Community Care Magazine No56 for Elderly and Disabled

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NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2007

The Difficult Path...

During the winter months older people (over the age of 65) are less resilient to cold weather and the additional factors that go with this season.

The number of deaths of older people increase during this period, more older people have falls, catch pneumonia, suffer from hypothermia, etc.

Tips and advice on how to keep warm, to eat well, to be careful about possible tripping areas in your home, etc. are appearing in many publications at this time of year. However, undoubtedly there will be some older people who will fall, will become ill and their relatives and friends will have to rally round and try to provide for them in a crisis situation.

Our tip for this winter edition of the Gazette is, before a possible crisis occurs, to have a discussion with your older relatives and friends as to how they would like to spend the rest of their lives if they do find themselves in a position where they require some one to care for them.

Do they wish to stay at home? Would they like to move into a residential setting?

Once you are aware of a person’s wishes you can begin to collect information so that should a crisis occur, you have some preparations in hand, or are aware of the routes to take, to make sure your relative or friend is cared for as quickly as possible and in the manner in which they have chosen.

As a company we have freely given guidance on care issues for many years and are always happy to try and help. We can either be reached by telephone or directly from our website by using our General Enquiry Form.

Prescription Costs

It has been announced that people in Scotland will have their prescription charges abolished from 2012. Wales had theirs abolished earlier this year. Currently there are no plans to abolish prescription charges in England.

Phone Numbers – Are You Aware?

Most people buy items over the phone using telephone numbers that obviously are not normal land line numbers. As a consequence they may have no idea of the cost of the calls they are making using these different numbers.

The following clarification may be of help:

• Numbers starting 09 can cost anything from 10p to £1.50 per minute.
• Numbers starting 07 will cost at least 6p per minute.
• Numbers starting 0845 will cost 2p per minute during the day and 0.5p per minute in the evenings and weekends.
• Numbers starting 0870 will cost 6p per minute during the day and 1.5p per minute in the evenings and at weekends.
• All these rates apply to calls from a BT landline and there is an additional setup fee of 6p per call.

It is against the law to make direct marketing calls to individuals who have indicated they do not want them.
(Source - Mature Times)

Buildings and Contents Insurance – a true story

One of the readers of this magazine told us this story a few weeks ago and it is repeated here with the intention that it might save other people money.

A 71 year old lady receives her insurance invoice for the year to cover her building and contents insurance. The premium for the year was £242.00. Her daughter thinking it was rather expensive had a look on the internet.

She found out that there were several other insurance companies who were offering better deals. However, her daughter decided that it was worth a call to the existing insurance company to see if they could offer a better deal.

It transpired that the invoice was for a policy that had been in place for 20 years. The company no longer offered that type of policy but as this had been queried, they could introduce her mother to a new policy which actually had increased benefits and the annual premium would be £137.00.

So if any of our readers have an insurance policy that has been in place for many years, next time the annual invoice comes in, give your insurance company a call and possibly get a much better and cheaper deal.

Dark Winter Nights – Why Not Knit For Charity?

The British and International Sailors Society (BISS) is a UK charity that represents the world’s seafarers. Every year they distribute over 10,000 woolly hats (knitted by volunteers) to seafarers and they always need more. To obtain a pattern and for further details write, call or email to:

Mrs Jan Webber, British & International Sailors’ Society, 350 Shirley Road, Southampton, SO15 3HY. If you have any questions please call Rebecca Young: 023 80 51 59 58 or email ryoung@biss.org.uk

You can use your own patterns, download one from their website or buy a knitting pattern book from them for £3.50.

To contact them, write to:

Feed The Children, 2 Tavistock Industrial Estate, Ruscombe Lane, Ruscombe, Twyford, Berkshire RG10 9NJ. Tel: 0118 932 0095 Fax: 0118 934 4957.

We have all had a bright plastic bag through our letter box accompanied by a leaflet urging us to fill it with old clothes and shoes for a charitable cause.

However, there are some organisations which are not charitable at all and in fact are businesses who make profits for themselves from your kindly donated goods.

To make sure that you are giving your old goods to a charity, look for a charity number on the leaflet. A company registration number is not the same thing.

If you still have any doubts, call the Charity Commission on 0870 333 0123.

Healthy Cooking

Flora has a website which publishes recipes designated as Heart Healthy Recipes. One of these you might like to try and make is Apricot and Raisin Flapjack. The ingredients and method are as follows:

Ingredients

115g (4oz) Flora Original spread
115g (4oz) golden syrup
55g (2oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) rolled oats
55g (2oz) desiccated coconut
55g (2oz) dried apricots, chopped
55g (2oz) raisins

Preparation details

1. Grease an 18cm (7 inch) square shallow tin.
2. Melt the Flora Original spread, syrup and sugar together in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Stir in the rolled oats, desiccated coconut, apricots and raisins.
4. Spread the mixture in the prepared tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C, 350F, Gas 4 for 30-35 minutes.
5. Cut into 16 pieces and leave in tin until cold.

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association gives the following advice on caring for your cut Christmas tree.

• When buying a tree, never buy it if the outer needles fall off when it is shaken.
• If you do not want it indoors on the day that you buy it, stand it outside in a bucket of water.
• Before bringing it indoors, cut half an inch off from the bottom to allow the pores of the tree to open.
• When indoors mount it in a bucket with pebbles, small stones or screwed up newspaper or in a water holding stand. Place away from direct heat and top up with water every day.

• Avoid a scald by filling the bath with cold water first and then adding hot water. Test before getting in.
• Have an annual electric blanket check – ask your Council when they are checking them for free.
• Put a guard around all fires and heaters.
• Rugs on laminate floors should have a non slip backing.
• Never leave cooking or ironing unattended.

This was a World War 2 slogan and was designed to make people become more self-sufficient and to make greater use of the materials they had. Today, recycling of everything you can is a similar message.

So here are some hints from the 1940’s:

• Make jewellery from old beer bottle tops, cup hooks and corks.
• Use crushed egg shells for cleaning instead of a pan scourer.
• Cut squares out of old stockings for dishcloths.
• Clean woodwork with the dregs of cold tea.
• Varnish the soles of children’s shoes to prolong the life of the shoe.
• Cut up old mackintoshes to make bibs for babies.

Hypothermia...

...is a condition where the normal body temperature of 37 degrees C drops below 35 degrees C. It is usually caused by being in a cold environment but can also be triggered by staying outdoors in cold conditions for a long time.

Elderly people, people who are ill and people who are unable to move around easily are especially vulnerable to hypothermia.

It is important to keep your house warm and to drink plenty of fluids and to wear layers of clothing to keep warm.

You may also like to consider wearing some heated clothing powered by batteries which are charged in a similar manner to charging a mobile phone.

You can purchase heated gloves, shoe insoles, body warmers, waterproof coats, scarves and waistcoats from a company called betterlifehealthcare.com.

For further information call 0800 328 9338 or visit http://www.betterlifehealthcare.com

Stuck for Entertainment?

If the weather over the festive season is poor and you want a change from watching television, go to your computer (or get someone to get the information for you beforehand), log on to the internet, find a search engine such as Google and put in something like Quiz for Christmas and you will find several from organisations such as the BBC to individual efforts. Answers are provided!

Charities

There are many charities in the UK that need support but one charity that we often come into contact with in the homes of the people we care for is the Macmillan Cancer Support. Many of our care staff work in conjunction with the Macmillan nursing staff.

The charity has an online shop that sells different items to help raise money for their nursing service. At this time of the year they have Christmas ideas, cards, etc. To get a catalogue sent to you or to order online go to: http://www.macmillan.org.uk

Miscellaneous Information

At any one time 17 million households in the UK have an Argos catalogue.

In a recent survey Americans revealed that their favourite smell was that of a banana.

Thanks

Our thanks are sent to Estelle Mutare who in a very difficult and unsafe situation behaved with complete professionalism.

And finally...Despite the hump a camel’s spine is straight.

The deepest part of the ocean is 35,813 feet deep and occurs in the Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean.

Houseflies have a lifespan of two weeks.

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