A care home must make sure that it is a welcoming and pleasurable place to live for both current and future residents. For example, what does the home smell like when you first walk in? Does it smell like fresh flowers or is there a hint of urine?  

The Big Draw Team is thrilled to announce that Care UK is the official health and social care sponsors of The Big Draw Festival 2020 which this year is themed: The Big Green Draw: A Climate of Change. 
 
For the second year running, Care UK is hosting  Big Draw Festival events in over 50 of its care homes across the UK throughout October.  As an organisation that leads the way in integrating arts into care homes, Care UK is well-placed to inspire other care homes to engage with the arts particularly during this uncertain time.
 

Life after COVID-19

The challenges around our ageing demographic are growing, with additional incidents like COVID-19 putting a magnifying glass on the problems we already have and need to address. Action is required to ensure we can all Age Well without fear of loneliness, isolation, avoidable ill health and poor living conditions. In less than 20 years, it’s estimated that 25% of the population will be over the age of 65.

HC-One’s Warrens Hall care home in Tividale, West Midlands, put on a rather exciting Mexican themed day in both the Clent and Malvern Lounges. And there were smiles all round!

Colleagues had decorated the loungers with Mexican decorations, flags & buntings. Then there were all sorts of exciting things for the Residents to do such as trying on sombreros, listening to Mexican music and having photos taken in the Mexican frame. Of course, this was followed by drinking Tequila Sunrise cocktails and eating nachos and salsa dips.

UK adults are now spending 4 hours a day online – this is the highest on record according to Ofcom’s annual Online Nation report. COVID-19 has significantly changed the way we communicate and people are now looking for new ways to keep connected, informed, entertained and well – both physically and mentally - in the pandemic.

Mesothelioma Asbestos Guidance Study (MAGS) and recommendations produced by Mesothelioma UK and University of Sheffield
 
A study into the impact of asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma on healthcare professionals has been completed and a report outlining the results and recommendations is now available.

The Care Provider Alliance (CPA) welcomes the government’s promise of extra funding as part of the Infection Control Fund and the announcement of the new Adult Social Care Winter Plan.

Kathy Roberts, Chair of the CPA said:

As we navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an increasing concern about the country’s mental health. Families who have been separated for months, bereavement suffered without normal means of support; and children not attending school. All have had an impact. 

Comment by Paula Broadbent, retirement solutions director at ENGIE.  “The best way to predict the future is to create it” - Abraham Lincoln

I have always found this quote inspirational, and it has particularly influenced my personal ambition to provide better choices for older people in the UK. LIFEstyle by ENGIE, which launched in 2018, is a result of this ambition. It allows customers to have more control over their environment and their own futures in later life.

Even though there’s an age gap of over 73-years, pen pals Eva, 14, and Mary, 86, have the most unusual relationship and have been keeping each other company during the Coronavirus lockdown by becoming pen pals. The two-some have been writing to one another since April and have exchanged several  letters between them. 
 

  Miele Professional launched its new Little Giants range on Thursday 16th July. The new range will officially become available from 1st August and comprises the PERFORMANCE washing machine and dryer and the PERFORMANCE PLUS washing machine and dryer. The range offers one of the shortest washing cycles of just 49 minutes, with a load capacity of 8kg, as well as controls to suit a variety of channels and users.

Claudia Fielding worked in customer service prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The wine bar she worked at was forced to close in March 2020 due to the lockdown. Claudia was not initially included on the Government furlough scheme as she had only recently started her role there.
 
Knowing she needed to find work, Claudia began looking online and saw that Bluebird Care Docklands, Stratford and Wapping were recruiting.
 

Care home providers, Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare, have launched a new Contact Centre to provide a personalised service for people looking for a care home.   
 
By offering a sensitive and personable service for new enquiries, Sunrise and Gracewell hope to ease the difficulties associated with residents joining a care home setting for the first time. The Contact Centre has also adjoined an existing care home to fully embed the service within the organisation. 
 

The care home construction of a brand new, 81 bedded care home is nearing completion in Goodison Boulevard in Bessacarr, Doncaster, and is due to open in September 2020.
 
The purpose-built home, owned and to be operated by leading residential care provider, Runwood Homes, and in partnership with Doncaster Council, is spaciously set over two floors with carefully considered lifestyle enhancing facilities.
 

San Diego, CA – Noted medical cannabis experts and health professionals will be leading educational panels and continued education programs at this year’s Cannabis Nurses Network Conference (CNNC), the annual professional development and education conference designed exclusively for Registered Nurses and wellness professionals to advance their understanding of cannabis medicine, the endocannabinoid system, and practical applications in day-to-day patient care & practice.