Tag: tablets

Care home residents become silver surfers 

Residents at an Edinburgh care home are developing their digital dexterity thanks to the generous donation of 15 new Amazon Fire 7 tablets from a national construction firm.

Design & Build Contractor, McAleer & Rushe gifted the devices to residents at Mathieson House Care Home on Ferry Road, which is owned and operated by Renaissance Care.

The home sits close to Leith, where McAleer & Rushe will be based on a major long-term project delivering much needed new homes at the Dockside. The firm has also pledged to build tall planters and a seating area in the care home’s manicured garden, allowing residents to enjoy the warm summer days in comfortable surroundings.

Elizabeth Griffiths, aged 91, resident at Mathieson House said: “This was a lovely gift for everyone to receive.

“Tablet meant something very different when I was younger, so these types of things are all a bit new to us at the home, but the staff have been great at showing us how they work.”

Mathieson House is part of Renaissance Care group which currently owns and operates 16 homes across Scotland, including Letham Park, which sits on the same site in Ferry Road.

Across the group there is a strong focus on enhancing the physical and mental wellbeing of residents. Each home has a dedicated activities team, which delivers a variety of events that bring fun, laughter and wellbeing benefits to residents.

This includes the group’s digital exercise programme, danceSing, which encourages residents to take part in fun physical exercises suited to their capabilities.

Sandra Duggan, McAleer & Rushe Project Manager based on the Dockside project added: “We began construction on the Dockside project at Ocean Drive not long ago in March and as we advance works on site, it is equally important for us to reach out into the community to establish relationships which can provide a lasting impact.

“I’m excited to get to know the team at Mathieson House who take great care to provide a nurturing and comfortable home to their residents and look forward to returning to help elevate their garden space.

“We hope the donation of these tablets will help the residents embrace technology to stay connected with their loved ones and provide access to the digital world at their fingertips.”

Mathieson House Care Home is a warm and welcoming, purpose-built care home situated in the Trinity area of Edinburgh. The care home has 20 rooms and offers supported living to residents within a stylish boutique hotel style environment.

For further information visit: https://www.renaissance-care.co.uk/mathieson-house-care-home  

Bridging the digital divide

700,000 digital devices for children in Scotland

Work to provide every school pupil in Scotland with a laptop or tablet has started. Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has confirmed discussions with local government are underway to deliver the ambitious commitment, which will benefit 700,000 children.

The Scottish Government are also considering how to deliver consistent digital infrastructure across Scotland’s 2,500 school buildings. The announcement delivers on another commitment for the first 100 days of this government.

Ms Somerville said: “Every child has the right to an education and we believe that means an education supported and enhanced by technology. This as a vital aspect of an education system in the digital age which was clearly demonstrated by the pandemic.

“This is a hugely ambitious programme of work that will build on efforts to tackle digital inclusion during the pandemic. These early talks with Scottish councils are a positive step towards delivering this commitment.”

Letters: Half of all pancreatic cancer patients are not prescribed tablets they need to stop them starving

Dear Editor,

Shockingly, despite pancreatic cancer being the deadliest common, half of all pancreatic cancer patients are not prescribed the inexpensive tablets they need to stop them starving.

As Chief Exec of Pancreatic Cancer UK, I am deeply concerned that so many patients  are missing out on this medication – called Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) – which is just as vital for people with pancreatic cancer as insulin is for those with diabetes.

The main cause is a lack of awareness among health professionals, who do a wonderful job caring for people, but don’t specialise in the disease or treat pancreatic cancer patients as frequently as those with other more common types of cancer.

PERT enables patients to digest food, helping them to tolerate treatment and to manage debilitating symptoms from the cancer – including pain, diarrhoea and extreme weight loss. A simple prescription could give so many people with incurable pancreatic cancer more – and better quality – time with their loved ones.

We need action across the NHS to raise awareness of PERT tablets and ensure everyone who needs them is prescribed them.   Nobody should have to watch someone they love waste away from pancreatic cancer.

Over 26,000 people have already joined our Transform Lives: Prescribe campaign, urging the NHS to implement targets to make sure PERT tablets are prescribed routinely.

Your readers can show their support for the campaign and help stop people with pancreatic cancer from starving at transformlives.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/

Diana Jupp

CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK