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As we get older, tasks that we used to take in our stride start to become a bit harder. This is a normal feature of the ageing process. With things like DIY, home improvements and decorating it seems easy and normal to accept that there are jobs we used to do ourselves that we now pay somebody to do for us.

When it comes to personal care sometimes we’re a bit more reluctant to accept that we need help. There are many reasons for this. If you have an elderly relative who is adamant that they ‘can cope just fine, thank you very much,’ even when you can plainly see they can’t, it’s quite normal.

If you see it from their perspective it can feel a bit like giving in. Ageing and a decline in physical (or mental) capacity can be a hard thing to accept. Hiring a carer, even for just a few hours a week, can feel like giving up your independence. It can even feel like one step closer to leaving your own home and going into residential care.

But there’s no reason why older people should have to struggle with everyday tasks. A care at home service can make a huge difference to their quality of life. Getting a relative to accept the help they need often depends on how you handle the discussion.

Introduce the Idea Gently

Going in with both feet and expecting somebody to instantly accept that they need a care at home service will probably be counterproductive. They are more likely to dig their heels in.

It’s a good idea to introduce the idea gradually and maybe steer clear of terms like care service. Perhaps have a more general conversation about how they see the future. Talk about the possibility of getting somebody to help around the house rather than a carer. Give them time to get used to the idea.

Focus on the positives and talk about more enjoyable ways that they could spend their time rather than on doing things that are a struggle.

Don’t Take Over

Exasperation is a normal reaction when somebody refuses to accept help. But ultimately it’s their decision – unless social services decide that they are incapable of caring for themselves. You can’t decide for them and shouldn’t try to. Concentrate on being supportive and making sure that they feel they are in control. 

If you have any questions about the best way to broach the subject of getting support from a care at home service, the team at Altogether Care will be happy to answer them. Please visit https://altogethercare.co.uk/care-at-home/ or call 01305 300 161 for more details.

How many people can say that what they did at work today made a real difference to somebody? And how many people are lucky enough to be certain that the sector they work in has almost guaranteed long-term employment and career development opportunities?

In many walks of life, employment is precarious and unsatisfying. But it isn’t in the care sector and definitely isn’t with Altogether Care.

Not only do you get job security and satisfaction, you get the chance to work with great colleagues and meet fascinating people with diverse backgrounds every day.

Starting Your Care Career – Support and Development

If you haven’t worked in care before, don’t worry about being thrown in at the deep end. You’ll get a thorough induction, job-specific training and support from more experienced colleagues to help you settle into your new career.

You’ll also get regular reviews and one-to-one supervisions that will help you develop your career and your confidence.

Development and Career Pathways

Through formal qualifications and professional training, there are many opportunities to develop a successful career in care. This could be by specialising in particular areas such as dementia care or by enhancing your supervisory or management skills to move into a leadership role.

Whichever way you’d like your career to grow, the leadership team at Altogether Care will be here to help and support you.

We can offer you attractive hourly rates, full-time permanent contracts, free professional training, and a great range of staff benefits.

The staff benefits scheme also includes:

• Retail discount vouchers
• Discounted holidays and travel insurance
• Various leisure and restaurant vouchers
• A hospital plan

If you’re looking for a job with security, opportunity and the chance to make a real difference to people’s lives, we have what you’re looking for.

Check out current opportunities at https://altogethercare.co.uk/careers/ or contact us on 01305 230 488 and let’s talk about your future in care.

Covid-19 has been life-changing for many older people, including those who didn’t contract the virus. Lockdown was a difficult experience. As a result many older people feel more isolated, less confident about going out or socialising and often less physically able.

The mental and physical wellbeing of many people has been badly affected. But – and this is the important bit – this can be reversed. There’s no reason why the majority of older people shouldn’t get back to enjoying active and fulfilling lives with a bit of help and support.

Here are some basic guidelines that will help you regain your confidence to live life a little more normally. There’s plenty more information available online but the first step is to tell yourself ‘I’m going to do this.’

Start By Eating Well

Many older people report feeling less able to prepare their own meals as a result of lockdown. So they don’t eat regularly. Or they eat less healthy foods that don’t take much effort and have comforting extra calories.

First point: don’t beat yourself up about this if it sounds like you. It’s a fairly normal reaction in a time of anxiety and you’re not alone. But also tell yourself: ‘that was then, this is now. I’m focused on the future.’

