What’s it like shopping with dementia?

Ann Johnson was diagnosed with dementia 10 years ago, when she was 52-years-old.

She said that her short-term memory is “completely gone” which makes “simple things” including shopping more difficult.

Although she experiences problems when she’s shopping, including forgetting the names of fruits and vegetables, Ann said it was important for her to “get out” rather than “sit and sink”.

A new guide has been launched for shops so that they can give better support to customers with dementia. The Alzheimers Society says lots of people with the disease give up on the high street because they aren’t helped enough and that so-called “slow shopping” could help.

This clip is originally from 5 live Breakfast on July 28 2016.

Building bridges, breaking barriers: Integrated care for older people

Building bridges, breaking barriers looks at how well care for older people is integrated across health and social care, as well as the impact on older people who use services and their families and carers.

Read the Report here:

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The review seeks to improve our understanding of how services work together to meet the needs of older people.

What we did

We gathered evidence from a range of sources, undertook site visits and spoke with older people and their carers to understand how integration across services affected their experiences of care. We looked for examples of where care was coordinated effectively and identified barriers that prevent it from working well.

What we found

We found many initiatives aimed at delivering integrated care. We saw some good practice, and in many cases considerable drive from providers and commissioners to improve the way services work together, but we did not find many examples of it working really well. There was considerable variation in the care provided and in the experiences and outcomes for older people.

Across the eight sites we reviewed, our findings related to both how services were working together and the impact this has on older people’s experiences. Looking at how services were working together for older people, we found that:

There was widespread commitment to delivering integrated care.
There were still many organisational barriers that made it difficult for services to identify older people who were at risk of deterioration or an unplanned emergency admission to hospital.
There were examples of joint working in delivering health and social care, but these were often inconsistent, short-term and reliant on partial or temporary funding and goodwill between different providers. They were not a mainstream part of the way in which services were planned or delivered around older people.
Monitoring and evaluation was often not carried out locally or was insufficient.
The lack of connection between services often resulted in older people and their families or carers needing to take responsibility for navigating complex local services. This could result in people ‘falling through the gaps’ and only being identified in response to a crisis.
Older people often had multiple care plans because professionals did not routinely link together and share information.
Older people were not routinely involved in decision making about their needs and preferences.
Older people and their families or carers did not routinely receive clear information about how their health and social care would be coordinated, in particular if there were changes in their circumstances or if there was an unplanned or emergency admission to hospital.
Local leaders achieved integrated person-centred care by working closely across health and social care services to share information, reduce duplicated efforts and use resources more effectively.

Our recommendations

Health and social care leaders should develop and agree a shared understanding and definition of what integrated care means for the population in their local area, and then work towards delivering this shared aim.
NHS England and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) should lead on developing an agreed methodology and data set for identifying people at risk of admission to secondary care or deterioration.
Older people should be meaningfully involved in making informed decisions about their care needs and care planning â€“ in particular about the outcomes that are important to them â€“ based on the existing national and local guidance.
Commissioners and providers in an area should ensure that information and support for older people and their families or carers is available, and this sets out connections between services, and how the people’s accessibility needs will be met.
The National Quality Board, in partnership with the National Information Board, develop and share a set of validated data metrics and outcomes measures for integrated care with person-centred outcomes at the heart of decision making about service provision and based on a consistent, shared view and definition of integration.

The first Red Extreme heat warning issued

For the first time temperatures of 40°C have been forecast in the UK and the Met Office has issued the first ever Red warning for exceptional heat.

Exceptional heat is expected to affect a large part of England early next week, with temperatures likely in the high 30s C in some places and perhaps even reaching 40°C.

10 top tips to help you keep cool and healthy

Although we all look forward to some sunshine over the summer months, it worth remembering that when the temperature goes up it can present health risks – especially for older people. Age UK has 10 tips to help you enjoy the sun but stay healthy at the same time.

The importance of staying cool and keeping well in hot weather cannot be over-estimated, as older people can be particularly susceptible to heat-related illness.

Heat stroke is a life-threatening condition and can develop if heat exhaustion is left untreated. All of us, neighbours, family and friends should provide whatever support we can for older people, particularly those living alone.

Age UK offers a range of free information and advice designed to help older people live well during the summer months and protect themselves when the temperature soars. Here are Age UK top tips staying cool and well in the warmer weather:

1. Stay inside during the hottest time of the day – late morning to mid-afternoon. If you do go out use sunscreen of factor 15 or above, wear a hat and stay in the shade if possible.

2. When inside, try to keep your house cool. Keep curtains and blinds closed in rooms that catch the sun.

3. Avoid or limit strenuous activities like housework and gardening – try to do these activities when it cooler in the early morning or evening.

4. When travelling always carry a bottle of water and drink lots of fluid even if you aren’t thirsty. Limit drinks with caffeine and avoid alcohol as it can make dehydration worse.

5. Watch what you eat. Follow these tips to help you eat well during the warmer months:

Eat normally but try to have more cold foods, particularly salads and fruits as they contain a lot of water
Also be careful when eating outside. Whilst al fresco dining can be one of the best things about summer, hot weather causes bacteria to multiply quickly and increases our risk of food poisoning. Avoid this by bringing chilled food home quickly from the shops and putting it straight in the fridge when you get home, making sure you don’t have food sitting in the sun for long periods, and storing it in the fridge when you can
Be careful when barbequing. We all enjoy a barbeque in the sun, but it actually a riskier way to cook meat. Before eating meat such as chicken, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs from a barbeque make sure it piping hot and cooked all the way through, with no pink meat inside. There is no need to wash raw meat before cooking it and always wash your hands after touching it.

6. Choose the right clothes. It may sound obvious, but light-coloured, loose cotton clothing can help you stay cool in the heat. Dark colours absorb the light and can make you feel even warmer.

