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Abacare offers free advice to elderly on keeping cool in warm weather
| Published: 25th June 2020 11:40 |
STAFF at an award-winning Welsh care agency are sharing their expert advice with the elderly to help keep them cool during warm weather (June, 2020).
Carers at Abacare say it is vital people appreciate the dangers associated with over-heating and dehydration, and act accordingly.
Caroline Jones, Regional Manager at Abacare, which provides care across Wales, said: “We’ve already experienced some warm days, with temperatures climbing above 20° Celsius. We feel it’s important that people, especially the elderly and vulnerable, are well-prepared for more hot weather to come as temperatures are expected to reach 27° and 28° Celsius.
“The elderly are one of the most vulnerable age groups in warm weather. Our ability to regulate our body temperature decreases with age and our brain function also slows, making it harder for us to respond to temperature changes.
“It is essential that older people stay cool, especially if there are several hot days and weeks in a row, as we’ve been experiencing recently, and to help, our expert carers have put together a list of tips the elderly can follow to keep cool:
- Drink plenty of water and avoid dehydrating alcohol and caffeine drinks
- Turn off non-essential lights and electrical equipment, such as computers and printers, to avoid generating additional heat
- Keep curtains closed to block out heat
- Sleep in a cooler room at night
- Eat cooler foods such as salads, which also have a higher water content
- Avoid too much physical activity, as it can cause you to overheat
- If going outside, always wear a hat, sunglasses and sun cream.
“Drinking plenty of water is one of the most important things an elderly person can do in the heat. Dehydration can affect us all in warm weather but particularly the elderly and especially those with dementia, who are sometimes unable to detect thirst easily. Dehydration can also lead to complications due to toxins in the bloodstream and can affect the liver and kidney. Older people can also experience dry, itchy skin if dehydrated.
“Some elderly people who live alone, are simply too frail or have reduced mobility will find taking care in warm weather difficult, so it’s important to check up on any loved-ones, friends or neighbours regularly.
“If an elderly person is on medication for circulatory problems, being over hot can lead to the inability to produce sweat, meaning the body cannot cool itself and can eventually lead to heatstroke.
“It’s a good idea to have a fan in any rooms or a hand-held fan within easy reach. You could even keep a damp flannel or cloth to hand to help cool the face and neck.
“Our carers will be making sure all our service users are keeping as cool as they can this summer. We will also be offering anyone who calls us during normal office hours free advice, and they don’t have to be a carer or user of ours, anyone can call in for assistance.”
Abacare operates a professional Care Management Team that is committed to providing high quality care to individuals in their own homes.
The large team of trained, specialist, care workers provide positive based outcomes and person-centred care to people throughout the UK.
Due to the current pandemic, Abacare needs to boost its team numbers immediately, so it can continue to protect its service users and the NHS.
It is calling on anyone who is currently fit and healthy but unable to work, following business closures and restrictions, to sign up for a care role and to help in their own communities.
Abacare can offer full training and paid work immediately to anyone willing to become a professional home carer in Wales.
Caroline continued: “We’re urging anyone who needs work and feels they can help us to get in touch immediately. If you’ve previously had a customer-facing role, then you’ll have transferrable skills and we can give you full, professional training too. You will be doing invaluable work supporting those most in need, while, also, protecting the NHS. We have had hairdressers, dry liners and even chefs who are no longer able to work, transfer their skills to us.”
Abacare is urging anyone who needs full-time or part-time, flexible paid work and who has recently been made redundant or laid-off, or who is looking for work for other reasons, to get in touch for an interview.
It can carry out Skype or Facetime interviews, so people don’t have to leave home unnecessarily.
Anyone interested should contact their local branch and details of these can be found at https://abacare.org.uk/contact-us/. People can also find out more information about job vacancies at www.indeed.com/cmp/Abacare.
“We will be able to provide our free, full training on a fast-track basis to make sure everyone we take on is ready. This includes a company induction, first aid, information on dementia, health and safety, food safety, infection control, handling medication and moving and handling service users, with the opportunity to achieve Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) after the initial three months probationary period. The Government has also taken steps to ensure a quicker turnaround on DBS checks, so we can get people into work even quicker.
“New recruits are given free uniforms, access to national staff discount scheme for all major brands as well as 28 days paid holiday, paid travel between calls and paid mileage.”
Abacare’s core values, instilled into every staff member, include ‘make us proud’, ‘focus on our service users’ wellbeing’, ‘communicate, listen well and speak with respect’, ‘be passionate, honest, caring and considerate’, ‘recruit and develop the very best’ and ‘lead by example’.
It believes it offers inspiring work for inspirational people as well as a flexible and supported working environment.
Abacare is a member of the United Kingdom Homecare Association, Ceretas (formerly British Association of Domiciliary Care), The National Homecare Council and The Information Commissioners Office (Data Protection). It is also registered with the Care Inspectorate Wales.
For more information or to enquire about a position at Abacare, please visit www.abacare.org.uk or www.indeed.com/cmp/Abacare. Alternatively, please follow the company on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Yn4zmS or on Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/visitabacare.
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