Mental and physical wellbeing starts with good nutrition. A balanced diet makes sure that we have the vitamins and minerals our bodies and minds need to function properly. We also need energy to gradually take more exercise and help our bones and muscles get back to normal. If we feel well because we are eating well we’re also less likely to feel anxiety.

It might be worth considering using a care at home service for a while just to help with meal preparation. The aim of this would be to help you get back to the stage where you are ready to take on the task of making healthy meals for yourself.

Research by Age UK also found that 41% of the people they surveyed were finding it harder to clean and tidy their home. This is another area where a care at home service can help.

Exercise

Confidence is largely about feeling we have the strength and mobility to go out and do things without getting into problems or falling over. Getting back to normal levels of mobility may take a while but the most important thing is to start. 

Aim to walk as far as you can, as quickly as you can. At first this might be to the end of the street or even just around the house. That’s fine. Start with whatever you can manage and then gradually build it up. There are plenty of items around the house such as tins of beans or bags of flour that you can use as improvised weights to rebuild muscle strength.

Anxiety

The knowledge that older people are among the most vulnerable to Covid-19 made many anxious about going out – even for a short walk.

The good news is that for double vaccinated people, the risk of becoming seriously ill appears to be low. As you improve your nutrition and fitness your risk will fall even further.

The best advice seems to be to take things slowly at first and gradually build up your confidence. Again, the important thing is to get started and progressively push your limits. Outings with a friend, family member or carer are a helpful way to become accustomed to being out and about, while knowing that there’s somebody to keep an eye on you.

If you’re concerned about an elderly relative whose confidence and wellbeing have been affected by the lockdown, Altogether Care will be happy to offer advice. We may also be able to arrange a temporary care at home support package. To find out more about the services at Altogether Care, contact 01305 206 140.

VIEW OUR FREE RESOURCE CENTRE

The highly successful NHS vaccine programme along with the arrival of summer weather spells great news for care home residents and staff. The easing in lockdown restrictions has meant residents have started to enjoy their weekly outings and seeing loved ones again.

Within certain limits, friends and family can make visits to our care homes. Our clients can also get out to have a much-appreciated change of scenery. The pandemic showed just how much we take for granted the simple everyday pleasures that make such a difference to our lives. For residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s, restoring regular personal contact with family members is particularly important.

Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll obviously be keeping a close eye on local infection rates and the emergence of Covid-19 variants. We’re hoping that we’re on the road to a complete return to normal with unrestricted visitor numbers and times (as of May 17, up to five people could be nominated as visitors, with a maximum of two at a time). We’re also looking forward eventually to no face masks or social distancing and no need for regular testing. 

READ MORE USEFUL RESOURCES

Ready for Anything

But the team is also ready to act swiftly if needed and do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. We have an outbreak management plan prepared, just in case.

Perhaps everything won’t go fully back to as it was before Covid. Like many care home providers across the country, we’re looking at some of the measures introduced over that last year and deciding what, if anything, we should retain. 

As you’d expect, our infection control measures were always rigorous. But now that regular hand sanitising – particularly when people enter our care homes – has become a routine, it seems sensible to keep doing it.

Many of our residents have become much more used to using technology and video calls to keep in touch with friends and family. This is certain to continue between visits and could be a positive legacy of the awful virus.

After a difficult year and a bit, the news is looking better. Hopefully, before too long it really will be back to normal.

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What’s On

Pub Lunches

We are delighted to welcome back our weekly pub lunches for residents, where we take residents out to enjoy their favourite meal in a local pub. Today marks the first pub lunch in a long time as three of our residents left in high spirits to enjoy their meal in the sunshine.

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Bus Trips

Our twice-weekly bus trips will commence again next week, whether it’s to enjoy a day at the seaside, visit a local attraction, or do some shopping with a friend or family member.

Sherborne House: Nothing Beats Home-Grown

The fantastic weather has meant the residents’ vegetables in the gardens are all growing well. Since nutrition and diet is such an important part of wellbeing, it’s great to see that residents can begin to enjoy their very own home-grown vegetables fresh from the gardens. On the menu will be lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, leeks and many more.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SHERBORNE HOUSE

Staff Welcome Party at Sherborne House

What better way to welcome new arrivals to the team than with a party. Sherborne House staff got to enjoy a party with food and soft drinks to welcome new staff from overseas. We are pleased that our new staff members are settling in well.

1970s Memorabilia

It’s always astonishing to see just how far technology has come. Residents got to enjoy some 1970s memorabilia, being shown old tv detectors, old police cars, old telephones and bicycles.

