Latest News from Everycare
Smiling old man holding a cane and smiling young woman
A recent report seems to suggest that there is little benefit to people with dementia engaging in regular exercise.
Remaining in your own home in familiar surroundings is however widely recognised as beneficial to those suffering with dementia.
With our live in care service, we are able to enable those with more challenging needs such as dementia stay safely at home. For more on this story visit the BBC News website.
For further information on how this might benefit a member of your family call Everycare on 0170 869 3057.
An accurate and timely diagnosis is an essential part of living as well as possible with dementia. A diagnosis is an important first step towards accessing treatment, support, information and advice to help families adjust to life with dementia.
However in 2016 it took twice as long for younger people to be diagnosed as it did older people. Younger people tend to have rarer types of dementia and they may not experience memory loss. Signs and symptoms can include behaviour, personality or mood changes which can be mistaken for other conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression or relationship problems.
The Young Dementia Network, of which Dementia UK is an active member, has worked with GPs to create a tool that is designed to support GPs in the recognition and understanding of young onset and rarer forms of dementia.
The pilot version of this GP decision making tool will be available for GPs to use and comment on from April 2017, with the aim of making the final version available to all GPs across the UK later in the year. To read more visit the Dementia UK website.
An alliance involving Croydon’s council, NHS and charities is to develop its work after demonstrating early benefits.
The One Croydon Alliance was given the green light in March to develop its work for the next nine years, after demonstrating early benefits, including a 20% reduction in length of hospital stays, up to 14% fewer hospital referrals by GPs and cash savings of at least £12m a year.
Jo Negrini, Croydon council’s chief executive, says: “This unprecedented level of joint working between council staff, the NHS and other alliance partners has meant better health and social care outcomes for residents who might otherwise have continued to [be] in and out of hospital.”
The alliance was set up last year for an initial 12 months during which it focused mainly on people aged 65 and over. The two principal strands of its approach have been a Living Independently for Everyone (Life) programme – an integrated reablement and rehabilitation service for older people on discharge from hospital – and an Integrated Community Networks (ICN) scheme based on weekly “huddles” of professionals from all disciplines to discuss people at risk of going into hospital.
For more information visit the Guardian website.
Dame Barbara Windsor’s husband has revealed the actress has Alzheimer’s and her condition has worsened in recent weeks. He said they had gone public with her diagnosis – made in 2014 – because it had become “a lot more difficult for us to hide”.
Alzheimer’s often develops slowly over several years. And experts say it is not always obvious to begin with because the symptoms can overlap with other illnesses.
An estimated 850,000 people in the UK are affected by this most common type of dementia. So how can you spot the signs? It’s more than just losing the car keys. Alzheimer’s is more than just forgetting things occasionally. Everyone can forget where they left that cup of tea or people’s names – sometimes.
Forgetting stuff is also part and parcel of normal ageing. But these aren’t necessarily signs of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. Memory loss is much more serious and is often one of the first signs of the disease. Short-term memory is usually affected, making people forget what they’ve done 10 minutes before or forgetting conversations they have just had.
Memory problems can also lead to people repeating themselves, or having problems recalling events that happened recently or struggling with familiar daily tasks, such as following a recipe or using a bank card.
To find out more visit the BBC Website
