A volunteer support group has been set up to help elderly/vulnerable people during the Covid 19 crisis.
UK Community Network is active in all areas of Edinburgh and have been helping people for the past few weeks. We still believe their are people struggling who maybe don’t qualify for other sorts of help and we also believe that as more people go back to work, there will be less volunteers around to help.
We have volunteers who are ready to help with shopping, prescriptions, etc.
Get in touch!
New research from BT suggests that many older people (70+) are suffering from a difficult combination of both physical and digital isolation during the Coronavirus lockdown.
A poll of people from across the UK, who have a close relative over 70, found that less than a quarter believe their loved one would be willing to try a video call with a GP, with the majority prepared to wait longer to get a face-to-face appointment.
While some older people (27%) have ventured to the shops during lockdown, a third of those surveyed believe their relatives had put themselves at risk in order to purchase essential items on behalf of their loved one and nearly half those surveyed (49%) think it would be life-changing for their older relative if they knew how to order their own groceries online.
However, 41 per cent think their older family member has never made an online purchase, and half believe their relative is reluctant to try and learn new skills when it comes to technology.
The survey revealed various barriers to learning: more than three-quarters (76%) think their relative would consider it too complicated. A quarter think their loved ones feel the internet is unsafe (26%), 29 per cent say that their relatives haven’t got anyone to teach them and 35 per cent aren’t sure where to learn these digital skills.
Nearly four in ten (38%) did say their family members would be more open to improving their digital skills due to recent events, but don’t know where to start.
Professor Kerensa Jennings, BT Group Director of Digital Impact, said: “Technology has become an essential lifeline for millions of people right now. But to combat loneliness, we must ensure that older people can take advantage of the benefits that technology provides, from accessing vital services to staying in touch with family and friends.
“We know that even picking up some relatively simple digital skills can make a huge difference to the lives of older people and those that care for them during lockdown – whether it’s doing their own online shopping, accessing health services or enjoying face-to-face calls with loved ones.
“While many older people are very confident with tech, it’s never too late to try something new. For others, it’s the first time they are accessing the internet. That’s why we are working closely with leading social change charity, Good Things Foundation, to ensure people can get the skills they need to stay connected and healthy during lockdown.”
The survey also revealed that six in 10 people believe their loved ones feel more isolated than ever before as a result of the global pandemic, and 53 per cent think they have struggled to adjust to an altered lifestyle due to coronavirus.
Email and WhatsApp are the digital platforms family members feel elderly relations are the most adept at using, with 39 per cent able to successfully set up a video call with their elderly loved ones. One in five over 70s are also able to stream through Amazon Prime or Netflix.
However, over three quarters (78%) said their family member consumes their information from television, with a third relying on their family member to update them on current affairs and just one in five going online.
Helen Milner, Chief Executive of Good Things Foundation, said: “The research supports what we’re hearing from our network partners and our wider findings on the issue of digital isolation. The people left behind are disproportionately older, often with existing health issues that are being compounded by a lack of confidence in digital technology. This is a deeply shocking societal problem we must all address urgently.
“We know that due to the Coronavirus pandemic more people are willing to try new things online and improve their digital skills so this is the perfect time to give them the tools and guidance to do so.”
BT Skills for Tomorrow is giving 10 million people the skills they need to make the most of life in the digital world we live in. It’s completely free and designed to help everyone – from school children and teachers, parents and families to businesses and jobseekers – and anyone who needs support getting online to make the most of life.
Working in partnership with leading digital skills organisations, BT have created and collated the best courses, webinars and information, in one easy to navigate place.
However, there remains a significant number of vulnerable people who do not currently have an internet connection or suitable device, making isolation particularly difficult. In order to address this issue, BT has donated 1,000 tablets with pre-paid SIMs to the Good Things Foundation as part of the DevicesDotNow campaign.
The Good Things Foundation is the UK’s leading digital exclusion charity and the key distribution partner for DevicesDotNow through their Online Centres Network. They are also one of BT’s existing partners through Skills for Tomorrow.
Heart Research UK – Healthy Tip – Activity at home for older adults
Written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK
Physical activity for older adults (aged 65+) while staying at home
At a time when the population is being asked to stay at home, finding ways to keep active can be challenging. Regular physical activity is strongly associated with a reduction in chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as improving mental health.
