Care Homes Archives - Abbeyfield Bognor

Mental Health in Care Homes

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care home improvements Care Homes Elderly Health Mental health

Mental health is a common concern for those who live in care homes. From adjusting to a new environment to dealing with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, maintaining good mental health can be difficult for many.

To understand and support the mental health needs of older adults who move into residential aged care, a mixed methods study was conducted. Staff participants from various departments, whose work involved managing or supporting residents’ transition into residential aged care, were interviewed. Their responses were compiled into three broad themes:

Depression

In long-term care homes, depression is a common, often untreated mental health condition. It is also linked with an increased risk of death from physical illnesses, such as heart disease.

Depressive symptoms occur in a variety of ways and can be related to a variety of factors, including the length of time in the home, the type of home and staff training and experience. However, no single factor has been found to be associated with a higher incidence of depression in any given care home.

Most of the depressive symptoms observed in care homes are situational depression, which generally responds well to clinical and pharmacological treatment. Chronic depression, on the other hand, can be long-lasting and often reflects a more in-depth character trait. It requires more intensive therapy and medication.

Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues among care home residents. Whether it is anxiety due to medical problems, depression or a general feeling of dread, it can greatly affect a resident’s life and quality of living.

A study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry states that 3.2 percent to 20 percent of individuals living in long-term care facilities suffer from anxiety. Fortunately, there are medications that can treat anxiety disorders.

Anxiety is a common problem among older people living in NHs and can be difficult to detect because it can mimic other conditions, such as poor health or mobility issues. This is why it is important to be able to recognize symptoms of anxiety in elderly care homes.

Mood Disorders

Depression is one of the most common health problems in older adults and may be a factor in residents’ poor quality of life. Depression is often diagnosed by a medical doctor, and medications such as antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to treat the condition.

Mood disorders can have serious consequences for residents’ health and quality of life, and may increase risk for death (Ashby et al. 1991; Rovner et al. 1991; Suominen et al. 2003).

The first step in addressing mood disorders is detection. This requires training of care home staff, particularly personal carers, to identify and refer residents for assessment and treatment. It also involves setting up a screening process and ensuring referral is linked to initiation of assessment and treatment.

Behavioral Issues

There are many behavioral issues that can arise in care homes, especially among seniors with dementia. These range from wandering to sexually inappropriate behaviors to hoarding.

These behavior problems can be difficult for caregivers to manage. Often, they are the result of underlying medical, psychological or social conditions.

Behavioral assessment by a trained staff member can help to pinpoint the cause of a resident’s challenges. The assessment should include a psychiatric interview and a thorough medical and family history.

Once the cause of a resident’s behavior is known, staff can then work to address those needs and goals in a way that meets the resident’s specific personality. By doing so, they can effectively reduce the amount of challenging behavior.

Medications

Medications are an essential part of the treatment for many mental illnesses. They can help make therapy more effective, improve mood, reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality.

Several types of medication are used to treat these disorders, including antipsychotics, antidepressants and sleeping pills. It is important for nursing home staff to ensure that medications are being properly prescribed and given to the right patient at the right time.

The use of antipsychotic drugs in care homes has been a problem for years. Inappropriate use of these powerful psychiatric drugs has been linked to fatal falls and other serious health issues.

More Coronavirus News

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes

Here at Abbeyfield we have been watching the coronavirus situation unfold very carefully, as we are well away of how this global pandemic can affect us and our residents.

Care homes are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus spread, not only because we have lots of elderly people staying with us, but also because of the number of people who come and go to these places.

On average we have close to 100 visitors everyday. These people can range from family members who are visiting people in the care home, nurses and doctors who are treating patients to delivery people dropping of essential items like medicine and food.

With all of this coming and going, we have to be very careful of how we control the situation to make sure we do not get any of our residents sick with the virus.

We have ben watching the figures very carefully, and the most recent stats are actually very alarming indeed.

The death toll is likely to reach around 60,000 people in the UK from coronavirus, and of this number, 34,000 are expected to be from care home residents.

This is over 50%, which is an astonishing number and one that were are very worried about.

We have decided to keep our measures very tight in our home, even as the countries lockdown policies lift.

We have put in a number of no contact measure in our home, including:

No contact hand offs with delivery people
Essential deliveries only
Essential doctor and nurse call outs only
Ongoing testing is in place for all residents and staff to make sure that if anyone does have the virus that we can contain it properly
We have increased our daily cleaning routine to over double the original cleaning, which was already very extensive
Making sure our ventilation systems are working and ensuring a fresh supply of air into the building at all times

We Got The Best Driveway Glasgow Had To Offer

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes

This is the story of how we came to get a new driveway here at Abbeyfield. The situation presented itself last year after a cold winter had left our driveways and parking area outside our premises even more cracked and broken that it already was. When the building was made, there was only a small stretch of new tarmac that was put down outside the front entrance to make it smooth to walk on as you entered the building. The contractor had decided that the car park area would be ok with the old tarmac that wasn’t down for the previous building, but after around 5 years the cracks and potholes had simply gotten worse and worse. It had gotten to the stage where the potholes were quite frankly dangerous to our residents and visitors, so we had to call in the experts to get a new driveway and carpark area. This involved fixing some of the old holes and completely resurfacing the old tarmac that was far beyond repair, but we had to call in a driveway Glasgow based company.

Finding The Best Driveway Glasgow Company

We needed a company that was able to come out and fix our carpark area quickly, and we could not afford to wait as it had been flagged up in a health and safety report. The report had found several holes that were considered a danger to the health of visitors and residents, and they would have to be fixed immediately or we would be unable to use the driveway areas. This meant that we had to quite quickly find a company at short notice that would be able to come out and repair the driveway. After much searching, we were unable to find a local company that had the time to do it as quickly as we needed. Luckily, we were able to find a company a bit further afield that agreed to come out and fix the problem. The company was called Roadlay – a driveway company in Glasgow – and we are so grateful to them agreeing to travel to do the work that we thought we should give them some credit.

The Big Day

The company had stated that they would be arriving at 8am sharp, and that we should make sure that the whole carpark and driveway area was completely clear of cars and any other obstacles. They were indeed true to their word, and showed up with a small convoy of vehicles at exactly 8am ready to start. Our staff and residents watched with great delight as the workers got to work preparing the driveway and going about repairing the huge potholes. One of the workers actually commented that he couldn’t believe that it had not been fixed sooner, and some of the holes were far too big to be allowed anywhere near a care home. The team got to work and by lunchtime they had already resurfaced most of the car park area. They finished up by 4 o’clock, and they were on their way home back to Scotland. We are so grateful to the team at Roadlay and would like to say a massive thanks to everyone involved.

Our Electrician Glasgow Story

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes

The coronavirus has meant a great deal of change and uncertainty to not just the country, but the whole world. It has changed our everyday lives in so many ways, affecting everything from our exercise to our shopping, and everything in between. We here at Abbeyfield have undergone a number of challenges during the coronavirus, from the expected to the unexpected. We have had to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of our staff and of course our residents. It seems that care homes are particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus outbreak, and the figures are showing an alarming number of people who contract the virus are in care homes. On top of these safety measures, we also needed some electrical work done on our emergency alarm system, and managed to get the only electrician Glasgow had at the time to come down from Scotland.

The Last Electrician Glasgow Had

We had been in the middle of some important cleaning when our emergency alarm system went off. Our team of nurses rushed to find where it was coming from, which is indicated by a light above the room that is calling it. The problem was, none of the lights were going off, and after a full sweep of the care home, we found no alarm had been triggered. This mean that there was a fault in the system, and it also meant that the alarm continued to go off for the next few hours. The problem was, we couldn’t turn it off as then we would have no indication of an emergency, and leaving it on meant a horrible alarm that wouldn’t let us hear if a new alarm was triggered. We had to keep an eye on all the lights the rest of the day to make sure that there were no problems, and we had to get a specialist electrician Glasgow had that was able to come the next day.