7. Think about your feet. Allowing your feet to breathe is important when the weather is hot so wearing open toe sandals is an excellent way to stop your feet getting sweaty and smelly. Avoid flip flops, which can be hard to walk in and opt for sandals which support your feet. Sandals that fasten with Velcro or adjustable straps are a good idea if your feet swell up in the heat.

8. Cool off with cold water. Remember to take nice cool baths or showers. Try splashing your face with cold water or placing a cool damp cloth on the back of your neck.

9. Check for weather forecasts and temperature warnings on TV, radio and online at www.metoffice.gov.uk

10. If you live alone, ask a relative or friend to visit or phone to check that you are not having difficulties during periods of extreme heat. It’s important to be aware of friends and neighbours during a heat wave and to let people know if you are on your own and have any concerns. Heat stroke is a life-threatening condition and can develop if heat exhaustion is left untreated.

Levenshulme 50+ Inspired Peoples Project – Sharing Good Practice “Don’t Get Caught Short”

Please see details below from the Levenshulme Inspired Peoples Project, about a fantastic local project, shaped and delivered by the Inspire Task Force (local older people who take a direct approach to tackling issues that affect local older people).

The “Don’t Get Caught Short” project was inspired by negative press publicity which highlighted the difficulty a visitor to Levenshulme experienced in obtaining access to a publically accessible toilet. The gentleman was in urgent need but was turned away from a number of shops who explained they were unable to help.

The Inspired Task Force responded by engaging with local business and services to highlight the importance of supporting members of the local community (their customers) and were able to negotiate with them encouraging many to provide access to their facilities.

This project / service has been widely publicised in a leaflet which has been distributed throughout the community. It highlights where facilities are available. Those businesses who are able to offer support have been provided with a window sticker. All businesses have been provided with copies of the leaflet – if they are unable to provide access to facilities, they can quickly refer someone to local services ensuring people don’t get caught short.

Opportunities will exist to replicate this scheme and support will be available through the Locality Networks to delivery similar projects in other neighbourhoods.

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Space and Stillness: Exploring Meditation Together

Space and Stillness Exploring Meditation Together

St Margaret Church, (corner of Rufford Rd & Whalley Rd) Whalley Range, Manchester, M16 8AE

Tuesdays 6.45 â€“ 8.15 pm

31 May

28 June

19 July

30 August

20 September

25 October

Help make Chorlton & Whalley Range more Dementia Friendly!

Manchester Royal Infirmary: ‘Experience Based Design’

At Manchester Royal Infirmary we are committed to ensuring we provide the best possible service to you. We appreciate that when you attend the outpatient department, you may not always have the opportunity to tell us how things have been for you. We want to work with you to design services that give you the best possible experience. We are keen to undertake some filmed interviews to understand what really matters to our patients â€“ if you are willing and interested in being involved, please contact Sarah Watson on 0161 701 8115.

On Tuesday 26^th April between 1pm and 3pm, Manchester Royal Infirmary is holding an event in the main Outpatient area, for all patients, carers and our teams. This event is part of an on-going project called Experience Based Design which uses patient and staff experiences to ensure hospital services are at their best. During the event, we would love you to offer any feedback you have based on your experience here as well as help us shape improvements we could make in the future. We will have a short video to show you what other patients and staff have said about their experience as well as displays and posters to share ideas. Our staff here will be available to talk to you about the hospital, your experience and suggestions.

This is a real opportunity to get involved with the team here to shape the services we provide and we would be so proud if you could help, given your recent visit to us. So that we can confirm numbers for the event, I would be grateful if you could contact Sarah Watson on 0161 701 8115 to confirm your attendance.

European project will tackle ageing’s impacts

Manchester Met joins â‚¬6.5m EU consortium

MANCHESTER Met research is leading the way in tackling the challenge of dementia, hearing and vision loss, and cognition impairment across Europe.

A European-wide consortium â€“ one of the first projects in the European Commission Horizon 2020 research programme â€“ will investigate the impact of these conditions in the elderly.

The five-year â‚¬6.5m project, SENSE-Cog, aims to examine this combined impact and develop new tools that could improve quality of life of patients and caregivers, and optimise health and social care services across Europe.

Dr Abebaw Yohannes, Reader in Physiotherapy, is leading SENSE-Cog research at Manchester Met.

Detection, diagnosis, intervention

He will be seeking to:

â€¢ To understand the links between hearing, vision, cognitive and emotional systems in various dimensions in elderly Europeans in different communities so as to promote early diagnosis, referral and develop interventions to improve care for elderly Europeans

â€¢ To improve the early detection and diagnosis of sensory, cognitive and emotional problems in older people through specially adapted assessment and e-health check tools

â€¢ To determine the effectiveness of a newly developed vision and hearing support intervention in improving quality of life and functional ability in people with dementia and their caregivers. In addition, he will be raising awareness and disseminating the findings that sensory health â€“ hearing and vision â€“ is a key feature of mental wellbeing of older people

He said: â€œEurope is faced with an ageing population and we want to be at the forefront of ensuring elderly people lives are as comfortable as possible and improve their quality of life, while equipping health and social care organisations with the right tools to tackle the challenges ahead.

Perfect storm

â€œThe cumulative impact of dementia, sight and hearing loss, and depression is far greater than each on their own. We want to be able to improve the quality of life in these areas and provide health organisations across Europe with the insight they need to inform decisions around health and social care budgets.â€

This project is expected to produce new research, patentable materials and screening tools for vision, hearing and cognition impairment.

The project involves 17 European Union organisations, which includes universities, healthcare service providers, voluntary and non-voluntary organisations and industry.

The consortium is led by the University of Manchester and launched in February.