Category: Caregiver Advice

Caregiver Advice

National Carers Week 2017 – Looking after the carer

National Carers Week 2017 Monday 12th June – Sunday 18th June 

National Carers Week 2017 – What is it? 

Celebrating its 11th year, National Carers Week takes place this week from Monday 12th – Sunday 18th June. National Carers Week aims to highlight and recognise all the hard-working carers in Ireland. This is a great time to raise awareness of the valuable contribution that carers make to all of our lives. The week is being coordinated by Care Alliance Ireland, in partnership with The Alzheimer Society, The Irish Cancer Society, Family Carers Ireland, The Disability Federation of Ireland, MS Ireland, Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Inclusion Ireland, St. Michael’s House, The Irish Hospice Foundation and The Special Needs Parents Association.

Myhomecare

To celebrate National Carers Week, we would like to thank and praise our dedicated carers in Myhomecare. At Myhomecare, we have an exceptional team that works with us both internally and externally. They are dedicated, hard working, reliable and willing to go above and beyond to ensure that our care recipients and families receive the best quality of care. Special events are taking place nationwide to celebrate carers. For the full list of events across Ireland, please visit: http://www.carersweek.ie/events#.WT_p12jyuM8. 

Being a Carer

We would also like to acknowledge all carers across Ireland for their continuous hard-work. This week should encourage others to support carers who they know and give them the well-deserved break that they deserve. National Carers Week is important as many people throughout Ireland can relate to it. From the carers that have chosen it as a career, to the people that provide care for family members and loved-ones. You could say that caring applies to almost everyone as there are those who have been caregivers, those who currently are caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers. There are around 360,000 family carers in Ireland at present.

As people are living longer, the call for care is increasing, resulting in the expansion of the care industry. Carers are seeking more respite services and support. What is a carer? Some might say that a carer is an angel without wings. A carer is many things. It is someone who can show empathy, respect, patience and kindness. A carer treats a person the way that they deserve to be treated. Due to their dedication, some carers might experience guilt if they do things for themselves so they end up focusing solely on the patient and neglecting their own needs, resulting in burnout or stress. The exhaustion from this stress can result in the reduction in the quality of care being delivered by the carer. As you cannot pour from an empty vessel, a good carer knows that to be able to care for others, they must also care for themselves.

Stress and the carer 

Being a carer can be demanding and being under pressure can lead to stress, especially if you feel you have little control over the situation. People handle pressure and react to stress in different ways so what might be stressful to one carer might not be to another. There are many symptoms of stress and stress can affect the way you think, act and feel. It can also have physical impacts. Here are some signs that you may be stressed.

Symptoms of stress:

  • Depression
  • Exhaustion
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Constantly worrying
  • Insomnia
  • High blood pressure
  • Low-mood
  • Racing thoughts
  • Repeatedly going over things
  • Constantly on the go
  • Change in eating habits
  • Temper
  • Unsociable
  • Drinking/smoking more
  • Headaches
  • Muscle tension

Coping with your stress 

Above are only some signs and symptoms of stress, it is important that if you feel you are experiencing signs of stress that you identify it right away and use techniques that help you DE-stress. If you are experiencing long-term stress that is affecting your health you should visit your local GP immediately. A lot of people are unwilling to ask for help when feeling stressed, but asking for help or talking to someone can help. If your stress is affecting your daily life it is important to talk to someone, whether it be a friend, a family member or a counsellor. Talking to someone else can help to relieve stress and if you ask for advice you could find yourself resolving  your problems.

Tips for reducing stress

  • Deep-breathing – practice relaxation.
  • Listening to music -music can release endorphin’s and happy hormones, reducing stress.
  • Reading – distracts the brain form stress.
  • Walking –  releases endorphin’s and reduces depression.
  • Reduce caffeine intake as it can worsen stress.
  • Reduce alcohol intake – alcohol is a depressant and can reduce stress in the short-term but in the long-run can cause anxiety, depression and stress.
  • Exercising – boosts mood.
  • Getting enough sleep – sleep deprivation can have many emotional side affects such as irritability, loss in concentration. It can also have serious health complications such as heart disease and stroke.
  • Remain positive – don’t focus on the negative, life is too short.
  • Laugh! Life isn’t about waiting for the bad moments to pass, it is about learning how to love and live in them.

