James Gallagher, BBC Health Editor, has written a thought-provoking article about research into the history of post-traumatic stress. He concludes that it is not a new phenomenon. Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, a former consultant clinical psychologist for the Ministry of Defence, who led the research, said: "As long as there has been civilisation and as long as there has been warfare, there has been post-traumatic symptoms."

http://bbc.in/1GKOwrX

An anonymous article by a care team worker on the fourth year of redundancies and the effects on team morale. The pertinent question is raised of why after four years of drip-fed redundancies, there has been no change to management staffing levels? Surely there are far fewer people to manage now.

Management decision making (or the lack of it) is also addressed, raising further questions.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/social-life-blog/2015/jan/21/redundancies-social-care-job-cuts

An uplifting account written by family support worker Bobby Owen, who offers emotional support and practical advice about sibling care, employment and housing when a child is in hospital.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/jan/16/social-work-charities-ill-children

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Following Nick Clegg's call for a 'zero suicide' target, campaigner and Calm worker Jake Mills asks what was the aim before this announcement- "Just a few suicides? A hundred?" For Jake, a huge stumbling block to dealing with the problem, is the fear of being judged. Vulnerable people are too apprehensive to speak out about their problems. He calls on the media to up its game,

"The media doesn’t just have influence, it has a responsibility to help communicate a message and set an agenda. Yes, things are changing, but it can’t be right that the furthest we’ve come is having someone receive live therapy on air with Phillip Schofield or a soap character crashing a minibus." 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/20/zero-suicides-change-tackle-depression

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Our e-learning courses can be issued by GPs to patients by e-learning prescription. To find out more, please call 0161 928 9987 and visit our online course library: http://goo.gl/wVmnWq

The amazing story of Australian Josie Webster, who is exhibiting and selling her works internationally, having been painting for less than a year. This article is well worth a read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2909080/From-high-school-dance-reject-international-landscape-painter-Australian-teenager-syndrome-Josie-Webster-conquering-art-world-exhibitions-London-New-York.html?dm_i=6N7,33XO0,GPCQXA,B5CY4,1

Saffron Cordery's five ways to transform mental health provision in 2015. She calls for:

1) A mainstream approach, stressing the importance of tackling mental health 'in every arena, setting and interaction'

2) Greater investment. That's NEW money, not reallocation

3) A payment system fit for purpose. No more block contracts, it's time for multi-year forward planning

4) Using access targets to improve quality, i.e. how they should be used

5) Achieving structural parity. No more postcode lottery of availability and sustainability.

After all the political rhetoric of 2014, it's time to discover whether it was more than just hot air.

http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2015/jan/20/five-ways-improve-mental-health-care-2015

An examination of the state of the social care profession. With an anticipated extra million social care jobs by 2025, action needs to be taken if these positions are to be filled. How this is to be funded is considered in some depth here by Laura Gardiner. The challenges she identifies that need to be faced include:

- Eradicating zero hours contracts

- Ensuring that at least the minimum wage is met, by paying care workers for time spent travelling

- The provision of adequate training in, for example, caring for those with dementia.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/jan/20/care-workers-better-pay-conditions

Sue Brown, head of public policy at deafblind charity Sense, offers tips to for social workers on implementing the Care Act for deafblind people. The categories she includes are first contact, assessment, eligibility, and prevention duties.

There’s also a useful link to Sense's free guide to helping local authorities implement the Act.

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/01/08/tips-social-workers-implementing-care-act-deafblind-people/

For information about our comprehensive and informative e-learning course about all you need to know about the new Care Act, please follow this link: http://www.embrace-learning.com/the_care_act_2014_e-learning.php

Professor Read Montague, together with his team of scientists based at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, have developed a brain-imaging technique that can help to identify children with autism spectrum disorder in a matter of minutes. The study will hopefully overcome the issues related to current methods of diagnosis, which can take time and put pressure on both children and their parents.

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2015/01/011515-vtc-autism.html

For information about our e-learning course Supporting People with Autism, please click here: http://goo.gl/bTJrym

Are you ready for the Care Certificate?