12 Hours Later

During the night we had managed to deactivate the siren while keeping the lights functional, which was far from ideal but allowed the staff and residents to get some peace and quiet. The next day the specialist electrician arrived, and we were able to find out what had caused it. Turns out it was something very technical and boring, but all we cared about was that it was fixed. We thanked him for coming of short notice and during these troublesome times and he went on his way.

Coronavirus Measures

The technician was very sympathetic to our situation and also took measures to ensure the safety of himself and of the residents. The problems that were are facing because of the pandemic outbreak can all be made a little bit easier if everyone comes together to do their bit, whether this is staying at home or being careful when they are out and about. Essential workers such as the electrician that visited us are doing great work, and they have to be especially careful if thy visit a high risk place such as ours. We are pleased to report that so far we have not had any problems or cases at our care home.

Care Homes During Corona

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes

There has been much talk on the news that the problem of coronavirus within care homes is quite a big one, how big exactly is the problem?

As a care home ourselves, we wanted to find out, so we set about trying to track down some quantifiable evidence on the subject.

The truth was quite disturbing and alarming, and came as a real shock to us when we read the results.

We have been fortunate enough not to have any deaths due to coronavirus here at our care home.

But it seems that not everyone has been as lucky as us.

According to the latest figures, care homes account for almost one sixth of coronavirus deaths in England and Wales.

It is very difficult to obtain an exact figure, and there are a number of factors that come into play when trying to determine a figure.

Perhaps the biggest difficulty is the two-week time lag for the data that is being collected.

This means that the most recent figures for deaths occurring in care homes are from mid April.

At this period, there was around 3000 deaths from coronavirus recorded in care homes.

This equates to around 16% of all coronavirus deaths, which is a huge proportion considering that care homes only make up less than 1% of the countries total population.

The worst bit about all of this is that the death rate is still rising, and the two week delay makes it all the more worrying.

The problem is that most care homes in the UK are private, which means that there is no official data on the exact number of residents across the UK.

It is also very hard to determine how many people receive some kind of care in their own homes from carers and helpers.

There is a real concern that the workers that visit these people are prime spreaders of the virus, since they come into contact with around 20 people a day.

Levels Of Care Within A Nursing Home

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes

Any person, whether they are suffering from an illness or in the later stages of their life, needs care that is unique to them. There is no one size fits all approach with it come to caring for an individual, as everyone is different and everyone needs special consideration.

The problem is many people have the impression that care homes have a standard approach when it comes to caring for their residents, and that the service is not personalised in any way shape or form. This is simply not true, and most well-managed care homes have varying degrees of care and attention that they offer to their residents.

Some residents may be very independent and can go about their day to day life with minimal help from the care centre staff and be perfectly content. On the other hand, some residents may need a high level of care in order for them to be comfortable, and their levels of independence could be considerably lower than that of the other residents.

A lot of the time the level of care that a patient requires could change over time. For example, someone might spend a few years in a care home and in that time they could slow down and might require a little bit more help getting around and going about their day. The truth is care staff are very well aware of this and see it all the time, which is why are usually prepared in case someone takes a turn for the worst.

Most nursing homes have around three or four levels of care that they provide, ranging from basic and introductory care, all the way up to skilled nursing care for those residents that need full-time care that revolves around any medical illnesses that they may have.

Transfer Film To Digital For Old People

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes Elderly

Deciding to transfer film to digital within care homes can prove immensely impactful on the overall experience which elderly people have in the home. It is crucial that people are able to be provided with the best level of service which they possibly can when they are at their weakest as they age. Elderly people’s will spend an extremely substantial amount of their time when they are in their home watching the television. As a result, being able to provide them with the best quality experience which they can get when relaxing can greatly enhance their overall experience. Making this transfer may be a simple thing for the care home, but for its occupants it could potentially be life changing.

