Depression and loneliness are common among the elderly and have only been worsened by the pandemic and following lockdowns.
Almost half a million people live in care homes in the UK and approximately 70% of all care
home residents have dementia or severe memory problems.
Here are the ways we support the mental wellbeing of residents in our care homes:
People will always want human contact and no computer or automation will ever be able to fully replace this. People will always need care and people will likely always need carers to provide this service when they aren’t able to do it on their own any more. A career in care can be a satisfying, varied job that you will want to stay in.
The number of care worker vacancies has increased in the sector, this is due to having better healthcare and an increased aging population. In a report from June 2022 on the health and social care workforce, the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee reported that an extra 475,000 jobs would be needed in health and 490,000 jobs would be needed in social care by the early part of the 2030s. This gives people choosing a career in care now lots of options and opportunities.
Social care is an absolute priority for the UK government, backed by £5.4 billion in spending. The white paper People at the Heart of Care plan to reform social care sets out a 10-year vision for adult social care and funding proposals. There has never been a better time to join the sector.
Many of the people who gravitate towards care work do so because of the benefits it offers around a good work/life balance and emotional job satisfaction. Carers can choose to work hours around their own responsibilities, it offers flexibly in hours that work around their own family needs.
When looking at care work; it’s not ‘just a job’, there are many wonderful opportunities for career progression. The on-the-job training and qualifications you’ll receive – as well as the many transferable skills you will undoubtedly pick up – will set you up for progressing within the industry.
And perhaps most importantly, there are few things more fundamentally rewarding than helping and caring for others. Whether this is helping an older person to enjoy their day and supporting them with their short or long-term health needs, caring for others is a huge privilege. Not many jobs can boast that.
Care workers qualify for the highly regarded Blue Light Card, which offers a broad range of official discounts from large national retailers to local businesses in a wide range of categories including holidays, cars, days out, fashion, gifts, insurance, phones and more.
If you enjoy caring for others, a job as a care worker is a fantastic opportunity to gain many skills that embrace your natural empathy. There are many care homes throughout the UK in need of kind, compassionate people who help residents have a better quality of life and feel more comfortable.
So, if you’re thinking about retraining and would love making a positive difference in people’s lives, this could be the start of a wonderful career for you.
If you want to explore a rewarding career with Altogether Care, please send your CV by email for the attention of the Recruitment Manager at careers@altogethercare.co.uk or call Altogether Care on 01305 230488.
Care at home is a great option when you’re able to stay at home but need support
with everyday tasks. If you have a disability, are recuperating from an illness,
recovering from an accident, or just need help with everyday tasks, our wide range
of home care services could be for you.
Download our infographic here
Unpaid carers are the hidden face of social care in Britain. The organisation Carers UK estimated that there are 11.5 million people across the UK who give unpaid support to someone who is elderly, seriously ill or disabled. It went on to estimate that, by doing so, unpaid carers are saving the government £193 billion a year.
Of the 900,000 unpaid carers nationally who provide this service full-time – most of whom are women – many rely on Carer’s Allowance, which is the lowest benefit of its kind at just only £67.25 a week. Understandably, life can be really tough for carers.
Unpaid carers also face a number of extra stressors that can have a negative impact on their wellbeing such as: higher levels of stress, which can eventually lead to burnout, as well as feelings of helplessness and exhaustion.
Unpaid carers have been hit harder by recent inflation rising costs than many: financial support for the person cared for has an impact, as does taking unpaid leave to cope with care needs.
What support is available if you’re an unpaid carer, to ease the pressure of looking after a loved one?
As noted above, there is a government-paid Carers Allowance which can help. You can also use a benefits calculator to see if you can claim for help with your council tax or with fuel costs.
Your local council are obliged to provide you with a care assessment which could allow you to claim for additional support, such as any equipment you might need to help you care for your loved one.
It is also important to talk to close friends and family about how you’re feeling. Being lonely and isolated will only add to feelings of despair and exhaustion. Opening up about your worries can be a huge help – as they say, ‘A problem shared is a problem halved.’
When you’re caring for someone, it is often easy to ignore your own needs. At Altogether Care, our experienced and highly-trained carers are on hand to help if you need to work or look after your own health and wellbeing. We can also offer permanent care for your loved one if you’re no longer able to do so.
We can help your loved one live an independent, active and healthy life by assisting with jobs like household cleaning, washing and ironing, shopping, cooking and collecting pensions. We can also provide a transport and escort service for medical appointments, day care attendance, and general outings.
If you would like to know more about how we could help you with caring for a loved one, don’t hesitate to get in touch and discuss your options. Call us on 01305 300 161 or email contact@altogethercare.co.uk
Following the distressing and turbulent times that Covid-19 brought to the UK, with its associated lockdowns and the trauma that it brought with it, this country now seems to be returning to something approaching normality.
Care homes are operating more or less normally, and the options for care for your loved ones have increased exponentially. Is now the right time to consider residential care for your older relatives?
Your relative might be having increasing difficulty with everyday tasks like washing, cooking or dressing themselves and taking their medication. They might be worried about falling, with no one around to help them. And they can get increasingly stressed by the little things in life.
Moving into a care home can give the elderly a new approach to life – they can meet new people with shared life experiences, and they can make new friends. Because there are highly-trained staff on hand at all times, the worries about being on their own melt away. They are fed and washed and entertained and properly looked after.
Depending on the level of care needed, their every need will be taken into account, and if they need extra nursing or dementia care, that can be arranged.
It may be that it’s too soon for you to start thinking about full-time residential care. In which case, respite care might be a more suitable option.
