The Elder Festive Edition 2016 (Home Instead Newsletter)

Home Instead

York & Ryedale newsletter

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Home Instead Senior Care York & Ryedale would like to wish all our clients a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

To bring a bit of extra festive cheer to your home, our CAREGivers will be delivering a poinsettia to you over the coming days.

Client celebrates her 90th birthday Last month a client of ours, Freda, celebrated her 90th birthday.

Our CAREGiver Alison kindly made her a wonderful birthday cake to celebrate.

Here’s Freda looking delighted with Alison’s bake.

Happy Birthday!

Festive Edition

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Train Travel – Passenger Assistance Help is at hand if you require assistance when you are travelling by train from York Station (YRK) this Christmas. The station is managed by Virgin Trains East Coast and they are committed to providing easy and convenient access to services for all their customers. All their stations are staffed and frontline staff are trained to assist mobility impaired, disabled and older passengers to get on and off trains. They participate in the National Rail booking system, Passenger Assist, which means they can book your entire train journey even if you change onto another operator’s trains and help with assisted travel where possible.

To discuss the assisted support that you are looking for you can contact them on 0345 7225333 or by email at assisted. travel@virgintrainseastcoast. You should give at least 24 hours’ notice to ensure they are able to organise the help you need.

Home Instead Senior Care York & Ryedale’s CAREGiver Carol, has been very productive with her client Mrs Clarke, this month. Together they have made a beautiful festive wreath.

Yorkshire Museum The Star Carr Headdress will be on display until 12 February 2017.

During the original excavations at Star Carr in the 1950s, 21 red deer headdresses were discovered. Incredibly, during the final season of work at the site in 2015, more of these rare objects were found.

Join the team at the Yorkshire Museum to discover how these remarkable new discoveries have shed light on life in Yorkshire 11,000 years ago.

Go to www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk to find out more or contact them on 01904 687687.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year St Nicholas Fair lines the streets of York with snug wooden chalets and twinkling lights right up to 23 December. Stallholders will be selling unique gifts including jewellery, homewares, crafts and local wines and cheeses. To add to the festive atmosphere,

scents of hot mulled wine and roasted chestnuts will fill the air.

The Shambles Market is open daily so don’t miss the chance to buy local Yorkshire produce for your Christmas feast! And with the historic Minster as the breathtaking backdrop to the festive activities, offering carols and services for all, the city is the ideal destination for your Christmas adventure.

City Screen Dementia friendly films J​ anuary’s Dementia friendly screening at the City Screen York is the multi-Academy Award winner, An American In Paris on Monday 30th January at 1.15pm; Gene Kelly stars in one of the greatest, most elegant, and most celebrated of MGM’s 50’s musicals, with Gershwin lyrics and musical score, lavish sets and costumes, tremendous Technicolor cinematography, and a romantic love story.

Dementia friendly shows enable people living with Dementia and their carers to attend the cinema in a safe and comfortable environment. The screenings are open to anyone but are enhanced to suit the needs of people living with Dementia. The staff have all become Dementia Friends to help provide support before, during and after the screenings as well as making the venue generally more Dementia friendly. With free tea and coffee also available it’s a great opportunity to socialise.

To join the City Screens Dementia Friendly mailing list

email cath.s@picturehouse.co.uk. You can get tickets in person at the box office or at www.picturehouses.com or on 0871 902 5726. Wheelchair places are limited so book in advance to ensure a space is available.

Seated exercises Performing gentle sitting exercises will help improve your mobility and prevent falls and can be done at home. Don’t worry if you’ve not done much for a while, seated exercises are gentle and easy to do. If you’re not very active, you may want to get the all-clear from a GP before starting.

For chair-based exercises, choose one that is stable, solid and without wheels. You should be able to sit with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent at right angles.

Avoid chairs with arms, as this will restrict your movement. You should wear loose, comfortable clothing and keep some water handy. Build up slowly and aim to gradually increase the repetitions of each exercise over time. Try to do exercises at least twice a week and combine them with the other routines to help improve strength, balance and co-ordination.

To view a range of chair exercises, go to www.nhs.uk and look for sitting exercises for older people.

