yourcarehome.co.uk blog

End of Life Care in Care Homes

I came across a letter to The Times last week written by Professor Malcolm Johnson, Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath, who has done a national study into end of life care in nursing homes.  He states that contrary to popular belief, care homes and nursing homes demonstrate impressive care, sensitivity and attention to the wishes of dying residents and their families. He goes on to state that

"After more than 35 years of gerontological research, I have unexpectedly come to the conclusion that, for most older people, dying in a care home is likely to be a better experience than anything else on offer."

It's always good to see care homes recognised for the care which they provide and we look forward to hearing more when the report is published.

yourcarehome.co.uk on Radio 4's You & Yours

yourcarehome.co.uk was invited to appear on yesterday's You & Yours programme on BBC Radio 4 to talk about our website and why we felt it was necessary to make information more readily available to those looking for care homes. The programme discussed some vital issues about care homes and we got some great feedback.

Click here to listen to the programme...

Your Experiences

Don't forget to tell us your experiences of finding and choosing a care home - what did you find interesting?  What was helpful and what shocked you?  What are your thoughts and experiences of the care homes themselves?  Send us an email or leave a comment....

Yesterday, we received this comment from Amanda H...

I feel compelled to send you comments about Holly Lodge in Stourbridge.
My mother-in-law needed residential care after a series of falls in January. She stayed at Holly Lodge for 5 weeks and was cared for beautifully. The staff were kind and sensitive, and managed to encourage her to eat. friends commented on how much better she looked.
She fell seriously ill, and the staff were brilliant. They allowed one or more of us to stay with her 24 hrs a day, constantly checked on her and tended to her, and kept us supplied with tea and meals. They liaiased carefully with our GP when it was decided she should stay in the home with drugs to alleviate her distress, and dealt with the whole family with great sympathy. Four staff attended her funeral.
 
They took great care with her care plan - they gave her a glass of bailey's in the evenings, and took notice of details like dental care, glasses, what time she needed to be ready to go to church and so on.
I can't recommend them highly enough.
 

yourcarehome Care Home Checklist - questions to ask...

Are you worried about which questions to ask and what things to look out for when you are viewing a care home for the first time?  Have a look at our new Care Home Checklist - it's got a full list of questions to ask and you can easily print it off and take it with you.  Having notes also makes it easier to compare one home with another if you are viewing a few....

yourcarehome.co.uk Care Home Checklist

yourcarehome.co.uk on the radio again!

We've been busy this week giving radio interviews across the country about why it is difficult to find a care home and what www.yourcarehome.co.uk is trying to do to make things easier...we've had really positive feedback and it's great to have the opportunity to let people know about the help, advice and search facilities that we can offer.  We hope to have the interviews on the site this week, so you can listen again if you missed us first time around!

A care manager's day

I read a really nice piece in The Times this week, following a care manager through her shift at a care home.  It gave a few insights into how care homes can approach care of residents with dementia and it was great to see a care home shown in a positive way in the media...

The Times : The shift: Karen Poulter, care home manager of Red Oaks in Henfield