July 2019 - Altogether Care

Options for Luxury Retirement Living

Posted on 29 July 2019 by dukadmin

As more people are living longer, they have an increasing number of options when it comes to deciding where and how to live. Many retired people are financially independent and have significant wealth in property and other assets. They want to use those assets to make their later years comfortable, fulfilling and fun.

Retirement villages and apartments are springing up around the country to cater for older people who want to live independently. A few older people even opt to stay long-term in hotels or on cruise ships as an alternative to remaining in their own home or residential care.

Hotels and cruise ships certainly sound like fun, but are they practical? They offer the benefits of serviced accommodation, meals and leisure facilities but they won’t look after your personal care needs. You also won’t have much in the way of your own possessions around you or opportunities to personalise your living space.

Later Life Luxury Living

The growth of different retirement living options does, however, show that there’s a strong demand for a touch of luxury in later life. People may decide that they no longer want the responsibility of running their own home but that doesn’t mean they want to compromise on their lifestyle or quality of their accommodation.

Steepleton Manor is designed to appeal to people looking for the style of a luxury hotel with modern facilities, combined with the reassurance of living in facilities built around the needs of older and possibly less mobile people. Having trained care staff on hand also means that personal and healthcare needs are taken care of.

The Manor is a grade II listed Victorian mansion, furnished and decorated to a very high standard. It stands in six acres of landscaped parkland making it a superb environment to support the wellbeing of our residents.

The meal options are as good as you will find in a hotel, with the added benefit that they have been balanced by our catering team to meet the nutritional needs of older people and some of the produce is grown in our own kitchen garden. Residents are also able to live as independently as they wish for as long as they are able and have a wide variety of leisure and activities and days out to choose from.

For those seeking a combination of comfort, care and good fun Steepleton Manor is the ideal choice. To find out more, contact us to arrange to visit.

Which Elderly Care Option is the Right One?

Posted on 25 July 2019 by dukadmin

Like it or not, care is something more of us will have to think about. People are living longer and more of us will develop medical conditions that mean we will need help to cope with everyday life to some degree.

Of course, there are plenty of excuses to put it off. These include fears over the potential cost or simply not wanting to accept that time is taking its toll and we need a bit of help. But it’s a reality that may have to be faced and there are probably many more care options than you realise.

Many chose to receive care at home. This can include help with simple tasks such as cleaning, cooking, shopping, washing or dressing. It can make life in your own home easier to manage and give you more time to do things you enjoy. For people with more acute medical needs there are further options to help you stay in your own home including live-in care.

Assisted Living

Assisted living is also a possibility. Typically, people have their own apartment in a home that has round the clock care support available if needed. The advantages are that these homes are designed specifically for people with greater mobility and focus on providing a more convenient and social environment for those that may want to take away the hassle and cost of running their own home.

Residential Care

Residential care is also not always what people imagine. Many residents in our care homes live active, fulfilling and enjoyable lives and are always guaranteed company and something to do. Being within a residential care setting also means that somebody is keeping an eye on your health and nursing or dementia care can be introduced when needed.

Respite Care

Respite care is used for a short period to give carers and the cared-for a break and a change of scene. And sometimes home care or residential care is provided temporarily to help recovery from injury or illness.

How & When do I Need to Choose?

Choosing the best option will depend on each individual and their needs. The first stage is usually to have a care assessment carried out by social services. You might also have a care assessment if you are discharged from hospital.

Based on the care assessment an individual care plan will be developed. This must consider your preferences and allow you to make choices for yourself. This is a good time to understand all of your options and talk them through with family and friends.

Paying for Care

Unless you have very little in the way of savings or assets or your care is the result of a medical diagnosis your care will not be free in England. You can find information about the costs of care here.

The team at Altogether Care will also be happy to advise you. Our information on funding care may be helpful. And you are always welcome to visit one of our care homes to see for yourself what supported living in a caring environment looks like.

A Better Way to Recruit Staff in Dorset, South Somerset and Hampshire

Posted on 18 July 2019 by dukadmin

Unfilled job vacancies are at unprecedented levels in the UK. According the Office of National Statistics there are 2.9 vacancies for every 100 jobs. The average time taken to fill posts is also growing.

Among the sectors suffering most are hotels, food service businesses and health and social care. Around Dorset, South Somerset and Hampshire we are certainly seeing some of this pressure.

There’s a real challenge for organisations, from hotels and restaurants, to schools, surgeries and care providers to find not just people, but the right people. The question is, where to turn for help?

One option is the recruitment agencies who, to be honest, are struggling just as much as anyone to find good candidates.

Another option is to work with a more specialist expert in this field, that has over 30 years’ experience recruiting its own staff in roles as diverse as chefs, cleaners, handymen, admin, care and nursing. We recently launched Altogether Connect to share our recruitment expertise with other organisations in Dorset, South Somerset and Hampshire, looking specifically for these types of staff that can be especially hard to find as the competition for staff intensifies.

We seem to have an eye for spotting talented people who are ready to build a career with an organisation. We must be doing something right because many of our own staff have been with us for over ten years. The process starts with attracting and identifying the right people in the first place, with the skills, values and behaviours needed to be a productive and valued colleague.

As an employer and a care business, we also have first-hand experience of how to recruit these people and what they are looking for, which gives us a unique insight that other recruiters may lack.

Given our background, we specialise in recruiting care staff, nursing, chefs, handymen, catering staff and cleaners (domestic and commercial). And we help find people to fill these roles in restaurants, hotels, schools, doctors’ surgeries and social care providers. We also help individuals find trusted people to provide these services in their own homes.

So, if finding good quality staff in and around Dorset, Somerset or Hampshire is one of your biggest headaches give Altogether Connect a try. Find out more and enquire here.

A Society Learning to Live with Dementia

Posted on 4 July 2019 by dukadmin

Until somebody develops effective treatments to prevent or control dementia it is going to be an increasing fact of life for many of us. Not just for the estimated one million plus people who are expected to develop the condition in the UK by 2025, but also the many more people who will be affected as family, friends and carers.

There’s little doubt that the general population would benefit by understanding more about dementia. This can only help take away some of the fear and stigma that unfortunately still surround the condition. It can also help us to build a society and environment that are more dementia friendly.

One thing people often get confused about is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s. Technically, dementia is a syndrome. That means a group of symptoms that don’t necessarily have the same cause. In the case of dementia, the symptoms relate to reduced ability in areas such as memory and reasoning. Different people experience dementia in different ways.

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia. It is believed to account for between 50 and 70 percent of cases. Although recent research suggests that many people thought to have Alzheimer’s may, in fact, have a newly discovered type of dementia-related illness called limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, or Late.

Dementia can also result from other conditions such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, and can be caused by strokes, vascular diseases, depression and chronic drug use.

Understanding Dementia

In many practical ways, the exact cause is less important than understanding how dementia can affect people’s ability to relate to the world and people around them, how it might affect their behaviour, and how best to make life for people with dementia more inclusive and less stressful. This can only come from greater knowledge and being more comfortable about discussing the issues that surround dementia.

Care homes that specialise in dementia care, such as Sherborne House in Dorset, will clearly have a greater role to play as the population ages and more people are affected. But we all have a part to play by being more understanding about a condition that a significant number of us will be affected by – directly or indirectly.

Month: July 2019

Options for Luxury Retirement Living

A Better Way to Recruit Staff in Dorset, South Somerset and Hampshire

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