kowledge in social care?

A local newspaper report of the risks firefighters see in older people's homes. How can we work to prevent these risks escalating as people become increasingly frail?

Here's what one of the firefighters says:

 I was given a referral for a Home Fire Risk Check (HFRC) and I remember knocking on the door and there was a long delay before it was opened. I wasn’t prepared for what I was met with – the elderly man was on the floor, he greeted me and then asked me to follow him into the living area and he literally dragged himself across the floor using his hands. The man had chronic knee pain and was unable to walk. Obviously this was a big concern for us in relation to fire safety because if there was a fire he would struggle to evacuate safely. However, we don’t just look at fire safety we look at the person’s overall wellbeing and see how we can help them further, in this case we referred him to the NHS Falls Team so he could receive the support he required for his condition.

I don't think I've ever had a referral from the fire service, and I wonder how many sociaa care services have thought about appropriate referral links.

Link to Leek Post and Times article

Thinking therapeutically aids good social work in healthcare

A good article on how a social worker contributes to postoperative care in a big hospital. Referring to an old book of mine which identifies a reflexive therapeutic approach to social work, it implies a useful point that, if you're  going to work with health care colleagues, thinking therapeutically helps communication and reaching shared objectives.

 

Link to Community care article by Paul McKie