Age UK endorse The Good Care Group’s carer training

Nationwide charity Age UK, who champion the care and support of older adults, have approved the training programme The Good Care Group delivers to its professional carers. The training programme, which has been devised by experienced in-house trainers and care experts such as Dr Jane Pritchard and Jackie Cooper, was recently given the endorsement after the charity reviewed all aspects of its teaching and aims, including the provision of person-centred care. The full testimonial reads: “Age UK has reviewed the training provided by The Good Care Group to its professional carers and has found it to be of high quality, going above industry expectations to give carers the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to ensure that their clients receive a ...

14 Packing Tips For Carers Coming To The UK

1. Make a list Worried you may forget something essential? Create a list of everything you will need and check items off as you pack. This will ensure all essential items are in your bag and ready to go. 2. Avoid Stains There is nothing worse then pulling on the clothes you packed and finding a stain on your favourite top. You can avoid this problem by making sure all light coloured clothes are packed inside out and all liquids are in sealed plastic bags. 3. Roll and vacuum pack Don’t arrive at your placement or for training and be faced with a pile of ironing. To save space and stop creasing, roll your clothes instead of folding them. Place ...

Our live-in carers are equipped to spot infection early

How we are enabling effective prevention and detection of infections within our live-in care service. Image 1 illustrates the different trajectory for a client with a UTI pre and post implementation of urinalysis kits The first key learning from the project was that urine samples obtained from catheter bags cannot be reliably tested for indicators of a UTI using the dipstick method. For The Good Care Group this meant emphasising these clients as high risk in training material in order that carers observe more closely for signs and symptoms unique to clients with indwelling catheters. The second key learning was that carers needed to be encouraged to pass on the results of a urinalysis test, irrespective of the results. It ...

What to consider when planning your discharge from hospital?

Planning your own or a loved one’s discharge from hospital is essential to help facilitate a speedier recovery at home. Continuing recovery in the comfort of your own home, instead of going into respite care, also reduces the risk of a further admission to hospital, helping to prevent the risk of infections and falls It is important when considering your discharge home to understand the type of care you will require to help support your recovery. Here The Good Care Group outline the types of care a live-in carer could provide, and areas you will need to discuss and explore with your chosen care provider prior to returning home. Will you require help managing your health needs?  Professional care provision ...

When the Concern is for the Carer – by Dr Rudy Capildeo, FRCP, Consultant Neurologist

John is 83 years of age, round faced, tanned, cheerful, smiling a shock of white hair and a slight roll as he walks. A picture of health, strong legs and a good gait, he always comes into the clinic room first followed his wife. John is 83 years of age, round faced, tanned, cheerful, smiling a shock of white hair and a slight roll as he walks. A picture of health, strong legs and a good gait, he always comes into the clinic room first followed his wife. She is 77 years, slim, even underweight, walking more slowly than John and the waddle in her gait is due to pain and stiffness in her right hip. John, my patient, always greets me with ...

Primary Care Today, November 2011 “Training is much more than ticking boxes”

Zoë Elkins, Head of Care Strategy, The Good Care Group, outlines an approach which takes training of carers to a new level. Zoë Elkins, Head of Care Strategy, The Good Care Group, outlines an approach which takes training of carers to a new level. When training carers in looking after the elderly, ticking boxes to indicate what elements of education have been covered can seem appropriate and adequate. However, whilst an array of ticked boxes may satisfy regulations, it does nothing to measure what has really been learned and applied. The Good Care Group, which supports elderly individuals in their own homes, places enormous importance on ensuring that the skills acquired are directly applied to deliver high quality care in ...

Primary Care Today – May 2012 ‘Trailblazing training achieves highest care standards’

The Good Care Group has achieved best practice in training carers following the successful launch of its Health and Social Care Professional Apprenticeship scheme a year ago, writes Zoe Elkins, Head of Care. The Good Care Group has achieved best practice in training carers following the successful launch of its Health and Social Care Professional Apprenticeship scheme a year ago, writes Zoe Elkins, Head of Care. Any organisation establishing a training programme for carers looking after elderly people must be sure to focus on delivering a programme that impacts on carers in a memorable way and makes a real difference to practice in the field. Overly enthusiastic providers who try to cram too much into too short a time (without ...

Five ways to communicate to someone living with dementia

There are things you can do to improve communications that will make a real difference for someone living with dementia. A recent episode of Emmerdale shone light on how difficult it can be to communicate with individuals living with dementia if you do not have sufficient knowledge of the condition. This episode generated much discussion on social media and in living rooms across the country. Here, we’ll look at what the Emmerdale writers got right and provide five straightforward methods that can help make talking to people with dementia more rewarding for both parties. What did Emmerdale get right about dementia? For well over a year, Emmerdale writers have consulted with Alzheimer’s Society regarding the broadcast of a special episode ...

Why dementia care demands a SPECAL approach

One in six of us will develop dementia at some point during our lifetimes. For a condition that affects so many, it is surprising that we’re only just beginning to take steps towards understanding and trying to minimise its negative impact on quality of life. SPECAL offers an innovative approach that can be practised by anyone – from professional live-in carers to friends and family members – and has already improved the lives of countless people with dementia. Find out more about this approach, and how you can integrate it into your interactions with loved ones. What is SPECAL? SPECAL began as an acronym (Specialised Early Care for Alzheimer’s) and describes the work of the Contented Dementia Trust, whose charitable aim ...

“Where are my things?”

You have arrived in your new placement, you’ve spent some time getting to know your client, you’ve familiarised yourself with the layout of the house and where most things are kept. However, it just isn’t the way you would organise your home, your kitchen, your living spaces and you are itching to dive in and rearrange the house according to your ideas of efficiency and aesthetics. But is this the right thing to do? For whose benefit will this really be? We all run our own homes, no matter how big or small, and as such we each have our own ideas of how best to organise our space and individual rooms in the home.  We organise the kitchen so ...

Enquiry – Floating Button