For adults aged 65 years and over, it is particularly important to do strengthening activities to maintain physical function and slow down the decline in muscle mass while keeping bones strong. Even small increases in physical activity can positively impact on health. Heart Research UK have some tips to help you meet the recommended amount of physical activity at home.
How much physical activity is recommended?
The Government recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week for adults. This can be broken down into chunks of ten minutes or more. It is recommended that older adults also engage in activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on two days each week. If you are not used to doing this amount of physical activity, you can start small and build up to the recommended amount over time.
Moderate Intensity Activities
(150 minutes weekly)
Your heart will beat faster, you will breathe harder, you will get warmer and you can maintain a conversation
E.g. Brisk Walking, dancing, gardening or cycling
Vigorous Intensity Activities
(75 minutes weekly)
Your heart will beat rapidly, you will breathe much harder, you will get warmer and it will be difficult to have a conversation
E.g. Running, riding a bike fast or on hills, hiking uphill or energetic dancing
Activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility
(to be done on 2 days each week)
E.g. Lifting light weights, push-ups, sit-ups, step-ups, heavy gardening and stretching.
Find hobbies that get you moving
If you tend to engage in hobbies that don’t require you to move very much, look for new hobbies that will get you moving, such as gardening, walking, weight-lifting or dancing.
Avoid long periods of inactivity
Set a timer to go off at specific times throughout the day to prompt you to do ten (or more) minutes of physical activity. Any activity is better than none. You can include a variety of light, moderate and vigorous activities. E.g. a brisk walk, sit-ups, weight-lifting, gardening or housework. You can use tins of baked beans, or similar objects, for weight-lifting.
Don’t be a couch potato
Rather than spending your evenings sitting on the sofa without moving much, why not try a few gentle exercises, such as leg raises, while watching your favourite TV show.
Examples of some exercises you can do from your sofa can be found on the NHS website, and you can find lots more healthy tips, advice and recipes at heartresearch.org.uk
What started as a sense of unease about the extent to which care homes are getting the Government help they need is turning rapidly to anger and real alarm (writes Age UK charity director CAROLINE ABRAHAMS).
Some 400,000 older people live in care homes in this country and the vast majority are vulnerable by any definition; most have dementia or other forms of cognitive decline, often in combination with serious long term physical health problems like diabetes and heart disease.
Existing problems
Even before the coronavirus crisis hit there were big worries about financial resilience and the capacity to deliver consistently good care across the care home sector. Although care homes are by no means all the same some problems are common to most: difficulty in recruiting and retaining enough good, trained staff being near or at the top of the list, leading to under-staffing and over reliance on expensive agency workers.
For those care homes that take any State funded clients there have also been big and growing problems making ends meet while delivering decent quality, since the State is an exceptionally mean paymaster, in apparent denial about just how much this costs.
Meanwhile, we have somehow got ourselves into a position in which care homes are operated for the most part by many small private providers on the one hand, and a number of corporate chains on the other, with the owners of the latter often based abroad and involved in complex financial arrangements, as a result of which it can be hard to see where accountability lies and what priority is really being placed on delivering good care to a highly vulnerable group as opposed to turning a buck.
From bad to worse
Then coronavirus arrived. Given how unwell most care home residents already are and the fact they are clustered together, plus the deficits in the care home workforce, it was always going to be very important to make sure everything reasonable was done and done quickly to help care homes keep the virus out and, if and when it got in, fight it effectively so it infected as few older people and staff as possible.
However, a month or so into this crisis now it is becoming apparent that many care home are struggling: in particular, they can’t get enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to keep staff and residents safe and they can’t get tests to see who has got the virus and who hasn’t.
In some cases it seems they are being told that it is their job to provide end of life care for residents who are sadly dying from the virus, without enough back up support from GP and community based palliative care services, and without the possibility of these older people being admitted to hospital.
Where are the funds?
In addition, while local authorities have been given extra funding from central Government to support social care, some care home providers are complaining they are yet to pass it onto them, while meanwhile their costs are rising due to an increased reliance on agency staff due to significant numbers of their usual staff being off sick or self-isolating, plus the rise in the national minimum wage.
