Community Care Magazine No32 for Elderly and Disabled

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NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2003

CRB Update

In previous Gazettes we advised you of the requirement to comply with the new CRB regulations. This means that all our existing carers (and any potential new ones) will have to apply to the CRB for an Enhanced Disclosure.

Despite what you may read in the media about the length of time this procedure is taking (i.e. 3-4 weeks), some of the applications have been outstanding for over six weeks.

This means that new Carers to Able Community Care cannot work until we have received their CRB clearance and as a result, this has now caused some problems with our recruitment process.

Prior to the CRB Disclosure, the interview was the final check as to whether we wished to place a Carer on our Register and offer them work. Now we are not able to do this.

We currently have one full-time and one part-time member of staff working on CRB checks. While we are managing the process as best we can, unfortunately, there may be some delays in placing carers because we cannot use new carers until they have been checked. Want to go Shopping?

If you are thinking about shopping early for Christmas you may like to know that Shopmobility operate over 231 schemes across the nation to make shopping easier for elderly and disabled people.

Manual or powered scooters are available in order to let you shop in comfort and in your own time. Most centres supply the chairs free but a few may make a small charge.

Contact your local branch to see how they can help you. The number is in your local telephone directory.

Last year over 200,000 people took advantage of this service.

Road Accidents

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a road accident there are certain rules that you are advised to follow:

• Stop and exchange details with the third party involved - this is a legal requirement.
• If someone is injured in the crash you must inform the police within 24 hours.
• If you are unable to exchange particulars with the third party, you must advise the police within 24 hours.
• Give your name, vehicle owner's name and address, registration number to any person who has reasonable grounds to want this information.
• Your insurance company will not want you to make any statement admitting fault or liability to a third party. However, you must give all reasonable assistance to the Police.
• You should obtain the name and address of the owner of the other vehicle. The drivers name if different, the registration number and their insurers details.
• If there are any independent witnesses, obtain their names and addresses.
• If the Police attend, obtain the Police Officers name, number and station.
• Draw a sketch to show width of road, position of vehicles involved, other traffic, skid marks, positions of road signs, traffic islands etc.
• If you are driving a lease car or a company car, all accidents must be reported to the appropriate department and an accident report completed.

Yes, if:

• You will be 65 years of age by 31st December 2003
• If you are a diabetic
• If you have a heart condition
• If you have a lung disease
• If you are over 16 years of age and suffer from asthma and require constant medication
• If you have a kidney disease
• If you have had a transplant
• If you are taking certain medications that suppress your immune system, e.g. Methotrexate
• If you are in residential care

Generic Medicines - What are they?

The generic name of a medicine (or drug) is part of the scientific name and will never change.

Some drug companies will use different brand names for the same drug as well as producing it in different colours, shapes and tastes.

However, none of this makes any difference to the active ingredient, which produces the medicinal effect.

If your doctor gives you a prescription for a generic medicine you will be saving money, and they are just as safe and effective as if you were prescribed a brand name of the same drug.

All medicines, licensed in Gt. Britain, have to comply with strict regulations. The company has to prove that their product works in the way that they claim and have to give evidence on the safety of each medicine.

When buying medication over the counter, look for companies, which produce their own generic medicines in plain packets etc. as these are usually cheaper than more fanciful packaged, brand names.

Wheelchairs through the Ages

It seems that people have been using wheelchairs for many centuries. An image, cut into stone, has been found in China dating back to the 6th century.

Ten centuries later King Philip II of Spain used a chair, which rolled and had moveable arm and leg rests.

The first chair that looked anything like the present models had two large wooden wheels at the front with a small castor wheel at the back.

During the American Civil War and World War 1, the need for transport for injured soldiers became an important issue and many wheelchairs were built with wooden frames and wicker seats. The wheels had spooks as well as adjustable arm and foot rests.

In 1932 Herbert Evans a mining engineer and Harold Jennings, a mechanical engineer, designed the first folding wheelchair. The company then went on to develop the first powered wheelchair. Their company, Everest and Jennings is still in business today.

Wheelchair refinements and new designs are ongoing and in the next few months the launch of a wheelchair that can go up stairs will be available to the public.

The iBot 3000 (designed in the United States) is on display at the Independent Living Exhibition in London and will be on sale in the UK later this year, price £22,000.

