Safety in the Home
It is important when considering safety
to remember that the person with dementia's independence and dignity are
also very important. A balance must be struck. This page has information
about measures that maintain both the safety and independence of the person
with dementia and their carer.
Kent Enablement at Home
Kent Enablement at Home (formerly Kent Home Care Service) is the Kent
Adult Social Services in house provider of home care for older people
and younger people with disabilities. The service operates in the whole
of Kent except Medway.
Home Maintenance and Adaptations
Home adaptations need not be large to have significance. Something as simple as leaving the toilet door open can help the person with dementia to maintain their independence.
Adaptations to the home range from hand and grab rails to wheelchair ramps or specially designed shower and toilet facilities.
An Occupational Therapist (OT) can visit the home to assess whether items such as handrails, grab rails or level access showers/baths would be helpful. Most people find the OT's visit and subsequent adaptations very helpful, but waiting for the OT assessment can be a frustrating time. OTdirect is an independent site for Occupational Therapists, OT Assistants and OT students, produced by OTs in their spare time. Further information can be obtained via this link Occupational Therapy Links
You can contact an OT through Social Services. A person with dementia is entitled to an assessment.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology can be used to help the person
with dementia preserve independence, while maintaining safety. Examples
include gas shut off devices, door monitors, and flood detectors. The
Alzheimer's Society factsheet Assistive
technology has further information. The AT
Dementia website also provides much useful information and
advice on this matter.
Care Alarms
Telecare
Telecare provides support and reassurance from outside of your home using the help of technology.
A wide range of alarms and sensors are available,
designed to assist you in managing the risks of living in your own home,
such as falling over or fire hazards. The technology aims to help you
remain as independent as possible. Equipment provided includes personal
pendants, smoke detectors, bogus caller detectors, medicine dispensers
and fall detectors.
Telecare has been piloted in Kent for the last two years and during that
time the service has been successfully installed into the following areas:
• Ashford
• Dover
• Gravesham
• Maidstone
• Swale
• Tonbridge and Malling
Telecare equipment may be funded via Social Services or purchased privately.
Shepway
Lifeline is a 24 hour Monitoring and Alarm Service. They can
provide Lifeline Pendants, Keysafes and Telecare equipments.
For further information and contact details please go to their Contact
Us page.
Telehealth
Telehealth technology will help you and your professionals to monitor your vital health signs.
Using the Telehealth equipment you will be able to take measurements that the nurse or GP take at the surgery therefore avoiding frequent visits to the surgery.
Your measurements are automatically sent through the telephone line enabling the nurse or GP to read the measurements from their monitor.
The equipment is simple to use and comes complete with the appropriate devices used to record your vital signs. All that is needed is a connection to a telephone line, the equipment doesn’t interfere with the operation of your telephone – you may make and receive calls as normal.
For further information regarding the criteria for provision of TeleHealth equipment contact your community matron via your GP practice.
Further information can be obtained by calling
Kent
Adult Social Services on 08458 247 100 or you can send an email
to social.services@kent.gov.uk
Out of Hours Service
Not every crisis occurs during office hours. Kent and Medway
Social Services provide an Out of Hours Service for these times.
The Out of Hours Service can offer advice, support and help to ensure
that vulnerable people are not left at risk.
Telephone 0845 762 6777 (calls are charged at local rate from wherever you are calling).
Carers Emergency Cards
One of the main concerns that
carers tell us they have, is when leaving the person they look after,
what would happen if they were taken ill or involved in an accident.
The Carers’ Emergency Card provides the peace of mind in being able
to access emergency assistance around the clock.
Carers are issued with a credit card sized card.
The carer carries it at all times, so that it can be used as an instant
source of identification in case of accident or sudden illness.
The card does not have any personal details on
it, only a unique registration number and the telephone number of the
central help line.
In an emergency situation anyone can telephone the number on the card
and quote the unique registration number printed on the card. The contact
centre uses the registration number to easily access the carers pre-arranged
emergency plan and puts it into action.
This free service is available 24 hours a day,
7 days a week.
For further information on this service please go
to Kent
Carer's and Medway Emergency Card
Message in a Bottle Scheme
The message in a bottle scheme allows you to store essential medical information, and medication details etc in a special bottle which is kept in the fridge. If an ambulance is then needed the crew will know where to find this information (alerted by stickers on front door and fridge).
Message bottles can be obtained from your pharmacist.
ICE Scheme (In Case of Emergency)
If you have a mobile phone you may want to use
it to provide emergency staff with contact numbers in case of emergency.
In July 2005 East Anglian Ambulance Service launched the national "In
Case of Emergency (ICE)" campaign, following events in London.
All you have to do is store the word "ICE" in your mobile phone
address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would
want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency".
In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able
to quickly find out who you would want to be contacted.
For more than one contact number use ICE1, ICE2, ICE3, etc.
Carers Safety
Maintaining safety is not just about the person with dementia, if you are a carer your safety is important too. Maintaining carers safety includes issues such as potential damage to your back if lifting the person you care for, and appropriate management of aggressive behaviour, to prevent injury.
It might not always be easy to create the time
and distance you need to address your own safety issues as a carer, and
you have the right to have your needs assessed by Social
Services. This is the chance to have someone outside your situation
look at what you are doing for the person you care for, and suggest what
support or services are needed to maintain your health and well-being
(e.g. training on how to lift properly).
The Alzheimer's Society factsheet Looking
after Yourself has further information.
Health Advice
For most health concerns your GP will be your first point of contact. In emergencies you can of course ring 999 for an ambulance. If the person with dementia has a minor injury, such as a cut that you think may require stitching, it may be better to seek your GP's advice initially rather than attend A&E, as casualty departments may involve long waits in a potentially confusing environment. If the person with dementia does need to attend A&E make sure that staff are made aware of the dementia diagnosis.
NHS Direct
If you are unsure about whether something needs medical attention, or would like general health advice, you may find it useful to visit the NHS Direct website.
The NHS Direct website is part of the National Health Service, and aims to provide high quality health information and advice.
If you are feeling unwell
you can telephone NHS Direct on 0845 4647 for individual advice and information,
given by nurses, 24 hours a day. The Signal Catalogue (Leics County Council) has
a list of 'memory jogger' products such as calendar clocks, key finders
etc). You can download this catalogue via the following
link www.leics.gov.uk/signal_catalogue.pdf
The following Alzheimer's Society factsheets also
have information that is relevant to this topic:
The Signal Catalogue
Further Information
Last updated: 14th May 2012