Care sector news review September

Find out all about the latest care sector news, including articles on care services, new medical research and awareness initiatives that relate to older people.

Welcome back for the September edition of care sector news review.

At the end of each month, we’ll provide you with a round-up of the biggest stories from across the care sector, including care news, medical research and awareness initiatives.

Read on to find out what’s been happening across the care sector in September:

Care services

• A host of hospitals and care homes in the US states of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina were forced to evacuate as a result of Hurricane Irma. Both rescue services and local communities played a vital role in bringing residents to safety and ensuring their immediate needs were met.
• 86% of people with neurological conditions (such as multiple sclerosis) in residential care in Scotland are housed in homes designed for older people. Approximately 20% of this number were found to be below the age of 65, with observers noting a distinct lack of specialist services.
• Wide variations have been identified in terms of how often local councils use powers to recoup funds that should have been used to pay for care. North Somerset used these powers 64 times to claw back £1.3m, while Westminster and Southwark didn’t use them at all.

Medical research

• UK-funded clinical trial results have indicated that men with prostate cancer who are commencing hormone therapy may benefit from one of two additional treatments. Both abiraterone (a hormone) and docetaxel (a chemotherapy drug) were found to improve survival rates.
• Analysts from University College, London, are attempting to use virtual reality to diagnose the early stages of dementia. The ability to navigate is among the first skills to be affected by dementia, and virtual reality provides a safe testing environment that can generate more useful data on this.
• Research has opened the door to a new age of testing for Parkinson’s. US researchers have identified a ‘scratch and sniff’ test that could diagnose the condition up to a decade earlier, while 17 new associated genetic variants have also been listed in the latest edition of Nature Genetics.
• Regularly taking tricyclic antidepressants – a medication that’s been readily available for around half a century – could slow or even prevent the build-up of a protein in the brain, a characteristic associated with the onset of Parkinson’s.

Awareness initiatives

• This month was designated as World Alzheimer’s Month, with World Alzheimer’s Day being marked on 21 September. Similarly, both Urology Awareness Month and Urology Week 2017 (25-29 September) were scheduled this month.
• A range of other awareness initiatives relating to elderly health were also scheduled for September, including National Eye Health Week 2017, Vascular Disease Awareness Month, World Lymphoma Awareness Day 2017 and Know Your Numbers! (organised by Blood Pressure UK).
• A number of non-medical-related initiatives also took place in September, such as European Mobility Week, the Pension Awareness Day and Remember A Charity In Your Will Week 2017.
• Eamonn Donnelly completed his epic 2,500km ‘Long Walk Home’ to raise funds for dementia research this month, while one-time ‘Python’ Terry Jones helped raise awareness by joining a memory walk alongside 3,500 other people in London.

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

If you would like to find out more about The Good Care Group’s unique approach and commitment to improving overall care standards, contact our friendly team.