Parkinson’s UK: Change Attitudes. Find a Cure

Every hour, someone in the UK is told they have Parkinson’s.

What is Parkinson’s?

The NHS describes Parkinson’s as a condition where part of the brain (substantia nigra) becomes progressively damaged. It is caused by a loss of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, which leads to a reduction in dopamine in the brain.

This reduction in dopamine is the reason for the main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease:

• Tremor
• Slow movement
• Stiff and inflexible muscles

Other symptoms include depression, insomnia and memory problems.

The exact cause for this loss of nerve cells is still unclear, but most experts think both genetic and environmental factors are responsible.

Who is affected?

In the UK, around 1 in 500 people are affected by the condition- an estimated 127,000. It is more likely to develop in men rather than women. Most people develop symptoms after the age of 50, but around 1 in 20 people with Parkinson’s first experience them when they are under 40.

Treatment

Although there is no cure for Parkinson’s, there are treatments to help reduce the main symptoms- maintaining quality of life for as long as possible.

Treatments include:

• Physiotherapy
• Occupational therapy
• Medication
• Surgery

People respond differently to treatments. Some people experience mild to moderate disability, but others may become severely disabled. Thanks to medical advances, most people with Parkinson’s disease now have a normal or near normal life expectancy.

Parkinson’s Awareness Week 2016

Charity, Parkinson’s UK is urging people to get involved this year from 18-24^th April. The aim of the week is to get people talking about the condition and what the charity does to help those affected.

They want to show us how a small thing can make a big difference to someone with Parkinson’s, and highlight how they change lives. See how you can get involved on their website here.

Use your head: Friday 22^nd April

Parkinson’s UK is asking everyone to get involved by making a donation to wear something on their head for a day. It could be a silly hat, animal ears, a funny wig, or just about anything you can wear on your head.

Help raise awareness and improve the lives of people affected by Parkinson’s, get involved in Use Your Head.

 View our other recent blog posts here

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Embrace-learning is a UK leading provider of quality e-learning resources to the Health and Social Care sector.

Autism, how many of us actually understand it?

The NAS describes Autism as a “lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them”.

Who is affected by Autism?

Around 700,000 people in the UK are autistic. When you factor in their families, that makes about 2.8 million people, whose lives are touched by the condition every single day. The National Autistic Society has more than 50 years experience and works to help everyone understand Autism, and accept and appreciate autistic people for who they are.

What can you do to help?

This year, World Autism Awareness Week takes place from 2^nd-8^th April. There are a number of ways you can get involved and help spread awareness:

• Put yourself and your friends on the Autism Understanding Map
• Onesie Wednesday (6^th April)
• Night Walks (2^nd April)
• Fundraising at work (sponsored silence, guess the baby picture etc)
• Spread the word on social media

If you want more information on getting involved, click the banner below.

What can Embrace-learning do?

At Embrace, we offer an e-learning course “Supporting People with Autism”. The course explains what autism spectrum conditions are and the impact they have. It also identifies how people with the condition differ in the way they make sense of the world. Common difficulties faced by those with autism are identified, along with techniques for helping them to overcome these.

We also have a course titled “Supporting People with Asperger’s Syndrome”. It examines how Asperger’s fits in to the autism spectrum. This course explains how Asperger’s Syndrome affects the way people think and behave.

If you would like more information on any of our online training courses, or are interested in a course demonstration call us today on 0161 928 9987 or visit www.embrace-learning.com

Alternatively, you can also resell our courses. You can find out more information on our partnerships page here.

World Down Syndrome Day 2016

World Down Syndrome Day has been celebrated since 2006, with the aim of encouraging a better understanding of the condition- making people more aware of the rights, dignity and welfare of those who are affected.

Down Syndrome is a genetic condition that causes delays in physical and intellectual development. Currently, over 60,000 people in the UK have Down Syndrome, and according to Extra 21 (a UK charity providing support and information about Down Syndrome in the Essex area), there are roughly 775 babies born with the condition each year.

People with Down syndrome can show different symptoms. There are some basic caring techniques that you can follow for overall standard care, but it is essential to provide individual, personalised care for each person.

