Shared Passions

Happy Homes

Why the Swedes do it better – home care for the elderly in Sweden

In some countries, old age is revered and cherished. But there is no doubt that the UK’s standard of social care for the elderly leaves a lot to be desired: in April 2009, undercover carers working for BBC Panorama revealed how the elderly were neglected, ignored and exposed to suffering in substandard care homes while cared for by untrained, and non CRB-checked staff

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_7990000/7990682.stm].

Elderly care is an expensive, and a lucrative industry, so when local authorities have at times used ‘reverse auctions’ to award their contracts – with business going to the lowest bidder – it is not quality of care that is aspired to, but rather the cheapest price.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jumbled words

The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words. Hippocrates I believe that successful caring can only be achieved by offering people clear guidance about how to access support, thus enabling them to feel confident about the decisions they take.

People seeking care support often contact their local council as a first port of call when they find themselves in severe difficulty and traditional methods of support have broken down.

Anyone seeking care through their local authority (it could be an individual in need of help, a parent or another family member, or perhaps a friend or a concerned neighbour), may be experiencing high levels of stress, concern or even panic. And so it is imperative that all online advice, guidance and assessment of care support should be easy to understand, clear and accessible. Read the rest of this entry »

Pink Converse

On Thursday evenings I meet friends for a pub quiz and am occasionally introduced to newcomers. Tiresome as it is the  first question they always ask is …

: “so what do you do?”

When I tell them I am a care worker, and have worked with children and the elderly for the past eight years, I see their eyes glaze over before I even mention iCaring. It seems I appear to be a ‘do gooder’, and it is clear from this typical response, that a ‘do gooder’ is not exactly cool.

But my job as a carer is one of the most rewarding occupations I can imagine. I feel lucky to be able to build professional ties and friendships with people both young and old: no care solution is ever mundane, and no two days are the same. Quite simply, my life is more interesting, satisfying and varied, all thanks to my job.

So when I’m introduced to someone new they look down at my fluorescent pink converse and then back up at my rather eclectic hairstyle as I tell them about iCaring, I find my career choice is analysed from a whole new perspective. I have been categorised as ‘creative’, and my profession judged on that stereotype.

So here lies my challenge: how can I convert negative attitudes towards care, invite imaginative solutions to the everyday social needs of society, and urge my friends, and their friends alike, to see caring as something positive, and something cool?

This blog will address these ongoing questions, and chart the development of iCaring too. Clearly anxiety about care is an issue that gets us all a bit hot under the collar: everything from comment in the Guardian on depression and its effect on the health of the nation [www.guardian.co.uk/society/mental-health], to political debate in the run up to the general election, and Vogue’s recent article about the suicide of designer Alexander McQueen or mentor Isabella Blow www.vogue.co.uk , proves that care concerns are definitely on the agenda. And yet a common perception of care is often one of

Panorama Exposures

news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_7990000/7990682.stm,

bad smells and rooms full of people gazing mindlessly at television screens. Or else there is a dismissive attitude towards careers in care that are seen to be reserved for under qualified immigrants or poorly paid menial workers.

As a society, we need to face up to the realities of an aging population and the evolution of changing care needs that this will bring. And so this is an exciting time for anyone looking to offer compassionate care solutions for our twenty-first century society.

I hope that iCaring will show the wider world that caring is not just for ‘do gooders’, or those who feel there is no other career alternative, but is instead an opportunity for real people, with real empathy, to become involved in helping the wider community.

If working in this sector was more appealing as a career, then it might be easier to reach those who really need our care and attention. It could be cool, but more importantly, caring as a vocation should definitely be creative. After all, who among us will be satisfied with daytime television and rich tea biscuits in our care homes of the future? Bring on the silver surfers .

P. s. This blog is a little out of date due to a bug and having to reset my blog again.