The National Homecare and Assisted Living Conference 2015

Home care in Ireland Is a rapidly growing service within our communities, with many more opting for this type of service for their personal care as opposed to hospital or nursing home services commonly used in the past. Considering the rapid expansion and demand in this sector it comes with a range of changes, challenges and guidelines being developed annually to ensure optimum service to the end user. CMG Events in Association with myhomecareie.wpengine.com have gathered an expert line up of presenters to address some of the most topical issues in the home care sector including;

How to meet the requirements of our Ageing Population.
Are we HIQA prepared?
How Best to develop relationships between nursing homes & homecare provisions.
Dementia Supports available to Homecare providers to name just a few.

Opening remarks from Conference Chairperson

Speaker: Dr Mary Rose Day, Midwife & Public Health Nurse, UCC

The role of HIQA in monitoring and regulating health & social care services

Speaker: Vicky Blomfield, Head of Programme, Corporate Projects. HIQA

The legal framework
Regulating and monitoring
Standards and Regulations
Registration and enforcement
The inspection process
Key findings so far
Getting ready for inspections

Supporting the Continuum of Care – Meeting the Requirement of our Ageing Population

Speaker: Tadhg Daly, CEO, Nursing Homes Ireland

Ageing Demographic
Demand for residential care exceeding supply
Development of ‘continuum of care’
Role of nursing home sector in complimentary services(homecare / day care / meals on wheels)
Nursing homes a hub of community services?

Primary Care

Independent living – care communities
Cohesive national strategy
Implications of inaction

The Single Assessment Tool (SAT) – HSE national implementation of a standardised comprehensive care needs assessment for older people

Speakers: Dr Natalie Vereker, Services For Older People, HSE / Linda McDermott-Scales, National Education & Development Manager, Services for Older People, Social Care Division, HSE

The benefits and requirements for a Single Assessment Tool (SAT) in assessing older persons’ health and social care needs
The implementation by HSE of SAT to replace current variable care needs assessment practices with a standardised SAT for entry into
Nursing Home Support Scheme (A Fair Deal), Home Care Package Scheme (HCPs) and thereafter to Home-Help provision.
The SAT uses an internationally recognised assessment system known as the interRAI™ system. The interRAI™ explained
The national implementation of SAT to date

Advance Care Directives in the Community

Speaker: Kayla Rumack, Medical Student, University College Cork

Relevance & Benefits of Advance Care Directives in the Community
Knowledge, Opinions
Completion Rates and Factors Influencing Engagement – Ireland and International
Theory of Planned Behaviour – Can we influence Advance Directive Completion?
Research & Developments to expect in the future

Case Studies – Early Intervention and Integration of Community & Acute Care

Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Weathers, PhD, BSc, PGCTL, RGN, Research Support Officer, Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, University College Cork @St. Finbarr’s Hospital

Community Assessment of Risk and Treatment Strategies (CARTS) Project – Link between frailty and risk of hospitalisation, institutionalisation, or death/predictors of frailty
Risk Instrument for Screening in the Community (RISC) and Community Assessment of Risk Instrument (CARI)
Importance of caregiver network and family support networks
Training of Public Health Nurses
Screening currently underway in Cork/Kerry HSE Region and implementation of Intensive Home Care Packages
Future developments and plans for wide scale implementation
Geriatric Database Project
Work to date on the development of a geriatric computerised database for people with cognitive impairment
Integration of community care and acute care

Dementia Supports available to Homecare providers

Speaker: Dr Dermot Power, UCD School of Medicine and Medical Sciences

Insights into the level of home care service for users with Dementia in Ireland
What supports are being developed
The use of technology to support older patients with dementia in their own homes

Top tips on how to care for common illnesses with our ageing population service users

Speaker: Dr John Doherty, Consultant Physician, Aged Related Health Care (ARHC) unit, Tallaght Hospital

Alzheimer’s
Senile patients
Rapid weight loss
Diabetes
Cardio problems
Malnutrition

Closing remarks from Dr Mary Rose Day

Not included in videos:

Community / Public Health Nursing & Developing relationships between nursing homes & homecare provision

Speaker: Anne Lynott, DPHN, Public Health Nursing Department, Dublin West, Cherry Orchard Hospital

The Future of Home care & staffing In Ireland

Speaker: Cora Murphy, Clinical Director, The Care Team

Family Caregivers and the wider community based supports – vital improvements needed for home care services

Speaker: Andrew McFarlane, CEO and Co-Founder of CareZapp

With special thanks to Sarah Flynn, Events Co-ordinator, CMG Events and The Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire. For further info please contact Sarah on sarah@cmgevents.ie or call 01 293 4764.