To find out more about our care homes, contact 01305 300 161 or email contact@altogethercare.co.uk.

With May 2021 being Stroke Awareness Month, the Beaminster Care at Home team decided to host a bake sale to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of a stroke and what to do in the event of a stroke. A huge effort was put in by the Beaminster team as they kindly made some delicious cakes for locals to enjoy.

The Beaminster community was very supportive to the cause and it was lovely to hear from the locals. It was also fantastic to have such great support from local businesses who helped raise awareness about the bake sale.

We’d like to thank the locals for their support on the day and for sharing their stories with us. The Beaminster Care at Home team managed to raise a total of £240 for the charity.

For information on our Care at Home services, click here. You can also view a range of useful materials about health and wellbeing in later life by signing up to our free resource centre here.

VISIT THE STROKE ASSOCIATION’S WEBSITE

A person’s care needs change over time. This could be down to the ageing process and a gradual loss of physical or mental capabilities, or it could be a temporary situation caused by illness or an accident.

As care needs change, the top priority for most people is to maintain as much independence as possible. The route to achieving this is through flexibility. For a care provider like Altogether Care, this means more than simply offering a full range of care services. Most importantly, it means listening, understanding and working with you to design a care package that meets your needs and can easily adapt as those needs change.

CARE AT HOME COSTS

Independence can have many meanings – so it’s important to be clear what we’re talking about. At its heart it means that you are the one making the decisions. And that you continue doing as much as you are able to for yourself. The organisation providing your care services is there to help you achieve your goals – not to decide what’s best for you.

When somebody is struggling with a task there’s a big difference between saying ‘we’ll do that for you’ and ‘which bits of that task do you find most difficult and can we help?’

Staying In Your Own Home

Independence for many people means staying in their own home for as long as possible. The flexibility that makes this possible includes care services that range from simple help with daily tasks, to regular nursing care visits up to full-time live-in care. If adaptations are needed to make your home easier to live in the choices about any changes are still yours.

FLEXIBILITY IN CARE

If you decide that residential care is the most suitable option this doesn’t mean surrendering your independence. Residents in our care homes are encouraged to do as much as possible for themselves and continue to decide what care support they need and how they want to spend their time.

The approach to flexibility at Altogether Care is about much more than the range of services we offer – it’s about our approach to your individual needs and choices. This ensures that maintaining your independence is always a priority.

For more information about our care services, contact 01305 206 140 or email contact@altogethercare.co.uk.

Many older people find everyday life an increasing struggle. They experience isolation and their health or care needs place a growing burden on over-stretched care givers. In normal times, moving into a residential care or nursing home would have been an obvious step to explore.

The pandemic changed this. But we are now one year on from the first wave of Covid-19 infections and we are in a much better place. The vaccination programme for care staff and older people is well advanced. By the time this article is published everyone over 70 should have had at least one dose of the vaccine, which is enough to protect against serious illness.

Even without vaccines our care homes are in a strong position to continue protecting our residents. There’s regular testing for staff and clients and no new residents are admitted or transferred from hospital without a negative test. Altogether Care has also invested in the highest standards of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff and residents. Alongside this we maintain rigorous cleaning and hygiene measures.

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Distancing

For the time being we are still not allowing any visitors to our homes. As the vaccination programme rolls out further this will be reviewed. But, in the meantime, it’s safety-first. Our residents are supported to use tools like Zoom and Facetime to stay in touch with friends and family while we maintain distancing – which we want to be physical rather than social.

Naturally, we can’t run the full range of activities and outings that our residents have become used to. Life in our homes is still a little different. But there’s the reassurance that personal and medical care needs are being looked after and that there’s regular contact with other people in a safe environment.

READ COVID-19 DIDN’T TAKE THE CARE OUT OF OUR CARE HOMES

Arguably, care homes will soon be among the safest places to be, thanks to vaccinations and strict protective measures. Above all, they are places where people are well looked after and not alone. Moving into a care home remains a positive step for many older people that will help them to enjoy a better quality of life. Perhaps now is the time to reconsider that ‘next step.’

To find out more about our care homes or to organise care for loved one, contact 01305 300 161 or email contact@altogethercare.co.uk.

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A CARE HOME

How quickly COVID-19 changed the lives of our staff and care home residents. Almost overnight, things we had taken for granted, such as outings and family visits, were no longer possible. 