That’s not the end of it though: tragically, the need to protect residents led to a ban on families visiting, though recently rescinded in exceptional circumstances such as when someone is dying: however, without there being enough PPE it is hard to see how this can really work. And finally, although it is quite clear that the virus has affected significant numbers of care homes and some residents are sadly dying, we do not know how many because official figures are not being collected.
A let down
In short, it’s a mess and one that means care home residents, their families and staff are all being badly let down. It would not be an exaggeration that some are paying with their lives. Why has this tragedy come about? Probably in part because there is simply not enough PPE and testing period, and what there is has gone to the NHS first, understandably. An additional problem is that the care home sector is so fragmented that delivering any kind of national response is very hard.
In addition, there was seemingly a degree of hesitation over the question of what responsibility the Government actually bears for this sector, given that it is largely privately rather than State owned.
Tragically, it seems all too easy for the care home sector to fall between two stools: neither genuinely in the community on the one hand, nor in the NHS on the other. This is not a new problem: for many years for example, some care homes have found it hard to get good GP support for their residents, despite the latter’s obvious vulnerability – something the NHS was in the process of addressing when the virus hit through its ‘Enhanced Care in Care Homes’ initiative. The fact this was even needed though shows up the strategic problem, which is, at heart, attitudinal as well as structural.
Care homes need support
In the short term it is imperative that the Governments acts now to give care homes the practical – testing and PPE – support they and their staff and residents are entitled to expect.
In some cases it may be appropriate for residents to stay where they are without being admitted in hospital but this should not be a blanket decision, nor should care homes be left to manage without proper GP and community health service support.
Action is needed to ensure the money that is supposed to support care homes actually does reach the front line – and more of it may be needed too. And a system is required to count the numbers who are sadly dying in care homes, to demonstrate they really do matter and to aid planning both now and in future.
Longer term the clear implication is that never again can we leave vulnerable older people, and the workers caring for them, so exposed as they have been to coronavirus. The care home sector – social care more generally – is too fragmented for what is in reality an essential public service on which hundreds of thousands of people depend.
The State’s responsibility must be made clear and this and future governments must accept it – but that’s for tomorrow. Today is first and foremost about saving lives.
CHARITIES wrote to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care yesterday. Their letter said:
Dear Secretary of State,
We are writing together as charity and care sector leaders on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of our most vulnerable people reliant on social care and the hundreds dying in care homes, supported by an army of incredible, often low paid and undervalued care workers who are not trained to deal with death on this scale.
We appreciate the time you and your Ministers have given us this week in seeking to determine a plan for social care during coronavirus. Like you, our priority is keeping people safe in the face of this terrible pandemic.
We are appalled by the devastation which coronavirus is causing in the care system and we have all been inundated with desperate calls from the people we support, so we are demanding a comprehensive care package to support social care through the pandemic.
As a first step we urgently need testing and protective equipment made available to care homes – as we’re seeing people in them being abandoned to the worst that coronavirus can do. Instead of being allowed hospital care, to see their loved ones and to have the reassurance that testing allows; and for the staff who care for them to have even the most basic of PPE, they are told they cannot go to hospital, routinely asked to sign Do Not Resuscitate orders, and cut off from their families when they need them most.
A lack of protective equipment means staff are putting their own lives at risk while also carrying the virus to highly vulnerable groups. Care professionals that have this equipment are using it in line with the guidelines – there’s just not enough getting through to the frontline. Care England estimates that there have been nearly a thousand deaths already, yet deaths from coronavirus in care homes are not being officially recorded or published, social care is the neglected frontline.
Older people’s lives are not worth less. Care home staff are not second class carers. The Government must step in and make it clear that no-one will be abandoned to this virus simply because of their age, condition or where they live.
A comprehensive care package must include:
We know how hard you and your colleagues in Government are working to protect the country from the worst effects of the pandemic. We would like to reiterate our offer to provide support to develop the strategy for social care at this time of crisis. We will continue to do all that we can to make sure families reliant on social care get the protection that they need.
