Care sector news review: July 2018

Get up to speed with the latest discussion from the industry with the latest edition of care sector news review, July 2018.

Welcome to care sector news review, July 2018 edition.

Here, we’ll update you on the latest stories concerning care news, medical research and awareness initiatives.

Join us and find out what’s been happening across the care sector in July 2018:

Care news

• Relatives and close friends providing care for elderly loved ones are spending approximately £2,500 each per year. When combined with costs incurred by those receiving care, the total national expenditure on informal care for loved ones is approximately £1.7bn pa, according to a new report.
• MP Dominic Grieve has called for a new law that would require all care homes to be fitted with CCTV in order to reduce incident rates. The cameras would be installed in all communal spaces, with a view to affording an additional layer of support for 400,000 vulnerable residents nationwide.
• The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report calling for greater cohesion among care leaders concerning funding, regulations and staffing. The report states that care leaders have prioritised their own individual performance above improving standards for care receivers.
• Stonewall has published the results of research into perceptions of care home and hospital treatment among elderly LGBTQ+ people. The charity found that many felt uncomfortable about making their sexuality known due to fears surrounding stigmatisation by care staff.

Medical research

• The director of UCL’s Dementia Research Centre has stated that “We are starting 20, 30, 40 years behind cancer” in terms of research development. Prof. Nick Fox attributed this to the wrongful characterisation of dementia symptoms as a natural part of the ageing process.
• The exclusive use of male mice in dementia research risks missing out on key variations between male and female development of the condition, according to a co-founder of the Women’s Brain Project. Approximately two-thirds of the 850,000 people with dementia in the UK today are female.
• Consuming a diet high in folic acid can help reduce the risk of a first stroke, according to new research. In a study involving 10,000 people aged 45-75, 210 people from the control group had a stroke compared to 161 of those who were given a prescribed dose of folic acid on a regular basis.
• People who spend several hours in the REM sleep stage each night are less likely to develop a heart condition that can cause strokes, a study published this month has shown. The results indicate that those who woke regularly throughout the night have a 36% higher risk of developing the condition.

Awareness initiatives

• July marked Sarcoma Awareness Month, which set out to raise awareness and funds to aid the treatment of this form of cancer. Almost half of skin sarcomas occur in people aged 65+ and survival rates are notably lower among this demographic.
• Janet Ross has called on her community to rally round and support Cancer Research UK Shine Night Walk, which will take place in Glasgow and other locations next month. Janet will walk with her daughter in memory of her dear mother, Rose, who died of bowel cancer in December 2016.

Join us again in the last week of August for the next edition of care sector news review.

If you’d like to find out more about The Good Care Group’s live-in care services, contact our friendly team.