Naturally, the priority was to help everyone stay healthy and protect residents and staff at our three care homes against the virus. But care is a much bigger picture. As well as taking care of physical health and providing personal care, a care home is also there to promote good emotional and mental wellbeing. Our care teams were determined to carry on doing this despite the changes forced on us by both of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Good nutrition is the foundation of good physical and mental health. The early days of the lockdown emptied supermarket shelves and led to national shortages of some foodstuffs, Altogether Care worked closely with our suppliers to ensure we could continue serving healthy meals to the residents of our three care homes.

Keeping the Activities Going

A normal week in our homes would feature a range of activities such as art, crafts and music. We have been pleased to welcome organisations into our homes to run these activities for many years. The pandemic meant that this was no longer possible – so our staff stepped in to make sure these highly valued activities could carry on.

Some of our staff brought other skills into play so that residents could still experience the feel-good factor of having their hair and nails done.

Family visits were, of course, much missed. Like many organisations across the world, we’ve become experts in using Zoom. A video call is never quite the same as seeing a loved one in person and getting a big hug. But until the hugs make a comeback, helping our residents to make Zoom calls is a vital way to help them stay connected with family, friends and the world outside.

Hopefully the UK can get on top of the virus and everything can get back to normal soon. In the meantime, you can be reassured that we’re doing all we can to look after the wellbeing of our residents.

For more information on COVID-19 and Altogether Care, find out more here. For any other queries, contact the team at Altogether Care on 01202 894 925 or email contact@altogethercare.co.uk.

We wanted to say hello and let you know we are thinking of our family and friends. Whilst you have been away we have been making rainbows and flowers that have been put on our windows, the staff are helping us with exercises and we have been singing too.

All these things cheer us up and nothing helps more than spending time in the garden. Many of us are able to use Skype and remain in contact with our families and friends which makes us feel much closer to them at this time.

The staff and residents want to thank the local community that have been donating masks/shields and supplying much-loved chocolate and biscuits to keep us going! We look forward to seeing you all soon. Take care and stay safe.  

Best wishes from the residents and staff at Weymouth Care Home

Our Winter 2020 Newsletter covers a wide range of articles and topics such as a review of 2020 from Altogether Care’s Chairman; how we helped tackle loneliness over Christmas 2019 with Wiltshire Farm Foods, why care is more than just a job, and what we have been up to on social media.

Read our newsletter by clicking the button below.

We know that many of you may be experiencing the impact of the Coronavirus already or will be worried about what it could mean over the coming weeks. As always, our priority is taking care to keep our residents, our clients and our colleagues safe and well.  

Given the evolving situation, we wanted to let you know how we are responding and to reassure you that everything is being done alongside health authority guidelines to maintain the health and wellbeing of all our residents and clients remaining in their own homes. 

In doing our bit to protect each other and our communities from the risk of spreading the Coronavirus, we have restricted all but essential emergency visiting to our Care Homes and then by appointment only. This policy is under constant review as the situation changes.  Please don’t visit if you have any symptoms and need to stay at home, stay in contact by phone and skype.  The Home Manager can assist you with the skype contact details for each individual home. If you have recently visited and have been advised to self-isolate in keeping with the Government guidelines, we would ask that you let us know on 01305 206140. We can then discuss what additional measures we may need to put in place. 

We maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene in all our homes and on home visits. In the face of the current Coronavirus outbreak we are taking additional measures to ensure the protocols are even more rigorous and doing everything we can at this critical time to keep everyone safe and well. It is an extremely busy time, which has been made more difficult by supply chain difficulties.

Care services are at the front line of the fight against Coronavirus and this is the time we need you to help us win that fight. We have many opportunities for people wishing to consider a role in care, with flexible working and the chance to make a real difference, right now.  Full training is provided and we have completely revamped our training to streamline the process for new people to care. To see all the different types of roles and locations we can offer, to get you earning and helping the fight back for our residents and clients during challenging times, visit our opportunities page here. 

We are determined to ensure that in these uncertain times we continue to provide the highest standards of care and support for our residents, clients and colleagues, whilst responding to the evolving situation. We also plan to keep you updated as things progress and you can visit our website for more details at www.altogethercare.co.uk.  

Lastly, I would like to personally send my on going thanks to all our staff, who are fully committed to the care and wellbeing of our residents and clients. You really are all amazing people, and we will face many challenges in the weeks and months ahead united together. 

Stephen Knell 
Chief Executive Officer