With best wishes,
Kate Lee, CEO Alzheimer’s Society
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive, Marie Curie
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director, Age UK
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive, Care England
Deborah Alsina MBE, Chief Executive, Independent Age
Figures released this morning by the Office of National Statistics show that 217 coronavirus related deaths were recorded in care homes in the week ending 3rd April – a tenfold rise on the week before – Ed.
Luminate has launched Luminate@home sessions every Tuesday and Friday at 2pm on their facebook, youtube & vimeo channels.
It is a new programme of short online films demonstrating creative activities for you to do wherever you are. The activities are presented by professional artists and feature different arts forms including crafts, poetry, music and dance.
Luminate has developed the films in partnership with Scottish Care, and they are aimed at people living in their own homes, as well as care home staff who are looking for ideas of activities for residents.
Scottish Ballet Health are streaming health classes every day at 11.30am. The classes will remain accessible on Facebook so they can also be enjoyed at a later time. More info and the full schedule of classes can be found here.
Sporting memories are making their Sporting Pink a weekly printed publication that they use at their clubs to introduce fun activities and help stimulate sporting memories available to everyone. It contains articles, quizzes, a sports diary and more. To find out more and to register visit their website.
Luminate@Home is a programme of online creative activities for older people who are isolated in the current COVID-19 outbreak.
Every Tuesday and Friday, a new short film will be posted online at 2pm to inspire and guide older people through a creative activity that can be done at home or in a care home.
Luminate’s new programme is designed to help people stay engaged and active until the crisis has passed. The activities are presented by professional artists who work regularly with older people in community and care settings, and will feature different arts forms including crafts, poetry, music and dance.
In recent years there has been growing understanding of the positive impact of taking part in creative activities, especially as we get older. An important aspect of this is the ability of arts engagement to help address loneliness and isolation, something which is of concern for older people who are socially distanced or self-isolated in the current situation.
The Luminate team has worked quickly to set up Luminate@Home, offering creative opportunities designed specifically for older people at a time when they may be particularly welcomed.
All the artists involved are missing the regular contact they normally have with the older people they work with and are excited to find new ways to continue to share their creativity. At a time when everyone is socially distanced, each artist will make their film in their own home using whatever equipment is available, ranging from phones to professional cameras.
Filmmaker Graeme Roger is giving advice on the filming process and the artists send their completed films to him to edit and upload to Luminate’s website and social media channels.
Anne Gallacher, Director of Luminate, said: “Luminate has seen at first-hand the power of creativity to impact on loneliness and isolation. The effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on our older people is huge, and I sincerely hope that our Luminate@Home programme will in some way brighten the days of older people who find themselves secluded at home.
“I also hope that our social care colleagues – who are working so hard to support residents in care homes across Scotland – find the films a valuable and enjoyable resource to share. I am very grateful to the artists who are collaborating with us, and who have responded with such enthusiasm and imagination to the challenge of creating these films at a distance.”
Scottish Care Chief Executive, Dr Donald Macaskill said: “I am absolutely delighted to support Luminate@Home. The ‘shielding’ which has been necessary to protect some of our most vulnerable citizens in care homes and in the community inevitably means that people are going to feel isolated and shut off from family, friends and their communities.
“Anything which helps to reduce the fear and anxiety of isolation, to create a bridge to the outside world; anything which helps people to remain active and creative is to be hugely welcomed.
“Luminate have immense experience of bringing the best of the creative arts to Scotland’s older population. This venture is evidence not only of their organisational commitment but of the dedication of the individual artists and performers who are taking part.
“We owe them a huge debt of gratitude in helping to keep us all connected, and I hope entertained over the next few challenging and difficult weeks and months.”
AN Edinburgh housing development has opened an inhouse shop to help older and vulnerable people keep stocked with vital supplies in light of Scotland’s lockdown response to COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff at Bield’s Castlebrae Glebe in Craigmillar have taken it upon themselves to open a tuck shop within the development to enable tenants to get basic groceries without stepping a foot outside their home.
Sharon Tomany, Development Manager at Castlebrae Glebe, said: “We thought of opening a shop within the development after the government’s announcement advising people to stay at home.