Transfer Film To Digital

The overall process of transfer film to digital may prove particularly time consuming for care homes. The steps which need to be undertaken to make this change can prove very disruptive to people’s overall experience in the short time. Having large numbers of workmen about the care home as the property makes the transition can prove disruptive. Unfortunately, workmen naturally make quite a large amount of noise so this may prove to be disruptive. If this work disturbs the normally tranquil setting of the care home this may see numerous complaints roll in from concerned family members.

Complaints

It is crucial that concerned family members appreciate that the work within the care home will only be undertaken for a very short period of time. The rewards of the move to digital will be evident for all to see once completed. Unfortunately, there is a period of time when the normal peace of the care home may be disrupted as the change is implemented. However, there can be no question that the care home members will be extremely appreciative of the much better cinematic experience they are able to have once the work is completed.

Cinematic Experience

Television screens have now advanced to a level which allows people to connect surround sound speakers to what is happening on the screen. Care homes who are able to invest a little bit more of their budget to getting speakers linked up to the screens are able to provide their elderly people with essentially a trip to the cinema every time they go to watch the television. For elderly people who will not be used to these technological advancements, it is likely that they will be overjoyed at such an experience.

Selling Power

Being capable of offering people a unique service offering when using your care home can prove an immense selling point. Many elderly people love being able to watch their favourite television shows on quality televisions and modern care homes can provide exactly that. So long as these elderly people receive this element throughout their stay at the care home it is likely they will ultimately be extremely satisfied with the overall experience they are receiving at the care home. This will then be articulated to their family which can prove incredibly useful for them to know that their loved one is enjoying their stay.

Double Glazed Windows Glasgow Can Help Care Homes

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes Elderly

Improving the appearance of your property can prove immensely problematic for considerable amounts of people. Regularly people will under appreciate the importance of their company being able to adjust the aesthetics of their home. In order to be capable of enhancing the quality of clients which your business possesses it is vital that the offices which your firm operates within looks aesthetically pleasing. Failure to fully appreciate the importance of your company being able to drastically improve the way that the company looks is vital. Double glazed windows Glasgow can prove very problematic for companies who fail to appreciate the importance of their company doing so.

Double Glazed Windows Glasgow

Introducing a double glazed windows Glasgow company can prove immensely important in the long term for your company. Potential clients can regularly fail to appreciate the immense importance of clients being met with the best possible work conditions. First impressions are crucial in order for businesses to be able to create the best first impression they possibly can. Companies will often undervalue the importance of their company having their meeting conditions in the most immaculate condition that it can. Potential consumers will easily be put off using companies if their working conditions look unorganised and unclean.

Cleanliness

Having your workplace in the best possible condition can prove imperative not only to closing out deals but also to improving your workplace’s vibes. Businesses can regularly underestimate the importance of their employees being met with the best possible working conditions. Employees must have the best possible working conditions in order to fulfil their potential as employees. Employees expect to receive a welcoming work environment which is designed to target their productivity. Communication in the workplace is imperative in order to achieve the best levels of productivity that they possibly can.

Communication

Firms being capable of communicating effectively stand to receive much more success in the long term for businesses. Employees having clean workspaces where people are able to discuss their job roles can prove imperative to them improving upon their service offering. Employees can easily fail to enhance their performance by not communicating clearly with each other. Companies which provide a platform for employees to discuss job roles can prove immensely important for businesses to be able to grow further. Regularly businesses will undervalue the importance of their firm being able to offer employees clear communication channels.

Developing Offering

Businesses can often lose sight of the incredible importance of their firm being able to improve communication channels. Businesses will often undervalue the importance of communication. Companies will often see employees as not earning their money if they fail to constantly perform their working activities and are sitting around chatting. However, chat can prove immensely useful in the long term for companies if utilised efficiently. Not only will it greatly enhance team bonding and make everyone feel more of an attachment to one another the quality of output will increase. Effective communication is often one of the most important aspects of bettering a company.