Caregiver Advice

Nursing in Ireland? Have you considered it?

Considering nursing In Ireland?

Have you ever considered nursing in Ireland? There are many questions to ask yourself, such as how do I register, what jobs are available and what area should I relocate to? These are all valuable questions, the answers of which can be found easily by contacting Servisource Healthcare or logging on to our Servisource website. We have our own personal nurse sourcer, Karen Melia on hand to help with all questions and aid you in the application process to start nursing in Ireland. Each individual region have their own local healthcare team in their area.

In order to begin nursing in Ireland you firstly need to be registered with An Board Altranais. This is the Irish Nursing Board. There is a fee of €150.00 and they will then send you out a registration pack to complete. This is the first step to begin a nursing in Ireland.

Nursing in Ireland

Servisource offer positions within Private hospitals, acute hospitals and care facilities across the land, in both perm and temporary contracts. We have positions to suit everyone’s needs with flexible hours to suit all lifestyles. Salaries are dependent on location, but are currently higher than the majority of EU countries.

Moving to Ireland

Accommodation:

Rent can be very reasonable in Ireland with rooms to rent in houses or apartments along with houses to rent. There are lots of good websites for accommodation such as daft.ie, in addition to the papers and websites for the local area.

Transport:

Transport, Luas Line - Consider nursing in ireland In Ireland there is a variety of transport from the LUAS (Dublin city tram), Dart (Dublin Suburban rail service) to national rail and bus services that service all key cities and towns in Ireland.

We have a large number of cyclists here as well so if you enjoy this, it’s a cheap and healthy way to get you to work on time.

Shopping:

Ireland has an abundance of food shopping outlets, Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Super Value, Dunne’s , Marks and Spencer to name but a few. For clothing we have all the top name brands as well as Primark known in Ireland as Penny’s, New Look, Dunne’s etc. We have amazing shopping centres in Ireland so there will never be a shortage of choice.

Entertainment:

Th Entertainment-Considering nursing In Ireland? ere is never a shortage of entertainment in Ireland and in every locality there are great sight-seeing attractions depicting Irelands amazing history and culture. If you like sport, there are plenty of options such horse racing, soccer, rugby and GAA matches (Gaelic Football and Hurling).There is a vast array of fantastic restaurants and pubs , which would have Irish Music or Dancing on some nights. For those who love walking, there are amazing walks, mountain trails, picnic sights to be seen.

The Culture:

Ireland is steeped in Culture with amazing history, places of history to see and learn. The people are incredibly friendly and helpful here and always willing to advise you if you need assistance with directions etc.

Caregiver Advice

Home Care Financial Assistance

Employed person taking care of an incapacitated individual

Employing a care giver for yourself or a family member i.e spouse, civil partner, child or a relative, including a relation through marriage or civil partnership is a huge step. One that you need to be 100% comfortable with, both emotionally and financially.

As an employer of a carer you are entitled to claim tax relief on this cost, provided the care is for yourself or a family member. This includes employing a carer from an agency or using an agency’s services, such as ourselves. Charitable/voluntary organisations such as the Alzheimer’s society of Ireland also fall under this home care financial assistance.

Tax allowances and reliefs reduce the amount of tax that you have to pay. As of January 2015 you are entitled to claim tax relief for employing a carer up to the cost of €75,000 (previous to this it was €50,000) for each incapacitated individual. This is a tax relief rate of 41%.

If employing a care giver yourself, you have duties and responsibility towards your care givers. You must ensure they receive the following:

Employment contract : (minimum wage rate, hours, holidays)
Payslips
Employee’s tax
Social insurance

If you decide to go through an agency for care, these responsibilities fall on the agency. If you wish to take this route, you are still eligible to claim tax relief on the cost of care through an agency.

To claim this tax relief the individual receiving care must be fully incapacitated from the tax year starting January through to December. However the care giver does NOT have to be employed for this period of time.

If you have been granted Dependent Relative Tax Credit (section 466) or an Incapacitated Child Tax Credit (section 465) you are not eligible for this tax relief.