 The National Care Forum has announced that Skills for Care, together with Aged Care Channel (ACC) TV are hosting a free live TV Event on Thursday 12 February 2015 at 10:45am and 2pm. You will be able to watch the broadcast, and participate, on any device with an Internet connection.

http://www.nationalcareforum.org.uk/viewNews.asp?news_ID=2401&sector_id=3

Embrace-learning: http://goo.gl/Di7ciT

How will the #CareAct affect you and your family? Surrey County Council have produced this useful and informative video as an introductory guide. It includes information specific to Surrey, but a lot of it is relevant to everyone in the UK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC8xIkXUDkk

Are you ready for the new Care Act?

Carers UK and Embrace-learning have joined forces to develop this key learning resource. With three easy-to-follow study units you can learn about the changes to practice that will happen when the new Act comes into force in April 2015.

http://www.embrace-learning.com/the_care_act_2014_e-learning.php

Would you like to gain nationally-recognised qualifications to open opportunities for you to work and/or advance further in the health and social sector? If so, please follow this link http://goo.gl/wVmnWq to our extensive e-learning course library, or give us a call on
0161 928 9987. #elearning #socialcare #careact

A look at how Google Glass could help transform health, social care and social work. Benefits of the emergent technology include:

- Bridging language barriers using real time translation

- Comparing food labels with nutritional requirements/dietary restrictions

- Livestreaming to remotely access colleagues/family members/carers

- Information sharing amongst professionals

- Cost-cutting

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/jan/13/five-ways-google-glass-can-transform-social-care

Embrace-learning courses for the health and social care sector. E-learning to meet your training needs and your budget! http://goo.gl/wVmnWq

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From Monday 5^th to Friday 9^th January, Tom Shakespeare broadcast a series of essays on Radio 3 in which he challenged stereotypical ideas about creativity and disability. Through the course of the week, he celebrated a number of artists, including painters Bryan Pearce (who has phenylketonuria) and Lucy Jones (who was born with cerebral palsy), and explored how their ‘impairments’ fuel their genius. These informative and thought-provoking episodes of ‘Essay’ are available for download at http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/essay

Embrace-learning courses for the health and social care sector. E-learning to meet your training needs and your budget! http://goo.gl/wVmnWq

Neurobiologists at Oxford University have carried out research which reveals a link between gut bacteria and mental health in humans. The scientists have discovered that supplements formulated to increase ‘good bacteria’ also affect the way in which we process emotional information and deal with anxiety.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/04/gut-bacteria-mental-healt_n_6391014.html

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UK parents, particularly mothers, are more likely to be worried about their children's mental health, than any other health issue. Some 2,267 parents were surveyed by Action for Children, and 40% said that emotional well-being was a paramount concern.

To help allay their fears, YouGov chief executive, Sir Tony Hawkhead is calling for a shift in funding toward early intervention, rather than dealing with major problems.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association stated,

"Focusing money on tackling root causes of problems rather than treating symptoms provides a better deal for the public purse and for the people we are trying to support - and is vital if we are to make public services sustainable in the long term."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30701591

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At the first session of a broad inquiry by the department of work and pensions select committee, pleas were made to the government to suspend the benefit sanctions regime. There are worries that over the last two parliaments, not enough has been done to monitor the effects of sanctions, amid concerns that it has created a climate of fear, particularly among the disabled. 

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/08/benefit-sactions-government-urged-suspend-vulnerable

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SCIE chief executive Tony Hunter shares his hopes for 2015. He would like people no longer to be the passive recipients of care, but to be enabled to contribute to community life, what he terms 'co-production'. The Care Act, he sees as an opportunity to embrace this ideal. The question is changing from "What's the matter with you?" to "What matters to you?"

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/jan/08/service-users-care-act-co-production-tony-hunter

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Director of Think Local Act Personal, Isabelle Trowler, on her hopes for the transformation of social care in 2015. Stressing the need for action rather than words, she highlights three principal areas where change is necessary:

1) A shift in emphasis onto the promotion of individual wellbeing within inclusive communities

2) The nurturing of a strong Integrated Personal Commissioning (IPC) programme that can work effectively for those with the most complex needs

3) An effective partnership between health, care, housing and beyond.

