We're currently making some changes in the background of our email updates to solve some problems we've been having recently. During our testing phase this may automatically generate some alerts, which will show below, but you can ignore these! If all goes according to plan we will be resuming normal service in the next week…
Older patients and people with long term conditions and mental health problems will be among the first to benefit from a major new drive to modernise how the NHS delivers care.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos today (Friday 22nd), NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens will launch the first wave of NHS Innovation ‘Test Beds’.
These collaborations between the NHS and innovators – including Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), IBM and Philips – aim to harness technology to address some of the most complex issues facing patients and the health service.
Frontline health and care workers in seven areas will pioneer and evaluate the use of novel combinations of interconnected devices such as wearable monitors, data analysis and ways of working which will help patients stay well and monitor their conditions themselves at home.
Presentation from NHS Transformathon. This session will show how, as a nation, Scotland is seeking to achieve large scale improvement in health and care through a combination of programme-specific activities and supporting development of sustainable QI cultures within health and care organisations. They’ll do this by sharing their experience of using a range of activities to support cultural change including the Building a QI Infrastructure Programme and Board development activities. They will also share their learning and outcomes from a specific example in the care of people living with frailty and delirium.
Proactive Care, the West Sussex joined up service across the NHS and social care, won the Improving out of Hospital Services for Older People Award at the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network Expo and Awards 2016.
The award went to the Coastal West Sussex Proactive Care service which consists of thirteen local teams.
Sussex Community NHS Trust is the lead provider of this service which is multi-agency and multidisciplinary.
Proactive Care supports people who have a long-term condition and/or the frail elderly. They support people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible and to avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital. By working together with GPs and a range of health and social care providers, Proactive Care identifies, plans and cares for the whole needs of each patient to provide personalised care.
Delirium is an acute cognitive impairment among older hospitalized patients. It can persist until discharge and for months after that. Despite proof that evidence-based nursing interventions are effective in preventing delirium in acute hospitals, interventions among home-dwelling older patients is lacking. The aim was to assess feasibility and acceptability of a nursing intervention designed to detect and reduce delirium in older adults after discharge from hospital. Open Access Article
As the New Care Models Programme marks its first anniversary, the Commissioning Redesign Manager for Long Term Conditions at the NHS Solihull CCG, outlines the vital work its vanguard is doing:
The Solihull Together for Better Lives vanguard is committed to supporting people to stay independent and out of hospital.
As part of this commitment, local health and social care partners have implemented the integrated care and support in Solihull (ICASS) programme to improve care for frail, older people.
The West Suffolk Care Home Model is a partnership between NHS West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group (WSCCG), West Suffolk Hospital, St Nicholas Hospice Care, GP practices, out-of-hours, Care UK, the ambulance service and care homes.
The model delivers better support to care home residents and their families by talking with them about planning for an emergency and discussing in detail their future care wishes. The creation of individual Personalised Care and Support Plans means everyone involved in caring for an individual knows what to do in an emergency.
Wendy-Ling Relph explores how a free online tool can help nurses caring for older people measure the quality of the nutritional care. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai they provide
Midlands trust says involvement of carers in support can make a significant contribution to falls prevention. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
This review integrates current knowledge on assessment and management strategies to prevent falls in older people living in the community. It summarizes known risk factors for falls in this population and presents assessment strategies that can be used to assess the risk of falls. It discusses the management of risks and interventions to reduce falls among older people in the community, as well as future directions and promising approaches. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Physical speech problems are often less of a problem for people with Parkinson’s disease than the cognitive ability to keep up with conversations. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Digital technology, already pervasive in our everyday lives, is increasingly a central factor in rising to this challenge. The received wisdom is that older people, and their baby-boomer children who are themselves over 55 years of age, are resistant to embracing technology in this context. This research paper examined whether this is actually true.
NICE’s new guidance ‘Oral health for adults in care homes’ calls for oral health and access to dental treatments to be given the same priority as general health for all adults in care homes.
More than half of older adults in care homes have tooth decay compared to 40% of over 75s and 33% of over 85s who do not live in care homes.
Tens of thousands of older people are at risk of financial abuse, with those with dementia or reduced cognitive function the most vulnerable, according to Age UK.
The warning comes as the latest figures show that at least 130,000 older people have suffered some form of financial abuse from someone known to them since turning 65.
The figures also show that women are twice as likely as men to be victims of financial abuse in later life, with the majority being women aged 80 to 89 and living on their own, single or widowed.
Disability and cognitive decline are also factors that increase the risk of financial abuse.
Older adults with anxiety and/or depression experience additional memory dysfunction beyond that of the normal aging process. However, few studies have examined test bias in memory assessments due to anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. The current study investigated the influence of self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression on the measurement equivalence of memory tests in older adults. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Poor social functioning is associated with cognitive decline in older adults. It is unclear whether social functioning is also associated with subjective memory complaints (SMC). We investigated the association between social functioning and incident SMC and SMC recovery. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.