Community Care Magazine for Elderly and Disabled: GAZETTE No.41MAY-JUNE 2005 News - Homecall Care Agency For the past twenty years HomeCall Care Agency (based in Suffolk) has provided live-in care services to people in Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Jane Hawksley, the proprietor, has decided to partially retire so we have merged HomeCall into the Able Group of Companies. Jane is staying on as a Consultant, firstly to make sure the change for her clients and carers is made as easy as possible and secondly to ensure that we have the benefit of her extensive knowledge in the future. Free Cinema Tickets The Odeon chain of cinemas has a policy that carers of customers with any disability are entitled to a free ticket at every Odeon cinema. This offer has been running since January 2005. The person who is registered as disabled has to obtain a Cinema Exhibitors Association (CEA) card. You can get an application form from any Odeon cinema across the UK or from: http://www.ceacard.co.uk
To qualify for a card you must:
As you may be aware, we are inspected and regulated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). We have now had our second inspection and received our inspection report. It is the policy of the CSCI to allow anyone to access the inspection reports of every domiciliary care agency under their remit. Able Community Care's inspection report can now be read by visiting: http://www.csci.org.uk
Election Policies By the time many of our readers receive their copy of this Gazette the election will have taken place. However, it may be of interest to remind ourselves of some the policies that the three main parties were advocating re Older People and Disabled People. Labour - Encourage older people to stay in work by either increasing the Basic State Pension by 50 per cent or permitting the draw-down of a lump sum of £30,000 for those who choose to work to age 70. Allow older people, people with disabilities and their carers choice to receive funding direct from local councils. Make public transport accessible and introduce concessionary bus fares for people with disabilities. Conservative - Provide more support for carers who look after elderly or disabled people. Give people more control over their social care and ensure that no-one is compelled to sell their home to pay for long term care. Introduce a permanent discount to reduce pensioners' Council Tax bills by 50 per cent, up to a maximum of £500. Cap the costs of long term care, by requiring those with assets worth more than £20,000 to pay for only the first three years of care, after which the Government would pay all remaining costs. Increase the amount of savings, which a disabled person can have before losing benefit, matching the entitlement of pensioners. Liberal Democrats - Provide free personal care and implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission on long-term care. Increase the Basic State Pension for over 75s to £109.45 per week for single people, and to £167.05 per week for married couples, and increase the BSP in line with average earnings. Provide severely disabled people with the same Winter Fuel Payments as pensioners. Old Wives Tales? Putting your hat on back to front will result in a bad day - is that why so many people wearing baseball caps back to front look miserable? A woman who puts a man's hat on is giving a sign that she wants to be kissed. Always slip a coin into the right hand pocket of a new suit or dress. This will avoid you being hard up whenever you wear that garment in the future. Making Holidays Easier Mobility Abroad is the name of a UK based company that will hire equipment such as wheelchairs, electric scooters and mobility products to you in order that you do not have to travel with your own. They currently operate in the Algarve and in Spain and are expanding their area to cover Tenerife, Cyprus, USA, and Italy. The equipment is delivered to your hotel when you arrive and collected when you leave. You can make arrangements either by telephoning 0845 644 2892 or visit: http://www.mobilityabroad.com
Windsor Castle played a large part in the recent Royal Wedding when we were able to see some of the magnificent rooms that were of particular interest that day. But did you know:
Charter Healthcare is a company, which delivers continence products directly to your door. Between April and June this year their Roadshow will be visiting 46 locations across the UK. On board there will be healthcare professionals, representatives of charities such as The Continence Society and The MS Society to offer advice and information with reference to bladder management. The Roadshow will be open from 10.00am to 6.00pm each day. To find out when it is in your area free phone 0800 783 1434. Laughter - the Best Medicine The American College of Cardiology has carried out some research that suggests that laughing acts like one of the best medicines. When you laugh it appears to boost your blood flow and may point to a reduction in the risk of developing heart disease. Laughter it is suggested also has a beneficial effect in fighting infections, relieving hay fever, easing pain and controlling diabetes. Everyone can benefit from "having a good laugh." The Fleece That Has Never Seen A Sheep The fashion item fleece, that keeps us warm, may have been made from soft drink bottles, which have been melted down to create the fibres which make the garments The old bottles are placed in water and chopped into small flakes. The flake material is melted, squeezed through tiny holes and eventually spun into long threads. The threads are stretched and the fibre is then ready to be used as fleece material. Currently each household uses 440 plastic bottles a year of which only 24 are recycled. Give Old Boots for Charity During the months of May, June and July Notcutts, the garden centre group, are collecting old gardening boots. They are supporting a charity called Feed the Children International UK. The boots will be sent to West Africa where they are urgently needed. So if you have some old boots you don't want, take them down to your nearest Notcutts Garden Centre without delay. Honey and its Many Uses
Leave to soak for 2 hours and stir the eggs into the raisin mixture. Pre-heat oven to 180C (350F, Gas Mark 4.) Mix the flour with the spice and baking powder then mix these dry ingredients into the raisin mixture. Transfer to a greased 900g (2lb) loaf tin and bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cook on a wire rack and serve sliced and buttered. Makes one 900g (2lb) loaf. ( Recipe from The Honey Association) Remember the Home Doctor Book? For much of the first part of the twentieth century if you were ill or had a minor accident you did not call a doctor. Until the advent of the National Health Service, you had to pay for any medical treatment. So for most people, in the event of poor health or a minor accident or ailment, they referred to the Home Doctor Book. Today, there is a modern edition for people to access who need seek help and information without visiting the GP. The Patient Association has 686 leaflets on health and diseases as well as details of more than 2000 patient support groups and much, much more on topics of health and health related issues. You can find them at: http://www.patient.co.uk
Window Sill Gardening Parsley is one plant that can be easily grown in a pot on a window sill and one that you can actually use rather than just water and look at. Parsley is one of the most nutritious foods in the world. It has medicinal uses as well as enhancing the flavour of food. If you have an upset stomach, try chewing parsley. If your breath is poor after eating a highly flavoured meal, chew a little parsley to sweeten the breath. If your plant is prolific, cut off the leaves, let them dry and then freeze them. Bought dried parsley has only half the nutrients and taste of fresh or frozen parsley. Parsley loses some of its nutrients when cooked so sprinkle it on to food afterwards. Try sprinkling cut up parsley on mashed or new potatoes with butter, on grilled tomatoes or pasta. Interviews Interviews have been held in Norfolk, Suffolk, Yorkshire and Cornwall. Finally "Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that those who have the most live the longest." Notice in a farmer's field... "The farmer allows walkers to cross the field for free but the bull charges."
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