School - circa 1890

• Children would address the schoolmistress and master as either Ma'am or Sir.
• Whenever an adult entered the room, children would stand and greet the adult appropriately.
• A curtsey would be given when wishing them good morning or afternoon.
• Children would not speak unless spoken to in the classroom.
• When not working, hands were kept behind their backs.
• Obedience was not questioned.
• Children would be made to stand or sit upright.
• Checks would be made for clean hands and shoes.
• Girls would wear pinafores and would have their hair off their faces, mainly in a plait. No jewellery or hair slides were worn. Calf length skirts and no trousers.
• Boys wore dark trousers and these may have been tucked into knee length dark socks.
• School dinners were brought from home, a piece of bread, possibly a small piece of cheese with an apple in season or a carrot. All would have been wrapped in a piece of cloth.
• Slates and chalk were used for work until they had practiced using a pen, which was dipped into inkwells of ink.
• Children were taught their multiplication tables by repeating them out loud and young children were taught to count in a similar manner.
• The register of children was taken daily and any disease amongst the children was recorded. Typhoid and Diptheria were common.
• School Inspectors did a yearly visit and if there was an unfavourable inspection, teachers were dismissed.
• The punishment for "crimes" such as impertinence was either a "cut" with the cane or a slap with an open hand.

There are records of a day "being too cold to hold a pen despite the classroom fire being lit" and "the desks were covered in snow due to the hole in the roof" and "several of the children suffering from chilblains are unable to put their boots on"

Alka Seltzer

You may think of Alka Seltzer only as a medication that you need at times. However, there is a "fan club" who recommend it for other uses. We have come across several that you may wish to try:

• Drop two tablets into the toilet, wait 20 minutes, brush and flush. Result, a sparkling toilet.
• Stained vase, no problem, just drop two tablets in and wait 10 min. then rinse.
• Stained thermos flask? Four tablets left to soak overnight will totally remove the stains.
• If you have a blocked drain try the following. Drop three tablets down the drain followed by a cup of white vinegar. Wait a few minutes and then pour down hot water.

When Marco Polo returned from his visit to China (app. 1290) he announced not only had he discovered the Great Wall of China but also frozen strawberries!

Iced desserts have been around for a long time but not in the form that we are familiar with now.

The Romans flavoured snow and ice to eat. Emperor Nero had slaves collect the snow and ice from The Alps for his dessert requirements.

The ice cream as we know it first came into being in Baltimore, Maryland USA in 1851. At that time it was served on plates and it was not until 1896 that the cone to hold the ice cream was introduced. The combination of ingredients which made ice cream was simply milk, cream and syrup.

With the introduction of a continuous process freezer, the product could be kept and taken anywhere to be sold. Unfortunately, as the ice cream was frozen it was not an immediately edible product.

However in 1939 ice cream was made without using cream and it could be measured out through a nozzle as it had become "soft". The result of this was that the Ice Cream man and his van were born!

No Cook Christmas Recipe

Not strictly a Christmas recipe but a delicious cake that is easy to make and we think, appropriate for the festive season.

Chocolate Fridge Cake
8oz Digestive Biscuits
3oz Margerine
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 dessertspoons of sugar
1 dessertspoon of cocoa powder
1 large bar of chocolate

Crush the biscuits. Melt the margerine, syrup, cocoa and sugar, take off the heat and add the crushed biscuits.

Spread into a small baking tin, square, round or rectangular. Melt the chocolate (i.e. by breaking chocolate, placing it in a bowl and then putting the bowl in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil on medium heat) and spread over the mixture. Chill in the fridge until firm. Cut into squares or slices and enjoy!

Thanks

Our thanks go to Carer Sonia Kelly who managed a very difficult situation for her and her client with complete professionalism and care.

Interviews

Interviews have taken place in Llanelli, Goole, Coventry and Norwich.

Christmas and New Year

Everyone at Able Community Care extends the warmest of wishes to all of our readers and we hope you have a safe and happy time during this festive season.

Finally...

"Last years Christmas pudding was so awful I threw it in the sea!"

"Ah, that's why the sea is full of currents!

Brochures

If you know of anyone who would like more information about the service we provide, please let us know and we will send them a brochure.

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