POSITIVE CARING CAN DELIVER POSITIVE RESULTS

 

The latest ‘buzz phrase’ in the health sector is ‘positive caring’- assessing people who need care and taking preventive measures to avoid their need escalating, even to the extent of admission to, and subsequent discharge from, hospital.

 

I am delighted to hear it; it’s a message we have been propounding for a while, whereby a wider range of health professions are involved, enabling steps to be taken before it becomes a critical need, to ensure a person’s wellbeing and independence, at the time of assessment, and to endeavour to predict future needs.

 

In one example(*), hospital admissions have reduced by 64%, largely by involving a wider team, including Occupational Therapists, and making adjustments such as, where appropriate, sorting aids and equipment at home to protect the person from deteriorating.

 

It’s about being proactive rather than reactive. Such an approach can not only reduce the likelihood of hospital admission, but can also reduce the social care need. Even something as simple as aids to help someone go to the loo on their own, and with optimum dignity and hygiene, can make a big impact on mobility and psychological wellbeing.

 

Some professionals are already forward-thinking enough take that approach (for example, http://www.clos-o-mat.com/index.php/products/case-studies/88-palma-vita-case-studies/domestic/742-helping-turn-disability-into-a-positive-2.html; http://www.clos-o-mat.com/index.php/products/case-studies/88-palma-vita-case-studies/domestic/516-toilet-helps-unblock-hospital-bed.html).

In both cases, there has been a proven reduction in the need for care.

 

Rarely a week passes now without there being some story in the media about NHS and social care budgets, the strain both services are under. Both the case studies above prove that the positive caring approach can reduce the need for care, and therefore strain on local care budgets.

 

For it to work, it needs to be adopted on a national scale.. It requires a change of mindset, but a change that could very quickly reap results.

 

They do say, after all, it only takes repeating an action for 21 days for it to become a habit!

ENDS

(*)http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2016/07/new-care-home-service-helps-to-keep-lincoln-residents-out-of-hospital

LIFTING SUPPORT

Daily life has been given a lift for the Lalor family, with kit that is “just the answer” for them all.

 

The equipment is a ceiling track hoist and Palma Vita wash & dry (bidet) toilet, supplied and installed by Britain’s leading helpful hygiene solutions provider Closomat. It is benefitting the whole family: father Michael can move his 49 years-old son Michael, who has Muscular Dystrophy, easily around the family home in Laois, Leinster, particularly into the bathroom, and son Michael can to go to the toilet without having his sister Mary or father deal with his intimate cleaning afterwards.

“It is just the answer, it was terribly badly needed,” commented father Michael. “We had an ordinary mobile hoist before. It was very hard work for us to manage him. All we have to do now is push a button!

 

“We had an older wash & dry toilet before too. It wasn’t a patch on this one! It cleans Michael thoroughly, without me, or his mother, having to wipe him. It’s much nicer for all of us.”

 

Michael was first diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy when he was 17 and an active member of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Initially the family thought he had just sustained an injury. His Occupational Therapist initially arranged for the mobile hoist and original toilet; as his condition has deteriorated, and time has impacted on his parents’ ability to help him, the family’s needs have been re-assessed, with the recommendation of the new Closomat Palma Vita and hoist.

 

Looking like, and capable of being used as, a conventional WC, the Palma Vita is the only wash & dry toilet designed specifically for people with impairments. It delivers the best douching and drying performance available. Uniquely, it can be fitted, initially or retrospectively, with a range of accessories to enable people to continue to use it with little or no support, even as their needs change.

 

Closomat’s ceiling track hoist can carry up to 200kg (31stone), and can, at the push of a button, be moved to wherever it is needed in the room, precisely positioning the person where the carer requires-be it over the toilet, shower seat, or changing bench. The hoist is designed to support the user as needed, and be simple for the carer to transfer.

 

“We go to the toilet on average eight times a day, so it has a huge impact on anyone who needs help to do so, and their carers,” observes Robin Tuffley, Closomat marketing manager. “Combinations of equipment such as we have provided at the Lalors makes a huge difference to the whole family’s daily life.”

 

Closomat is the only British manufacturer of wash & dry toilets, with the Palma Vita being the biggest-selling unit of its kind. It compliments its range of helpful solutions for intimate hygiene with country-wide sales and technical support and in-house, nationwide service & maintenance.