Underpinning all this is a strong desire to see a new funding settlement for social care, to match increased funding for the NHS. In an election year we can expect plenty of positive posturing from our politicians, but which party would come closest to delivering her ideal? That is the question.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2014/dec/30/social-care-funding-money-wish?CMP=share_btn_tw

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At Embrace-learning, our team of educationalists, designers and software developers are passionate about what they do. Our strength lies in how we work to provide our clients with e-learning that is cost-efficient, engaging and effective.

To browse our online library of e-learning courses, please visit us at http://goo.gl/wVmnWq and follow the links below to join our discussions:

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An examination of why there has not been a greater uptake of personal budgets in mental health. Despite evidence that personal budgets provide improved mental health, it appears that there are systematic barriers preventing their more widespread use. These include:

- professionals who still perceive risk in allowing people with mental health problems controlling their own support

- a reluctance to shift from an emphasis on diagnoses and conditions

- a lack of NHS focus on personalisation, coupled with

- a growing trend among local authorities to distance themselves from mental health

It appears that without a concerted national focus within the social care sector itself, mental health provision in England will at best stagnate. What are your thoughts?

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/jan/06/mental-health-personal-budgets-social-care

Embrace-learning courses: http://goo.gl/wVmnWq

All of us at Embrace-learning would like to wish you a happy New Year and we hope you have a very positive and uplifting 2015. Thank you for all your messages and contributions to our discussions and we look forward very much to hearing more from you!

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In 2014 the School for Social Care Research published "Care Home Managers: A scoping review of evidence". Authored by Katharine Orellana, the booklet attempts to provide for adults in England, an overview of evidence concerning the role and experience of the care home manager. Starting by addressing the question of who care managers are, attention then focuses on:

- their practice, experience and skills

- the supervision and support they receive from their superiors/home owners

- the challenges they face in practice

- gaps in the evidence base

Often alluded to as 'shadowy' figures, they have a defining impact on the culture of care.

http://www.sscr.nihr.ac.uk/PDF/ScopingReviews/SR8.pdf

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Peter Beresford's critique of the state of social care provision is essential reading. Frequently he makes reference to the ambiguity of political posturing in the face of an increasing state of emergency in the caring sector.

He calls for a radical policy review of personalisation and personal budgets; berates the abuse of 'eligibility criteria' as the smoke and mirrors of political expediency, which allows the likes of Paul Burstow to claim that there is "no funding gap", when estimates put it at £7billion; and describes, "... a fragmented social work education system ... what's most needed are skilled social workers spending more time with service users”.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/jan/05/revive-social-care-peter-beresford

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To browse our wide range of accredited e-learning courses, including those relating to #disability, #abi and #dementia awareness, and guidance about the new #CareAct, please visit: http://goo.gl/wVmnWq or give us a call on 0161 928 9987.

BBC Health Correspondent, Nick Triggle, reports on what the NHS needs to address at the start of 2015. Figures, which will be released later this week, are expected to reveal that performance in Accident and Emergency units in England has dropped to its worst level in a decade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30633677

Embrace-learning courses: http://goo.gl/wVmnWq

A fascinating article focusing on depression as a condition rooted more in the body than in the mind. The main cause of depression, it is argued, is inflammation - a part of our immune system.

This has led some people to suggest that depression has an infectious (although not contagious) foundation.

The mind and body dualism conundrum reasserts itself.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/04/depression-allergic-reaction-inflammation-immune-system

A study in Lancet Psychiatry has revealed that patients with learning disabilities are receiving better diagnosis of health problems. 

Learning disability health checks were introduced in 2008 through GP's surgeries, as a means of targeting this vulnerable group of people.

However, despite the GP incentive scheme, still 40% of patients with learning disabilities have not received their health check - most likely because they haven't been put on the list!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30548448

With the government poised to unveil new waiting time targets for mental health, health correspondent Nick Triggle asks how effective such targets are, and what we can learn from them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30237151