Feed the birds During the winter put out food and water on a regular basis to encourage birds into your garden. In severe weather, feed twice daily if you can: in the morning and in the early afternoon. Birds require high energy foods during the cold winter weather to maintain their fat reserves to survive the frosty nights. Use only good quality food and scraps.

You can feed birds with lots of different foods such as bird seed mixtures, black sunflower seeds, peanuts (not salted) bird cake and food bars, live foods and other insect foods, dog and cat food (not dog biscuits), coconut in the shell and rice and cereals. Don’t use cooking fat, margarines, lentils or split peas, milk, desiccated coconut or cooked porridge oats.

Always adjust the quantity given to the demand, and never allow uneaten foods to accumulate around the feeders. Once you establish a feeding routine, try not to change it as the birds will become used to it and time their visits to your garden accordingly.

For more information on all things bird related have a look at the RSPB at www.rspb.org.uk.

Where to get advice on health Getting an appointment with your GP can sometimes be difficult so there are number of other options available if you want to talk to someone about a health issue.

Ring 111 – 111 is the NHS nonemergency number. It’s fast, easy and free. Call 111 and speak to a highly trained adviser, supported by healthcare professionals. They will ask you a series of questions to assess your symptoms and immediately direct you to the best medical care for you. NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

Your local chemist – All chemists have trained staff who can give advice on a host of minor ailments.

Pharmacists are experts in medicines and will use their clinical expertise, together with their practical knowledge to advise you on common problems such as coughs, colds, aches

When to dial 999

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At some point, most people will either witness or be involved in an accident or experience a medical emergency. Knowing what to do next and who to call can potentially save lives.

Life-threatening emergencies Call 999 in a medical emergency – when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk. Medical emergencies can include: • loss of consciousness • an acute confused state • fits that are not stopping • persistent, severe chest pain • breathing difficulties • severe bleeding that cannot be stopped • severe allergic reactions • severe burns or scalds Call 999 immediately if you or someone else is having a heart attack or stroke. Every second counts with these conditions.

and pains, as well as healthy eating and stopping smoking.

Pharmacists can also help you decide whether you need to see a health professional. They can help you consider the alternatives next

time you are thinking of making a doctor’s appointment.

If you have a life-threatening emergency or accident you should call 999. For more information on where to seek the support go to www.nhs.uk.

Biscuity Facts • Keep your biscuits fresh by putting a slice of bread in your biscuit tin every so often.

• Dunking a biscuit in tea or coffee gives it more than ten times the flavour – that’s why we like it so much.

• Rich Teas are said to be the best biscuit for dunking – optimum dunk time just 0.6 seconds. If you like a long dunk, you need to go for a robust ginger snap.

• 25 million people have been injured by biscuits, mainly through fishing in a hot beverage for the broken bit. The riskiest biscuit of all is said to be the custard cream.

• The most popular biscuit in the UK is a chocolate digestive. But if you eat it with the chocolate on the top, you’re eating it upside down according to its makers.

• Australian Wagon Wheels are 14 mm larger than ours.

LED light bulbs Did you know that the new modern LED

light bulb uses approximately one tenth of the energy compared to an incandescent one to produce the same brightness, and lasts up to five times longer! They are more expensive but the savings are there to be made.

Last anti-fraud presentation of the year Home Instead Senior Care York & Ryedale's recruiter, Karen, has been incredibly busy over the course of the last year conducting regular presentations on Senior Fraud Protection.

Earlier this month Karen did her final presentation of the year for 36 retired gentlemen at their

Retired Men’s Forum in Heworth, York.

Over the course of the year, Karen has presented to over 350 people, at 33 different locations, including residential living accommodations, care homes and local community centres in the York & Ryedale area.

The aim of Karen's Senior Fraud Presentations is to raise awareness of the risks facing older people so that we can do everything we can to prevent the growing incidents of scams involving seniors which put them at risk, by threatening to strip them of their assets, their independence and their trust.

Cold symptoms – to treat or not to treat?

Believe it or not, those annoying cold symptoms are part of the natural healing process. A fever is your body’s way of trying to kill viruses and makes germ-killing proteins circulate more quickly. Coughing clears your breathing passages and even a stuffy nose is best treated mildly or not at all.

But you can do the following to relieve your symptoms: Blow your nose often and treat a stuffy nose with a warm salt water rinse.