Reward yourself 

  1. Care-giving is a job and remember that in a job you are entitled to breaks. Take a rest when rest is due. Tiring yourself out will only make you irritable, affect your health and the quality of your care.
  2. When people offer you their help – accept it. Help might not come by that often and instead of feeling that you must do everything in your power for your patient, accept that you deserve a break and that people genuinely might want to help.
  3. Grieve but allow yourself to move on. Losing a patient or a loved-one is never easy. Try not to hold on to the past or to have regrets. Focus on the present and do the best that you can as a caregiver.
  4. Stand up for your rights as a caregiver. Learn your patients condition inside out and explain this to doctors. Don’t underestimate yourself, know that your efforts to love and make your patient feel comfortable and safe is the most important thing. Go with your gut instinct and fight for what you believe you and your patient are entitled to.
  5. Embrace your care-giving choice: Sometimes carers can feel resentment from stress or burnout but remember why you have made the choice to provide care and focus on this. It was either that you felt you would be the best provider for your loved-one, that you love looking after people, you want to nurture and care for people and have an impact on the welfare of their life.
  6. Don’t let care-giving take over your whole life. Get some hobbies, take up something you have always had an interest in. It is important not to lose who you are as a person.

Caregiver Tips

To keep up to date with our content for National Carers Week 2017, visit our Facebook Healthcare Page here: https://www.facebook.com/myhomecare/

 

Advice for Older People, Caregiver Advice

A bit about Dementia. Myhomecare sponsoring The National Dementia Care Conference Wednesday 15th February.

Dementia Care Conference 15th February

Royal Marine Hotel Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. 

Sponsored by Myhomecare.ie 

THE CONFERENCE

The annual conference, which is now running three years, is taking place this Wednesday, February 15th in The Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire. Organised by The Commercial Media Group, the conference will focus on future vision for Dementia care in Ireland and will enable and equip delegates to critically review their approaches to the care of patients with dementia. Representing the myhomecareie.wpengine.com team and attending the conference are Homecare Assessors Jonathan O’Donnell and Susanne Kelly.

Susanne, who has experience nursing dementia patients in the past, said that this is her first time attending the conference and she is looking forward to it. Susanne hopes to improve dementia care and incorporate new guidelines into existing myhomecare plans. On the day, Johnathan and Susanne will be promoting myhomecare by providing information about the brand, distributing materials and products and building relationships with other similar services. They will be speaking to clients and answering the questions of potential clients.

Dementia in Ireland

It is estimated that 42,000 people in Ireland have dementia.

But, what is Dementia? Dementia is not one single disease. It is a collective term used to describe a group of symptoms which cause damage to the brain and impair memory or thinking such as forgetfulness.

 

What can cause Dementia? Dementia can occur after a stroke, brain tumor or head injury. Age is the most significant risk factor in developing dementia and it affects 1 in 70 people in Ireland aged 65-70 and affects a staggering 1 in 5 people over the age of 80. Genetics is another risk factor that can play a part in the role of developing dementia. Although we cannot control our age or our genes, we can control our lifestyle and evidence shows that our lifestyle habits can increase the risk of developing dementia.

How to prevent Dementia – Lifestyle habits – Diet/Nutrition – high fat contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure and bad cholesterol which are all associated with dementia. Smoking – damages the heart, lungs and vascular system. People who are heavy smokers in their mid-life, double their risk of developing dementia. Alcohol – due to its antioxidants, research shows that drinking a moderate amount of red wine might actually reduce the risk of forming dementia. However, drinking alcohol excessively can increase a person’s risk of developing a form of dementia called Korsakoff’s Syndrome. Exercising – lack of physical activity can cause heart problems and can increase the risk of developing vascular dementia.

 

Recognizing The Signs

Not everyone with dementia will experience the same signs and symptoms.

Recent memory loss – repeating themselves.

Difficulty completing familiar tasks – cooking a meal.

Difficulty in communicating – forgetting simple words.

Disorientation – getting lost.

Misplacing things.

Changes in mood.

Changes in personality – acting fearful.

Inability to control emotion.

Loss if initiative – no interest in going out.

