Help
Care agency’s top tips for elderly to stay occupied at home during COVID-19 crisis
| Published: 21st April 2020 10:27 |
ELDERLY people from Wales are being offered free advice on activities and hobbies they can take up at home during the current COVID-19 crisis (April, 2020).
ISS Healthcare looks after the vulnerable and elderly across Cardiff and says it’s important for them to be able to keep their minds as active as possible as they socially isolate.
Neil Griffiths, Regional Manager at ISS Healthcare, which has offices at Springmeadow Business Park in Cardiff and provides care in the surrounding areas, said: “We’re supporting the nation’s bid to stay home during the current COVID-19 crisis, but we know it can be very difficult, especially for the elderly who might live alone.
“We’ve not long come to the end of winter when many older people can’t get out and about as they would normally. We know many of them would have been looking forward to the spring and the longer days, however, unfortunately we’re all having to stay indoors much longer than we thought. It’s important that these people don’t feel isolated or inactive, so we’ve put together some ideas for hobbies the elderly can take up at home to help keep their mind active.
“Crafts where you can use your hands and improve hand-eye coordination are ideal. Knitting, crochet, embroidery, sewing or cross stitch to name a few. These sorts of crafts require the person to learn a new pattern and repeat it over and over, great for exercising the mind and soothing anxiety.
“Research has shown that mentally challenging activities such as jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, wordsearches and Sudoku stimulate thinking and memory, improving feelings of well-being. The more pieces a puzzle has, the better, and the longer it will take up of the day.
“If anyone is at home with a partner or family member, board games or chess are other great ways to pass the time. Chess is a game of strategy, so perfect for keeping the mind ticking over.”
ISS Healthcare provides care support to thousands of people, with services commissioned through authorities in the area or purchased privately by individual service users or their families.
Its aim is to deliver care, which improves the lives of its service users and that treats them, and their families, with respect, dignity and compassion.
Neil added: “Now is also the perfect time to pick up a new book. Reading can improve memory, reduce stress, improve sleep, and delay cognitive decline.
“Those with a talent for drawing or painting can pick up their pens or paintbrushes again. Alternatively, adult colouring books don’t require much brain power, but allow the user to ‘get lost’ in the activity, alleviating any stress.
“Materials for crafts, games, books and puzzles are still available online for those with the internet or people can see what they have already around the home.
“Please remember, personal visits are not recommended. You should not let someone enter your home and no physical contact should be made. Always keep two metres apart, even when someone is delivering shopping or medication to you.”
ISS Healthcare believes its services should not only comply with regulatory standards, but that it also delivers excellence and promote overall wellbeing.
ISS Healthcare is currently looking for honest and kind-hearted individuals to help add to its teams during the current COVID-19 crisis.
Neil continued: “There are currently lots of people at home who have been made redundant from their jobs or have had their business close, who are fit and healthy and may be worrying about where their next pay cheque is going to come from.
“We’re urging those people to get in touch with us now and consider re-training as a carer during these very uncertain times. There are lots of customer-facing roles such as those in hospitality and retail industries where skills can be easily transferred to care work.
“Our carers are frontline staff and we’re bracing ourselves and we need more staff to urgently boost our numbers. We can provide full, free training on a fast-track basis to enable people to get out into the working world as quickly as possible.
“Thanks to modern technology we are able to conduct interviews via FaceTime and Skype for speed and to ensure people don’t leave their homes unnecessarily. We could receive a person’s application and have them on a FaceTime call the same day. The Government has also taken steps to ensure a quicker turnaround on DBS checks, so we can get people into work even quicker.”
People can call ISS Healthcare on 02920 779443 or leave a message on its Facebook page at https://bit.ly/2X4FvaH. Alternatively, people can apply for positions via Indeed at https://indeedhi.re/2JBKAiU.
“We offer competitive wages, generous holiday allocation and a refer a friend bonus scheme. It is a great opportunity for people to achieve recognised qualifications and they’ll also have access to exclusive discounts online and in-store from retailers including Tesco, Primark and Argos, as well as discounts covering holidays and electrical goods.”
New recruits are given free uniforms, access to national staff discount scheme for many major brands, as well as 28 days paid holiday, paid travel between calls and paid mileage.
ISS Healthcare offers flexible and supported work for kind, committed and reliable people, who have excellent communication skills and a genuine care for others.
For more information about ISS Healthcare, please call 02920 779443 or visit www.isshealthcare.co.uk.
Report this article as inappropriate
Comments
You need to log in before you can do that! It's only a quick registration process to join the AMA network and completely free.
Loading...
Help