Care provider urges people to take extra care of elderly as clocks change
A WELSH care provider is urging people in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) and Merthyr Tydfil to take extra care of the elderly after the clocks go back one hour this month (October, 2016).
The clock change takes place on October 30 meaning evenings will get darker earlier, which could affect elderly people.
Peter Angelides, CEO of Abacare, which has recently won a significant tender and has opened a new office at Ty Cynon, Navigation Park, said: “Through visiting our service users we know that many elderly people are affected by the darker evenings and colder weather so we thought it was extremely important to pass on our advice for making sure any older neighbours, friends or relatives that people have are checked on more often.
“The darkness and bad weather can limit the time elderly people can get out and about to run errands or socialise, if they can get out at all, so it’s a good idea to pop in on them a few times during a week to see if there’s anything they need.
“It’s also a good idea to make sure they are kept warm with blankets and thick clothing should they need it. Making sure any of their pathways to and from their house or in their garden are well gritted to prevent falls is a good idea too. We have all weather cars at all of our offices to ensure we can service calls to remote areas in case of bad weather.
“Sometimes a friendly face is all that someone needs so simply just popping in to say hello and enjoy a cuppa is a great start.”
As part of its aim to combat social isolation Abacare provides personality matches when pairing up its carers with service users.
If carers and service users have similar interests they will be paired up, giving the elderly people someone they can trust and get on with on a daily basis.
Peter added: “We are continuously working to battle social isolation. We believe providing emotional care is just as important as the physical and we are doing our upmost to make sure our service users don’t feel lonely or isolated, especially in the winter months.
“Our advice for looking after the elderly at this time of year is not only for our carers, we hope people all across the country will take it on board and take some time out of their day or week to ensure anyone elderly they know is well looked after this winter.”
Its 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 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 Social Services Inspectorate Wales.
Abacare was also recently awarded an Investors in People accolade for its staff training and development for the fourth year running.
Investors in People is a national standard, which provides a framework that helps organisations to improve performance and realise objectives through the effective management and development of their staff.
Staff at the care agency were assessed to ensure the organisation met the requirements of the standard.
It was also named Britain’s ‘Most Outstanding Care Agency’ at the UK Over 50s Housing Awards in 2014 and 2015 and has been nominated in the same category at this year’s Global Over 50s Housing Awards.
For more information about Abacare, please call 01443 742645 or visit www.abacare.org.uk. Alternatively, please follow the company on Facebook athttp://on.fb.me/Yn4zmS or on Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/visitabacare.