Respite care can be for a short time, such as only a few hours every week, or can be overnight, or a weekend.
Even though many people take a great deal of pleasure in providing care to their loved ones so that they can remain at home, the financial, physical and emotional consequences can be overwhelming without some support, such as respite.
To be most effective, you should consider respite services much earlier than you might think you will need them. Respite is best if you use it before you become exhausted, and isolated by your responsibilities.
Altogether Care is committed to providing your loved ones with the highest possible standards of care, and is vigilant about the possible return of variants of the Covid-19 virus, se we take every possible precaution to keep residents and staff as safe as possible.
If you’d like to explore care options available for yourself or an elderly relative, give Altogether Care a call, visit our website, or email contact@altogethercare.co.uk.
Resident’s and Staff at our Weymouth Care Home recently went out to the Weymouth Sea life Centre for their Sensory Day.
They loved seeing all the variety of sea creatures, such as the seals and being in the underwater tunnel where they could see sharks, sting rays, turtles and more. They thoroughly enjoyed choosing their own gifts from the gift shop. The residents and staff cannot wait to do this again soon.
The purpose of our Sea Life sensory day was so that everyone could experience not only a different environment, but different senses such as: sounds (running water, noises from penguins, music), smells (the penguin enclosure, the smell of the food that was there), sight (different sea creatures, bubbles, lights).
Each week our sensory days look at different things which affect different senses. Previous sensory days focusing on touch at Weymouth Care Home have included orbeeze and slime. For sound we have used instruments, and for sight we have used sensory lights. We also use our magic table if they are doing a bubble pop game, we also have our bubble machine on and music in the background.
Sensory days are incredibly important for those who need activities adapted, or who struggle to partake in group activities as it helps keep their brains stimulated, it gives them new opportunities to experience their senses.
We have found that by doing sensory days it has had a positive impact on all residents who have taken part, and it’s nice doing activities that all abilities can partake in.
The pandemic changed the way a lot of people work, perhaps permanently. Many found working from home preferable to commuting to and from a fixed place of work.
But was it just the change of setting that made people happier in their work? Research by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggests that some aspects of homeworking are actually less attractive. In particular, people found it harder to collaborate with colleagues. And there’s no doubt that some people miss the social aspects of the workplace.
The biggest positive according to the ONS data was unquestionably an improved work-life balance. Being home based gave people opportunities to take or collect kids from school and generally enjoy more family time, rather than arrive home late each day after a tiring commute.
The future of home working is unclear. Some organisations are already calling staff back into the office full or part time. And in other occupations such as retail there’s no option other than to be present in the workplace for a fixed number of hours.
When people say they’re looking for jobs that allow them to work from home is it that they really want to turn part of their home into a place of work? Or is it just that they want to balance work and life a little more in their favour?
If the most important goal is to have a better work-life balance there are alternatives. A new job that offers flexibility to blend work and family life more harmoniously might be all you need.
In which case the care sector is an excellent place to start looking. People don’t just need care within normal office hours. So working for Altogether Care usually allows people to choose work patterns that fit best with their home life and commitments. This can take a lot of stress and pressure out of everyday life as it’s easier to fit your work around the things you need and want to do.
If you’d like to find out more about how working in the care sector can improve your work-life balance, contact Altogether Care on 01305 230488 or email careers@altogethercare.co.uk, or check out our current vacancies.
We are thrilled to have recently had the Our Dorset’s Here For Each Other team visit our wonderful staff in their coffee van as part of their ‘Hug in a Mug’ tour.
The tour is a great opportunity for staff and teams across Dorset to physically meet the team who may have supported them in the past and get answers to questions around the support available to them. So far, the team has visited many sites and plans to visit many more sites in the coming months.
Here For Each Other is Our Dorset’s enhanced staff wellbeing service supporting staff and teams across Dorset who work in social care to look after their wellbeing while prioritising others.
They have a wide range of offers ranging from; wellbeing coaching to physiotherapy, counselling, psychological therapy and mental health. There’s something for everyone and they are always here to help.
Staff and teams can access support on the website or from the Enhanced Health and Wellbeing Hub via an online referral or by calling 01202 130130 (Mon-Fri, 08:00 – 16:00).
They also offer a monthly Wellbeing Buzz newsletter full of wellbeing updates and resources from across Dorset’s health and care sector.
Find out more on their website
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people came to appreciate how important key workers are to our society. Emergency services, health and care workers and the armed forces were all there to help when the nation needed it most.
Many organisations are keen to show their appreciation for key workers and have joined the Blue Light Card scheme to offer discounts on shopping, meals out and attractions.
One of the perks of a career with Altogether Care is that you qualify for a Blue Light Card. This gives you access to over 15,000 discounts, both locally and online.
With your card you can enjoy every day discounts when you: go to the cinema, eat out at numerous participating restaurants, buy a mobile phone, shop from famous brands, book a holiday, go to a theme park or just queue up for your coffee. The list of participating companies reads like Who’s Who of famous retail and leisure brands.
Blue Light Card discounts come on top of many other advantages of working for Altogether Care. First of all, we’re a happy crew. You’ll get to work every day with a team of people who enjoy what they do and take great pride in their work. That has to be better than being surrounded by long faces waiting for the hands of the clock to tick round.
The clients you work with are also an incredible group of people. They all have a story to tell and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing what a difference you make to their lives every day.
Your work in the care sector will be appreciated in so many ways. The discounts offered through the Blue Light Card is just one of them.
If you’d like to have a discussion to find out more about working in the care sector, contact Altogether Care on 01305 230488 or email careers@altogethercare.co.uk, or check out our current vacancies.
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