 

Fore more information about the Dementia Care Conference visit: http://cmgevents.ie/events/the-national-dementia-care-conference/

For information on myhomecare and dementia plans visit www.myhomecareie.wpengine.com

Caregiver Advice

National Nursebuddy Day

National Nursebuddy Day – November 9th

What is Nursebuddy

Nursebuddy is an easy to use Care System developed with Carers and Care Co-ordinators that provides:

  • Secure Cloud Based Care Management Software
  • Case Distribution and Rostering Software
  • Automatic Timing and Attendance Verification
  • Easy to use mobile reporting
  • Billing, Payroll and Financial Reporting

What does Nursebuddy mean to you?

How will I get paid?

Nursebuddy is a simple way to record time in attendance at a clients home. After installing the app and being assigned your username from your booking agent you will have full access to your work roster. When you are scheduled to attend a clients house you simply log in to the app on your mobile device. Your schedule for that day will be presented in list format. Click in to the client that you are attending to. To record your time in attendance simply click the button that says Start Visit. This will record a time and location stamp of your mobile device to confirm you are in attendance with the client. When you are finished you rostered shift simple open the app up your mobile device, click into the client shift and click the button that says End & Save. Your client visit record will then be outputted at the end of each week and imported into our in-house payroll system. By using Nursebuddy you no longer have to submit paper based time-sheets.

If I have a query on Nursebuddy, who do I contact?

Please Telephone the Bookings team on 1800 400 900 or email admin@www.myhomecare.ie

If there is no reception in my area how do I clock in?

If there is no reception in the clients home please make sure you log in to the app before entering the area of no reception. Once you log in to the app you will then have offline access where you can carry out all functions as normal. When your mobile device recognises that it is back in an area of reception it will then proceed to update any data recorded during offline access.

When do I get paid?

There is no change to the payroll date.

Do I still have the same payroll id

Yes your payroll ID  will stay the same. This will not change.

What is the last day to submit time-sheets?

After November 13th 2015 You are no longer required to submit paper time-sheets. To ensure you will get paid for all rostered shifts you must use the app to record your time in attendance in all client visits.

 

Caregiver Advice

What It Takes To Be A Carer

Rewarding Work – What It Takes To Be A Carer

As people live longer, and we get better at preserving the lives of those who would otherwise have perished, more and more people are going through times when they need a bit of extra care. The care industry is thus an expanding one, in which kind, empathetic, practical, and dedicated people are always needed. It takes a special kind of person to be a carer or a nurse – someone who has both the practical skills and forthrightness needed to deal with people who may sometimes need specialist help, and the empathetic nature needed to treat these people with the respect and kindness which any human being deserves. Importantly, a good carer also needs to know how to take care of themselves. -What It Takes To Be A Carer

People in the caring profession are prone to feeling guilty when they do something for themselves – believing, due to their dedication, that their every waking moment should be devoted to their charges. In fact, being so selfless that you neglect yourself completely is a counterproductive quality in a carer. As well as being empathetic, knowledgeable about their charge’s condition, and imbued with a good deal of patience, a carer needs to be able to recognise the signs of frustration and burnout within themselves, and to take steps to prevent their emotional state from reaching a point where they start to resent those for whom they are caring.

Patience is something which must be practiced – it comes with experience. A carer therefore needs to have experience at recognising and dealing with their own triggers. They need to know how to calm themselves down when they find themselves getting emotional, and to maintain an equable disposition under the most trying of circumstances. Empathy can help a lot with this. While a certain degree of empathy is innate, an empathetic connection can be helped along if the carer takes the time to learn about how the patient’s condition affects their lives. This makes them less likely to apportion ‘blame’ to the patient themselves should they find their demands in any way frustrating.

Perhaps most importantly, a good carer should find their work rewarding. If you basically don’t like looking after people, the life of a carer is not for you! However, if you do like looking after people but are prone to either intense guilt or frustration, you may want to look at working on these aspects of your character. Guilt – while connected intimately in many ways to empathy – is counterproductive when applied poorly. If you feel guilty every time you do something for yourself, you will ultimately hit burnout and be emotionally unable to provide the quality of care needed by your charges. If you are prone to frustration, you need to learn to recognise the warning signs and develop a system for combating it. In both cases, ensuring that you have a reasonable amount of ‘me time’ can really help. For more on coping with caring, read this article

Author – Melissa