 

The company’s website- www.clos-o-mat.com- is one of the most comprehensive resources for accessible bathroom and toileting solutions. White papers, guides to specification, installation ‘top tips’, CAD blocks, video, and renders are all available for download free of charge, with the site even including a fully- searchable map for ‘try before you buy’ locations.

Take Control of Your Care Regime

Person-centred care is becoming an increasing driver in health & social care provision. Authorities adopt it because in theory it can “improve outcomes”, to use their terminology. To you or I (the client/patient), it means we are more in control of how our care is delivered: it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to appreciate that feeling of control in itself makes us feel better!

In the UK, 2/3 of healthcare resources are spent supporting people with long term conditions, yet for up to 90% of people with a long term condition, they either care for themselves, or have family support. Research has shown^(*) that several factors are the most important for affecting the outcomes of person centred care, including ‘taking a holistic approach to assessing people’s needs and providing care’.

We have said for years that such an approach- i.e. that mind and spirit affect the body- helps people with long term conditions feel more enabled, independent. And our clients substantiate that.

Would you like someone to wipe your bottom? Would you want someone to help you get on and off the loo? Would you want someone to see you naked as they dry you after a shower or bath?

Providing the equipment, or assistive technology, to do these tasks unaided has a huge psychological impact on a person’s wellbeing and mental health. Most of the people involved in the process or organising our care are able, fit and well. They do not therefore fully understand the impact that it has on the client/patient to be empowered to be able to do something very intimate, personal like going to the loo without help.

When we find ourselves in the situation of needing care, there is a natural tendency to leave things to the experts. They have the knowledge, and can advise. But historically if someone needs care, there is an automatic assumption that means providing a care worker. If aids are considered, it’s the obvious things.

The bathroom is the most common room to be adapted when someone needs care in their home, and particularly providing toilet facilities. The usual solution is a commode. And a person is still needed to wipe you afterwards. With Personal Care Budgets, you in theory have control over the money allocated for your care, and can therefore determine how and on what it is spent.

So what would be your choice: a commode, and someone (either a loved one or a stranger) to wipe your bottom, help you on and off the WC, or a toilet that can clean you, or a lifter that fits over the WC and helps you on and off? And if you need a care worker for that job for any length of time, the toilet that can clean you, or the toilet lifter, is actually cheaper!

The Better Outcomes, Lower Costs report supports that very theory- it’s a better outcome physically and mentally for the recipient, and lower cost to the social care provider to install a wash & dry toilet than a commode.

So as/when you need care, make sure it is person centred, centred on you, what you want to retain your dignity, your independence, your wellbeing, your positive mental health.

 

Toilet Helps Unblock Hospital Bed

Having a toilet that is more than just a toilet has enabled a woman to be discharged from hospital days early….

Rose Murphy was in a serious car accident 12 years ago, through which she lost the use of her left arm. She has been able to remain as independent as possible in part because of her lavatory- a Clos-o-Mat Palma Vita wash & dry toilet. And the Clos-o-Mat has now enabled her to persuade nursing staff to discharge her after an operation much sooner than expected.

Rose has for some time needed an operation to repair a hole in the rotary cuff of her right arm and shoulder which, with subsequent recuperation, would involve the arm being ‘out of action’ for eight weeks. She refused to consider having the operation until her Occupational Therapist assessed her and effected installation of the toilet in her home in Chalfont St Peter, Bucks.

“They wanted to keep me in hospital because I couldn’t use my arms, and they were struggling to organise appropriate support care for me back at home,” explained Rose. “I told them about my Clos-o-Mat; after some persuading, they agreed I could go home, as I would be able to undertake my personal care at least.

“Before the crash I was a social worker, and knew through my work about Clos-o-Mats. I was very aware of the potential impact it could have on my life, my independence.”

Rose’s Clos-o-Mat Palma Vita features a ‘soft-touch’ hand/foot switch, which means she can operate it with just light pressure from her foot. This, together with the bath lift in her wetroom, means she can undertake her all personal hygiene without carer intervention.

Looking like, and capable of being used as, a conventional WC, the Palma Vita has built-in douching and drying. After toileting, the user presses the operating mechanism- be it the cistern-mounted flush pads, toch-sensitive switch or remote proxy switch. Simultaneous flushing and warm water douching is followed by warm air drying, leaving the user effectively, properly, hygienically and consistently clean without having to manually wipe- or be wiped- with toilet tissue.