At Embrace-learning, we offer an e-learning course ‘Supporting People with Down Syndrome’. The course explores what Down Syndrome means to the people who have the condition, and includes a series of interviews with people who explain how it feels and the impact it has on their lives. Learners will gain a better understanding of the condition and know how to provide the help and support that is needed.

Although it is Down Syndrome Awareness Week, there are so many other conditions that people need to be more aware of. We believe that it is important for everyone to have some understanding of how to care for someone with a condition, as so many of us will be affected by one at some stage in life.

At Embrace-learning we offer a range of Disability Awareness e-learning courses, designed to give an understanding and enable caregivers to provide appropriate support to those living with any kind of condition or disability.

Our other course titles include:

Epilepsy Awareness ­­ 

Supporting People with Asperger’s Syndrome ­

Supporting People with Autism 

Supporting People with Learning Disabilities & Mental Health Needs 

Understanding the Role of the Personal Care Assistant

You can view our full range of 50+ courses here.

For more information call 0161 928 9987 or visit our website www.embrace-learning.com

Children's Mental Health Week 2016

Join us this Children's Mental Health Week in helping children grow up with prospects not problems.

Embrace-learning are pleased to be supporting Children’s Mental Health Week this week. (8–14 February)

Hosted by children’s mental health charity Place2Be, the theme of the week this year is 'building resilience' and teaching children to 'bounce forward' from life's challenges.

Bereavement, illness, family breakdown, bullying, pressure of exams… children carry far more than the weight of their backpack on their shoulders.

And while we cannot always change children's circumstances, we can teach them the skills to cope with the difficulties life throws at them.

3 children in every classroom have a diagnosable mental health problem and children are less likely to suffer from serious mental health difficulties later in life if they receive support at an early age.

Place2Be provides emotional support to children in 257 schools nationwide.

Get involved

For more information and resources for parents, schools, youth clubs and teachers visit:

www.ChildrensMentalHealthWeek.org.uk

Disabilities Day 2015: Inclusion Matters

The International Day of People with Disability has been celebrated since 1992 with the aim of encouraging a better understanding of people affected by a disability, making people more aware of the rights, dignity and welfare of disabled people, and raising awareness about the benefits of integrating disabled people in to every aspect of life.

The theme for this year is Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities. There are also three sub-themes:

·         Making cities inclusive and accessible for all

• Improving disability data and statistics
• Including persons with invisible disabilities in society and development.

Find out more about International Day of People with Disability here.

At Embrace-learning we offer a range of Disability Awareness e-learning courses, designed to give an understanding and enable caregivers to provide appropriate support to those living with any kind of disability.

Our course titles include:

·         Epilepsy Awareness

·         Supporting People with Asperger’s Syndrome

·         Supporting People with Autism

·         Supporting People with Learning Disabilities & Mental Health Needs

·         Understanding the Role of the Personal Care Assistant

You can view our full range of 50+ courses here

E-learning is increasingly being seen as one of the most powerful tools in any training strategy. At Embrace-learning, we understand that people learn and absorb information in different ways and at different speeds: our e-learning courses provide a flexible and versatile learning system that enables training to be tailored to fit with your own specific requirements.

Why not celebrate Disabilities Day by taking a Disability Awareness e-learning Course from Embrace-learning- to help you give the support and care that everybody living with a disability deserves.

For more information call 0161 928 9987 or visit our website www.embrace-learning.com

Advisory or Mandatory?

When is mandatory training not mandatory?

Apparently when it applies to the social care sector.

There’s something a bit wishy washy about labelling training as mandatory when there is no actual requirement to complete said training. Or worse still, when there is a stated ‘requirement’ to do the training (by the CQC) but there are no real consequences when the training is not completed. Unless you count a slightly lower inspection rating as a real consequence. Is it just me or is it slightly baffling that there is no legal requirement to complete any training in the delivery of social care?

Care providers themselves determine whether a training course is mandatory or not. Some will deem it mandatory while others will consider it optional. While the CQC may require that a service trains their staff to a minimum standard, this is not legally binding. It seems training is a ‘should do?’ rather than a ‘MUST DO!’