The Dangers Of Woodworm Glasgow

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes Health Information

What Is Woodworm?

Woodworm Glasgow is a small wood-eating insect, a common name for the larvae stage of wood boring beetles. You may find woodworm in your property from early spring to mid-autumn. Property owners tend to only find the woodworm once the infestation has occurred. The woodworm is really difficult to see but once an infestation has occurred, you will see holes in the wood as well as wood dust.

How To Treat Woodworm

It can be difficult to know if the infestation active due to the beetles being elusive, however this is when woodworm treatment is best done. The correct chemical treatment must be given to the infected piece of timber. A water based fluid is given to the surface of the wood which is designed to target the beetles.

Unfortunately some wood structures may be so badly damaged that they are no longer treatable. Experts will then come in and remove the old timber while replacing it with brand new, larvae-free wood.

As woodworm has a 3-year life cycle, timber, furniture or timber products bought containing a woodworm infestation, may not manifest itself until years after the timber has been brought to your property. Infestation can be tackled by the application of a residual insecticide to infected areas. This is a chemical product and should be applied only by professional woodworm treatment contractors. If you are trying to tackle the infection alone, simple aerosol insecticide sprays will generally not eliminate the infestation. Our Technicians are trained and qualified in the safe use of chemicals to eradicate woodworm from your property.

How To Prevent Woodworm Glasgow

Make sure your timber wood is ventilated properly and keep humidity levels low as much as possible – avoiding damp conditions
If the infestation has already occurred, removed the infected area if possible to avoid it spreading

Care Home Policies And Procedures

by Abbeyfield Bognor Care Homes Information

Within any care environment it is fundamentally important that care homes have Care Home Policies And Procedures in place to make sure they are prepared to respond to events and also have policies in place to deal with more complex incidents or general issues. Policies And Procedures are essential and required by law to ensure that care home has a set of fundamental principles that it can follow and make available to anyone inquiring about the home.

Examples Of Care Home Policies And Procedures

Visitor and Family Policy- Care homes should by default have a policy in place in order to be prepared for visitors and residents family members to visit residents in the care home. It is important therefore for there to be clear guidelines in place as to when visits can take place , how long for and what areas of the care home visitors can access. Furthermore in order to maintain security and safety of residents checks may need to be done to confirm visitors identity
Data Protection- This is another key policy that may be put in place to ensure that patients and staff’s data is protected and only accessed by those who have specific prior authorisation to do so. Data protection is an extremely important issue as it covered by government legislation any form of data breach can have serious repercussions
Health And Safety- Health And Safety Guidelines are a legal requirement and without these any care home risks getting shut down. The reason Health and Safety Guidelines are in place to is to prevent death or injury and ensure optimum health and safety for those within the care home

How To Keep Staff Up To Date With Care Home Policies And Procedures

Within the Care environment it is very important that all staff have a role to play and fully understand the Policies and Procedures that they need to abide by when working in the care home. In order to keep staff up to date with the Policies and Procedures that are in place monthly or two weekly staff training can greatly benefit employees. By doing this and incorporating it into team based activities the management of care homes can keep staff engaged and motivated whilst simultaneously adhering to guidelines.

Making People Aware Of Policies And Procedures

In order for Policies and Procedures to be followed it is key that the Policies and Procedures are appropriately displayed/advertised. This can be done by publishing them on the Care Home’s website or alternatively by sending a copy of the Policies to those who make enquiries online. Physical copies of Policies and Procedures should be available on demand from staff within the Care Home as well via a physical copy.

General Observations

Overall it can be concluded that Policies and Procedures for Care Homes play an integral role in any Care Home. Sound knowledge of these can make a big difference. People who visit Care Homes with a detailed policy and procedure list protecting staff and residents is more likely to appeal to those looking to move their loved ones into care.