Stay warm and rested – this will help your body direct its energy toward the immune battle.

Gargle - try a teaspoon of salt dissolved in warm water, four times daily.

Drink hot liquids – these relieve nasal congestion, prevent dehydration and soothe the membranes that line your nose and throat.

Take a steamy shower - this moisturises your nasal passages and relaxes you.

Use a cream under your nose – a small dab of mentholated cream can open breathing passages and help repair the irritated skin.

Apply hot or cold packs around your sinuses – either temperature works!

Sleep with an extra pillow under your head – this helps relieve congested nasal passages.

Make the most of your GP appointment GPs spend an average of 8-10 minutes with each patient. Once you’ve got an appointment, plan ahead to make sure you cover everything you want to discuss.

Before you see the GP, write a list of problems, starting with the most important. List your symptoms, so you don’t forget them. Write down when they started and what makes them better or worse during a 24hour period. If you have a complicated problem, ask for a longer appointment when you book. You can bring a friend or relative if you’re worried.

Be honest about what you think may

be causing the problem, and don’t be embarrassed.

Your doctor will have seen and heard it all before!

Be clear about what you want the GP to do, such as refer you to a specialist or prescribe a different medication. Be assertive if you need to, but always be polite. Ask the GP to repeat and explain anything you don’t understand. If there are words you don’t understand, ask what they mean or get the doctor to write them down, so you can look them up later.

You can find out more information on GPs at www.nhs.uk.

Age is just a number You’re never too old to: • Laugh out loud • Have a twinkle in your eye • Eat your favourite chocolate • Do a jigsaw • Cry at Bambi or Lassie Come Home • Smile at fireworks • Enjoy stroking a pet • Sing along to your favourite song And you’re definitely never too old to have fun!

Use your Freezer!

Game boosts Dementia research In the June 2016 edition of the Elder we told you about a new game that had been designed to help scientists learn more about Dementia.

We know that quite a few of you downloaded the nautical adventure Sea Hero Quest and it has now been announced that 2.4 million

people have also played it so far. This has exceeded all expectations and equates to 9,400 years research in the laboratory. Congratulations to everyone who had a go at the games which provides vital data to support scientists in their essential research on Dementia and its impact.

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Frozen food can be high quality, easy to use and is less wasteful than fresh. Plus, freezers work more efficiently when full. The freezer section of supermarkets stock a lot of processed food, but there are some great value gems to be found. A well-stocked freezer can make life much easier, providing healthy, balanced meals in minutes.

• Frozen vegetables. Stock up on peas, onions and mixed vegetables so you’ll always have options for healthy meals.

• Frozen fish and seafood. Cook-from-frozen fish fillets are a healthy standby. Seafood mixes make great fish pies, chowders and pasta dishes.

• Meat and meat substitutes. Try cook-fromfrozen mince, or diced meat for stir-fries, wraps and curries. Quality varies, but frozen doesn’t equal bad.

• Frozen fruit. For sweet treats, frozen fruit makes great crumbles and smoothies.

Other things to consider are frozen fresh herbs, root ginger and chillies: it’s not the cheapest way to buy them, but it makes sense if you use them infrequently. Frozen mash makes many family-favourite meals easier and ready rolled puff pastry can be used to make cheat’s pizzas or turn leftover stews and casseroles into pies.

Prickly Friends

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Not all our garden animals have started hibernating in December. Larger hedgehogs might still be seen trudging around your garden looking for food. Remember if you like leaving something out for them avoid bread and milk. Hedgehogs quite like dog food, so a small dollop left in a bowl will go down well.

New pound coin From March 2017, the royal mint will be introducing a new pound coin into circulation for the first time in 30 years. The new coin is 12 sided and has a number of features that make it much harder to counterfeit. It is made of two metals and has an image like a hologram that changes from a £ symbol to the number ‘1’ when the coin is seen at different angles. You will still be able to use your old pound coins until the autumn of 2017 and they will be accepted at banks for some time to come.

You can read more about the new coin at www.thenewpoundcoin.com.

Home care with a difference ▶ Award winning care ▶ Companionship services ▶ Home help services ▶ Personal care services ▶ Highly trained CAREGivers If someone in your family needs a little help please call us on

01904 690884

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

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.” ®