The training of care workers in the new Care Certificate is advisory rather than mandatory. The Care Certificate which is promoted as the basic or minimum entry level course is not actually a qualification as we understand the term.  It is not on the National Qualification Framework (NQF) but it is considered a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course. This is a fantastic introduction to the world of care work and is indeed a minimum requirement for care workers. It is not, alas, mandatory unless deemed mandatory by the care provider.

We have a long way to go before we have a professionalised and regulated social care workforce. There are many reasons why it is important to achieve this. First and foremost is the quality it will bring to the care of the growing number of elderly and vulnerable people in our society. Secondly it will attach a greater value to this incredibly important work and allow carers to follow a career path with pay scales that reflect the importance of this work.  Is it the case that the current status of care work is an accurate reflection of how we as a society value care work? That is, not very highly. We are quick to jump on stories of poor care and express horror and outrage when people are abused and otherwise mistreated but when we scratch the surface a little and look at the way workers are trained and what they are paid, it is clear that the explanations for these behaviours cannot be simply dismissed as the actions of ‘rogue carers’.

Better pay will in turn attract and hold on to the right calibre of person needed by this growing social care sector. The resulting lower turnover of staff will add to the stability of the workforce which, again, will benefit the end users.

A better trained workforce with professional status will help care workers achieve something approaching parity with their health sector counterparts. This in itself will go a small way to greasing the wheels on the journey to an integrated health and social care system. The disparity in training, pay and conditions does nothing to facilitate the team spirit needed when workers are required to work across professional and organisational boundaries in the pursuit of an integrated health and social care system.

There’s an old adage that ‘Ignorance is no defence in law but training is’. I’m sure the day will come when training is, itself, a legal requirement. 

Integrating Health and Social Care

Integration of health and social care has been on the agenda since the turn of the century and has been talked about for a good deal longer. Will we still be talking about it at the turn of the next century or will someone actually be doing something about it?

Is your organisation doing something about it or are you, like the majority, merely paying lip service to what is, admittedly, a noble cause?

The logic is faultless but the application seems to be a good deal more complicated than some would have us believe. We know it’s desirable but is it really possible to bring two systems together to work seamlessly in the delivery of care? It can be difficult enough to get professionals of a similar discipline to work as a team when managing complex health and care packages. When we ask them to work across professional and organisational boundaries we’d better make sure the infrastructure is there to support them. But what is this infrastructure? What does it consist of and who is going to take responsibility for maintaining it? Are the differences in culture so different that we will never truly have an integrated system?

Multidisciplinary teams already exist to manage complex needs. We only need to look at the cases of NHS continuing healthcare to see that it is possible for decisions about health and social care to be made coherently and it is a credit to many of those teams that they can unpick the myriad of needs affecting patients and put together packages of care that meet the needs of the whole person and indeed the needs of those around them. It strikes me however, that it is not so much the decision-making or the ‘design’ but the implementation of those decisions and designs that is the real challenge of integrating health and social care. I wonder whether the fundamental differences in a)culture and b)training for clinicians in healthcare, as opposed to those in social care,  are such that there will never really be a genuinely integrated health and social care system. This sounds defeatist from the outset but I think it highlights just two areas (and there are many more), that need to be addressed if we are going to achieve this holy grail of a truly integrated health and social care system.

It’s worth shining the spotlight on some of the most complex cases requiring input from health and social care services. The provision of NHS continuing healthcare, by definition, applies to people with long term health and social care needs where the dominant need is deemed to be a ‘health care need’ as opposed to a ‘social care need’. So here’s the thing, what is the difference between health and social care? When does one begin and the other end?  As with many other things, it is the boundary, the borderline, the areas that are most difficult to define, where clarity is needed. It is at these professional and organisational boundaries where problems arise and where problems must be resolved in order for integration to occur.

We will consistently be returning to the questions of infrastructure and health versus care culture. It is surely a given that training will be key to any integrated system of health and social care. It is clear that joined up working can only be enhanced by joined up training. It is not entirely clear to me at present which organisations are really taking the lead in this integration of health and social care at a local level. NHS organisations and Local Authorities certainly have responsibility to design such a system but where is the guiding light? Where is the beacon that shows that people are receiving a genuinely joined up, integrated health and social care system? Is such a thing possible?