The Companion March (Home Instead newsletter)

Home Instead

York & Ryedale newsletter

companion THE

Check out our website: www.caregiver support.co.uk

March 2017

Congratulations CAREGivers

It’s been very busy in the office over the last few weeks. We have had plenty of CAREGivers in to receive certificates for completing their Care Certificate. Congratulations to the following: Maddie Ellis, Shirley Southgate, Tori Tucker, Sarah Buglass and Carol Yannon.

Also, a big well done to Sarah Richmond, who received her certificate for completing our City & Guilds Alzheimers & Dementia Training this month. Fantastic work everyone!

Ageing Without Children – York Did the right opportunity to have children never come your way? Were you unable to have children or never wanted them? Have your children moved away or died or are disabled? Don’t you get on with your children? Would you prefer not to be a burden on your children?

There are so many reasons why you may be ageing without the support of children and these are the millions of older people that the Government has not considered when it speaks of “the family” taking up the slack of cuts to social services.

Our group has been running every month for the last year and is the most successful of the 7 local groups in the country.

Speakers have covered legal topics, especially those based on who to trust with your finances and health decisions in time of need. We have also discussed de-cluttering, housing alternatives, and end-of-life planning. Our door is open to speakers with relevant information to share and our list of resources Spring is coming and British Summer continues to grow.

Time (daylight saving time) starts There are over 60 on the mailing list who receive meeting notes and a dozen or so come to our on Sunday March 26th 2017 so don’t meetings at the Cross Keys Pub on Goodramgate. We meet every 2nd Wednesday of the month forget to move your clocks forward and alternate between afternoons (and a cuppa) and evenings (and dinner). All welcome. by one hour before you go to bed on You can find out about the national organisation at https://awoc.org.

Saturday 25th March.

Phone Sue Lister on 01904 488870 to discuss possibilities in York.

Spring Forward

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Andy’s Advice Sickness is inevitable in any workplace and even more so in the Social Care setting. It is important to be mindful of good hygiene around yourself and your clients. If you are sick think about the knock on affect this could have on your clients and colleagues.

Let the office know in good time so they can plan for your absence. It is important to stay in regular touch with the office if you are ill so your clients are supported through this time.

Work Place Pension Scheme At Home Instead you may be aware we offer the work place pension to all of our employees. Normally the pension auto-enrolment wouldn’t be triggered unless your earnings were a minimum of £10k annually. However, we have decided, and think it’s only fair, to open the pension scheme to everyone.

From now on, anyone who wouldn’t qualify under auto-enrolment can still ask to join the pension scheme and get matched contributions at the same levels as anyone else.

These levels are as follows:

Date

Total minimum Employer minimum contribution contribution

Before 05/04/2018

2% (including 1% staff contribution)

1%

06/04/2018 - 05/04/2019

5% (including 3% staff contribution)

2%

06/04/2019 onwards

8% (including 5% staff contribution)

3%

If you aren’t already enrolled and would like to be in the company pension scheme, please email jack.fisher@hiscyork.co.uk to let him know.

A day in the life of… Luke I get up every morning at 6am and as I’m more of a morning person than Ann-Marie I’m usually the one who checks which of our 3 children are up and start prompting them to get ready. In fact they are all early risers like me so it tends to be a case of herding them (like cats) towards breakfast and getting ready for school.

I also do have to herd our 2 actual cats out of the back door. I’m more of a dog person but life is so hectic with 3 kids that it probably wouldn’t be fair for us to have a dog at this point in time, but I’m always tempted as we had a Chocolate Labrador when I was growing up.

One of the reasons I chose to set up Home Instead was to have more control

over my own time so that I could make choices about things like taking the children to school. In reality though I have worked longer hours in the first 6 years of running Home Instead than in any other job I have ever done. Over the last 12 months as my role has evolved, I have really enjoyed being able to spend more time with my children and it feels like I have got some work life balance back.

With Daphne in the role of General Manager, my job has become much more about looking further ahead for the business and making decisions about how we can improve our service and improve as an employer. The care sector is wrought with challenges which are going to become more apparent as the population ages dramatically over the next decade. In my day to day role that means meeting people from all walks of life so that I understand where the issues and opportunities are (inside and outside Home Instead) and make plans that address those issues or make the most of opportunities.

I am enjoying being part of Home Instead more than ever and looking forward to finding ways to make it even better for everyone involved. I take the responsibility of providing a quality service and employment for more than 70 people very seriously. Not everything goes to plan and on the odd occasions when we have made mistakes or let people down I have taken it very personally. What I love about the business now, is that the team has gelled well and there is positive, supportive camaraderie and this gets me through those more challenging moments. This is one of the few things that I have missed from my previous jobs and it feels like we are reaching that point with the Home Instead team. I’m very conscious when CAREGivers are working on their own with clients, it’s easy for them to forget that we are all part of the same team and this is definitely something I want to address.

If you have any ideas that you think might help with this then let me know!

At the end of a working day I switch into role of taxi driver – school pickup and ferrying the kids to karate or swimming.

By the time everyone is home, fed, bathed and in bed it is usually almost 9 o’clock. I love cooking but more often than not I’m too tired to be bothered with anything more than something that goes in the microwave or something quick like omelette or stir fry. If I do cook it tends to be Sunday lunch or occasionally when friends come round, but life is so busy that it’s one of the things that I don’t do as often as I would like. Often I’ll do an hour or so of catching up with work on my laptop and then aim to be asleep by 11 o’clock. I could probably do with more sleep but there aren’t enough hours in the day!

Have yourself a Guinness – It’s St Patricks Day! Will you be celebrating St Patricks Day this month?

To get you in the spirit, here’s some interesting facts about Ireland’s most famous drink.  Pouring a glass or pint of Guinness is a skill. A “perfect pour” should take 119.5 seconds. This is the result of pour at an angle of 45 degrees followed by a rest. This is crucial. Most Irish people would cringe if they saw anyone pour it any other way.  It is a known fact that the Irish love to travel around the world but did you know that Guinness is brewed in more than 150 countries?  Though the Irish obviously love a pint of plain, 40 percent of all Guinness is sold in Africa.  Over 10 million glasses are sold every day.

 Guinness is the perfect diet drink. A pint of the good stuff contains only 198 calories. That’s less than most light beers, wine, orange juice or even low fat milk.  The famous advertisement slogan “Guinness is Good For You” is still used around the world. Though Guinness is now officially on the record as denying this claim, some research does support that Guinness is good for your heart - It was not so long ago in Ireland that pregnant women were told to drink a glass of Guinness every day to fortify themselves and their baby.  St. James’ Gate Brewery, in Dublin City, was leased for 9,000 years at an annual fee of about $65.

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York Sands Charity Jumble Sale One of our CAREGivers, Kim Milner, co-runs York Sands Charity (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) who fundraise through­ out the year to support families in York. If you’d like to know more about the charity go to www.yorksands.wordpress.com The first event for 2017 is a jumble sale in Sherriff Hutton Village Hall on Saturday April 22nd. If you have any jumble to donate, then it can be dropped off at the hall from 9.30am. They would also appreciate cakes, buns and tray bakes from all you talented bakers to sell on the stall and also tombola or raffle prizes. We will be donating one of our Home Instead golfing umbrellas so get yourself along for a chance to win.

Useful Tip Emma had a great suggestion for a client who struggles to open a tin – why not open tins whilst visiting a client and leave in a plastic tupperware box in the fridge. The boxs are far easier to open, and therefore make it a lot easier for clients to access tinned food throughout the day.

A balanced diet for older people Nutrition is a key part of health and wellbeing and it can be challenging to ensure an older person is eating a balanced diet. Appetite can decrease with age and a person may lack the motivation to prepare and eat healthy meals so here’s some tips to encourage appetite and eating.  Assist with food preparation – prepared meals can help if people are too tired to make a meal themselves.  Check food is stored properly – throw out of date food away and make sure things are stored in the right place.  Avoid distractions at meal times – this can help people focus on eating.  Make sure the person can see the food and guide if necessary.  Check that the temperature of the food is not too hot or too cold.  Look for signs of swallowing problems such as grimacing, repeated throat clearing and coughing.  Cut up food if struggling with cutlery to make it easier or let them use their fingers if they prefer.  Serving smaller meals more often is much less daunting especially if appetite is reduced.  Look for signs of appetite loss, light exercise such as a walk can encourage appetite.  Make sure fridge is well stocked and topped up regularly with fresh food, perhaps through a delivery service.

If you become aware of problems and have concerns you can always contact the GP for advice and support.

Tell Jack!

If you’d like to add an article to next month’s edition of The Companion, please contact Jack by the 7th April.

You can tell us about an event that’s happening or about something you’ve achieved – we’d love to hear from you.

We’d be interested to know what you think about The Companion so if you have any comments or would like to know more about any of the articles just give Jack a call or email him at jack.fisher@hiscyork.co.uk

Trying something new Sometimes, the easiest way to break the cycle of loneliness is to meet new people. If your clients are trying to find new friends with whom they have more in common, you could encourage them to join a group based upon one of their interests or hobbies, such as: • A local choir or orchestra • A painting or drawing class • A community gardening group • A walking or swimming group • A reading group • A dance or tai chi class • An LGBT group • Services or groups at their place of worship Look out for what is happening in your local

area – there may be community events like village fairs clients can get involved with, or talks offered by your local library. Local councils may also be able to recommend local day centres for older or disabled people, which will offer a range of activities.

If your clients find it hard to get out or they live in an isolated area, try online groups instead. Many clubs will also have online equivalents – for example, there are a number of online reading groups.

One advantage of clients joining groups based around an activity is that there may be less pressure to speak to people immediately. Some groups might even let clients sit in on a meeting before they join in.

Carol’s Corner

Careers Fair – 23rd March

The first Careers Fair of the year will take place on Thursday 23rd March 2017 when Karen will be there with a stand at the Railway Institute at 22 Queens Street YO24 1AD (next to the railway station) from 10.00am until 3.00pm. If you know someone who might be interested in the CAREGiver role get them to talk to Karen and if they join the team, you will be entitled to a £250 referral fee. For more information about the referral reward have a look on the CAREGiver portal.

Home Instead Senior Care 10 Clifton Moor Business Village James Nicolson Link, Clifton Moor York YO30 4XG Telephone: 01904 690884 Email: info@hiscyork.co.uk Web: www.homeinstead.co.uk/york

Afternoon out One of our CAREGivers, Liz, had a lovely afternoon out this month with one of her clients, Margaret (pictured). They went for a bite to eat at the Foresters Arms in Kilburn. Here she is looking very jolly with a nice glass of Merlot. If you’re out and about with any of your clients, why not send us in a picture, and they could feature in future editions of The Companion.

www.facebook.com/homeinsteadyork @homeinsteadyork www.instagram.com/homeinsteadyork www.youtube.com/YorkHomeInstead “Each Home Instead Senior Care® franchise office is independently owned and operated.”