“We thought it would be a good idea to open the little shop as many of our tenants became slightly worried about not being able to get the required shopping essentials during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“It is important to pull together as a community during these tough times and we are doing everything we can to keep Castlebrae Glebe a happy and safe place at a stressful time for many of our tenants.”
Tenants can purchase a wide range of items at the tuck shop style shop, from biscuits to toilet roll to shower gel. An extra effort will also be made to source specially requested items, if it is possible to source them.
Lynne Douglas, Chief Executive at Bield, said: “As an organisation we are looking to do anything we can to help our customers during this tough time, while following government guidelines.
“It is lovely to hear our developments pulling together as a community to help each other – introducing an inhouse shop is a small way our amazing staff and volunteers are looking to make this time that little bit easier.
“We appreciate the continued understanding and support of customers, families and staff as we work together to positively contribute to Scotland’s response to coronavirus.”
To find out more about Bield and its developments, visit www.bield.co.uk or follow on Facebook @bieldhousingandcare and Twitter @BieldScotland
Luminate, in partnership with Scottish Care, is launching Luminate@Home, a new programme of short online films demonstrating creative activities for you to do wherever you are.
The activities will be presented by professional artists and will feature different arts forms including crafts, poetry, music and dance.
Luminate have developed the films in partnership with Scottish Care, and they are aimed at people living in their own homes, as well as care home staff who are looking for ideas of activities for residents.
We understand that this is a worrying and difficult time for everyone, especially if older individuals are having to spend the next few weeks isolated at home or in a care home, and we hope that you will find the activities enjoyable and engaging to do over the next few weeks.
Films will be posted every Tuesday and Friday at 2pm on the Luminate website and Facebook page as well as on their Vimeo and YouTube channels.
Once posted, the films will be left online so you can access them at any time.
Enjoy the films and stay safe from all at Luminate and Scottish Care.
A further update from Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Mike Coupe:
We are continuing to work around the clock to feed the nation in these challenging times.
Many of you have written to me in the past 24 hours to tell me that you like the idea of priority shopping for NHS workers and for elderly and disabled customers, but that these should be at different times.
We have therefore decided to allow NHS and social care workers to shop in our supermarkets for half an hour before they open each day. So anyone with NHS ID will be able to shop from 07.30-08.00 every day from Monday to Saturday.
We’re delighted to be able to offer priority shopping to all the hard-working NHS staff across the country who are working so hard to keep us all safe and well.
In addition to this, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all our supermarkets will dedicate 08.00-09.00 to serving elderly customers, disabled customers and carers.
Many of you have also asked me about priority online delivery slots for elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers.
We have been able to identify a number of customers as elderly and vulnerable based on the information they have given us previously. These details would include date of birth and if you have ever used our vulnerable customer helpline. For all of these customers, we will email you today (Sunday) with information on when slots will become available.
If you do not receive an email and you consider yourself to be vulnerable, please visit our Groceries Online website on Monday for information on how to contact us.
We are also working as quickly as possible on an option for people to register themselves as disabled and vulnerable on their online shopping accounts.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to get in touch with me and share your feedback – it’s because of you that we are making these changes and we will continue to listen, learn and adapt during this uncertain time.
Best wishes
Mike
The community centre has been organising a community lunch in the centre on a Thursday for the last month as part of a new initiative to promote our classes and groups.
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel all our adult education groups and classes in the centre including our Thursday activities and sit down lunch. We will, however, be providing a take away service on Wednesday and Thursdays between 12 and 2 for the next few weeks.
The freshly cooked food will be served in take-away containers and can be heated up at home or frozen for future use. We have already paid for this food, so there will be no charge.
To protect yourself and others, please wash your hands carefully on entering the building and minimise your contact with others.
For people who are unable to pick up the food (ie over 70’s, people with health conditions, families with sick children and people who are self-isolating) we will be offering a limited delivery service.
If there’s anyone you know who would benefit from this service, please ask them to get in touch (email lynn.mccabe@ea.edin.sch.uk or phone the centre on 552 5700) and we will do what we can to help.
A meeting of local organisations to co-ordinate support across North Edinburgh will be taking place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 2.30pm this afternoon and we hope to pull together an information sheet containing information on what services are available locally.
Keep an eye on local facebook pages for future updates.
An update from Sainsburys:
