A government-commissioned report on the state of the adult social care workforce in England has called for a higher minimum wage and further action to ease immigration requirements for workers coming from abroad. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report – Adult social care and immigration – urges the government to invest an additional £2.1 billion…
A government policy of discharging older people from hospitals to care homes at the start of the Covid pandemic has been condemned in the High Court. In the scramble for hospital space, the government sought to free up 25,000 beds, a policy that involved discharging untested patients to care homes. Declaring the policy unlawful, the…
Imagine the future of our dementia care community We were delighted with the response at our Open Space event last week. Thank you to everyone involved. Our next one will be held on: Thursday 19 May 10am-12noon: An Open Space event convened by the Journal for Dementia Care/Dementia Publishing and facilitated by Ladder to the Moon/Vibrant…
A major new report outlines a plan to harness the power of music to transform health, wellbeing and communities, including care homes, people living with dementia and their carers. Music for Dementia and UK Music have joined forces to publish a new report which outlines a blueprint to use music to help improve the nation’s health and wellbeing….
Care homes search website Lottie has crunched the ratings data to draw up a list of top locations for older people’s quality of life. Based on an analysis of care and health factors in major cities, Durham came out top followed by Swindon and Doncaster. According to Chris Donnelly, co-founder and CEO of lottie.org, Durham…
Advice for carers and people with dementia on the cost-of-living crisis comes from Admiral Nurse charity Dementia UK. Worries about household finances as energy bills rise can be compounded by loss of employment or caring responsibilities, Dementia UK points out, so the charity has compiled advice on how better to manage finances in the face…
Alzheimer’s Society has produced advice on Ramadan for family carers and they people they care for. In a blog on its website, the charity sets out what Ramadan is, how it is observed by Muslims, the role of spiritual fasting, how to have a dementia-friendly Ramadan, and the role of social events taking place during…
New research supports the view that healthy living increases life expectancy, but also suggests that longer lives may not mean more years living with Alzheimer’s. Volunteers aged 65-plus for a US study reported what they ate and drank, how much exercise they did and how often they did activities like reading and crosswords. While healthier…
Family man: When Phil, aged 85, lost his wife Friedl after caring for her for years, he found himself at a loose end until housing and care charity Brunelcare recruited him as a community support worker three times a week. “I told Brunelcare they were the only family I had and they offered me a…
Virtual reality trips to places associated with happy memories are having a positive impact on the mental health of older people, according to a Plymouth University research project. The project, undertaken with residents at Abbeyfield’s Tresillian House sheltered housing scheme in Falmouth, is a six-week trial examining the effects of technology on the health and…