If you wish to apply for this tax relief you can submit your P60 and your spouses if required to your local Revenue office.

If you are a PAYE tax payer and wish to apply for this tax relief you can download the following pdf tax relief for employing a carer on form HK 1 (pdf) or contact the your local Revenue office (all numbers available at http://www.revenue.ie/en/contact/lo-call.html )

To discuss this and any other queries please contact myhomecareie.wpengine.com.

Caregiver Advice

Family Halloween Safety Tips Seniors, Parents and Children

Family Halloween Safety Tips

Seniors, Parents and Children.

Here at myhomecare we love to celebrate Halloween and that is why we want you to have the best Halloween possible this year. It can however be a chaotic and stressful time of year for many with people dressed in costumes, trick – or – treaters, parties, fireworks among other things. That’s why we have put together a list of top tips to make sure you and your family get the most out of your Halloween without having to worry.

Below is details of our ‘Family Halloween safety tips Seniors, Parents and Children.’

Seniors

The brighter the better:

Keep you home well lit during the night, with both interior and exterior lights. Although a dark home will discourage trick- or-treaters from knocking on your door, it can also attract other unwanted company. Vandals may see a dark home and presume it’s empty.

Trick-or-Treaters:

When entertaining trick- or- treaters avoid individuals entering your home if alone. If someone asks to use the bathroom or for a glass of water, don’t feel pressured, you can say ‘NO’. It is your home, you decide who is invited inside.

Friends and family:

If you are living alone and feeling anxious about Halloween, invite family or friends to drop by and visit for a couple of hours. If possible, stay overnight with a friend or relative.

Pet safety:

keep pets indoors if possible on Halloween night, fireworks and noise can scare pets, especially dogs. They also provide another level of security if you are home alone.

Safety while driving :

If you plan to drive on Halloween, be extra mindful of children crossing the road. Children get very excited on Halloween and pay less attention when crossing roads. Drive slow through busy streets, roads and housing estates, be on the lookout for children in dark costumes.

Parents

Children supervision:

Younger Children trick- or – treating should be accompanied by adults at all times.

Children’s costumes:

If possible avoid dark coloured costumes on younger children. Prevent accidents by making sure costumes are fitted correctly and not too long. Add reflective tape to costumes and bags to help drivers see children.

Trick – or –Treat Route:

If you are not accompanying your child trick – or – treating, plan out their route with them, what time they will start and what time you expect them back.

Halloween Party:

If you want to avoid your younger children from trick – or –treating throw a Halloween party. Invite friends and neighbours to come in costumes and get them involved in Halloween party games, in no time they will forget all about trick – or – treating.

Good Meal:

Give your children a nutritious meal before trick – or – treating. This will help reduce the amount of snacking and sweets they will eat later.

Fireworks:

If you are holding a fireworks display at your home or visiting a friends, make sure you know where children are at all times. Under no circumstance should children be allowed to play with fireworks. Light fireworks in an open outdoor area, avoid lighting near dry grass or foliage.

Children

Road safety :

Look both ways before crossing the roads.

Brightly lit houses :

Only go to homes that are well lit and carry a flash light.

Sweets and Treats:

Do not eat opened sweets or treats, be aware if you have food allergies. If you are unsure about a treat, don’t eat it!

Be aware of strangers:

Only accept sweets and treats from the front door of someone’s home.
DO NOT ENTER A STRANGERS HOME!

Contact details:

Attach your parents contact number and address to inside of costumes and treat bags. If you don’t have a mobile carry some spare change for emergency phone call.

Conscious of elderly:

Be conscious of the elderly at home alone, Halloween can make seniors anxious and nervous. If you know elderly people live in a house nearby, keep noise levels to a minimum.

Respect for others:

If you knock at a door and nobody answers then leave peacefully, not everyone celebrates Halloween. Happy Halloween pic

Further information can be found at the following links:

Senior Strategies: Halloween safety tips for seniors:

http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20121031/senior-strategies-halloween-safety-tips-for-seniors

Ten Halloween Safety Tips:

https://canadasafetycouncil.org/child-safety/ten-halloween-safety-tips

Halloween safety tips for senior citizens:

http://www.examiner.com/article/halloween-safety-tips-for-senior-citizens

Fireworks Safety Keeps Celebrations Injury Free:

http://childcare.about.com/od/hottopicsinchildcare/a/fireworks.htm