Elderly Care Facts

As people get older, there comes a point when they need additional help to live independantly or may require nursing care. So if you have a family member in this situation, here are a few facts.

Step 1: Ask your loved one's GP for advice or contact the local authority's social services for a needs asssessment. A social worker will decide whether they qualify for support and organise their care package.

Step 2: Those eligible for local authority support will be given a means test, including the value of their property (unless a partner is still living there, or they themselves will continue to live in their own home). Below a certain level of assets, the local authority may fund care completely or partially. They may also be eligible for some NHS contribution towards care.

Those who expect to fund their own care should still ask for a local authority assessment to identify the type of care needed. You can ask for a re-assessment at any time - especially of someone's health deteriorates or they financial position worsens.

Over-65s may qualify for an Attendance Allowance, a non-means tested benefit towards care.

Step 3: Choose the right care option. To find a good care home start with the Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk) for a list of local care homes and inspection reports. Also try findmegoodcare.co.uk

Meet the home's manager and chat to staff, residents and their families. Does it have a warm and friendly atmosphere? Are staff caring? Is it clean and maintained? Arrange for a trial period. Selling or ending the tenancy on your loved one's existing property should be left until the move is permanent.

Step 4: Anyone caring for someone for at least 35 hours a week can apply for a Carer's Allowance. If you don't qualify for the allowance, still claim as you may get Carer's Credit and/or contributions to your state pension. Ask for an assessment from social services to see if you qualify for support; this may include respite care. You also have the right to request flexible working from your employer under the Work and Families Act 2006.

Feature in Good Housekeeping October 2013

Permeable Paving and Surfaces

With recent increases in flooding and flood prevention awareness, permeable paving and hard surfaces are becoming more common. SuDS (Sustainable urban Drainage Systems) is an approach to water management introduced by the Water Agency in 2011which encourages the rapid drainage of water, eliminating the problems caused by standing water which contributes to flood prevention. A number of companies now offer these products.

SureSet www.sureset.co.uk specialises only in resin bound surfaces and guarantees all surfaces for 15 years against: loose stone; cracking; oil damage; UV degradation; colour change and frost damage.

Newspaper advert 20 September 2014

Creating Interactive Stories

Q. A while ago fantasy game books were popular; at the end of each passage you read you chose from several numbered options to continue the story. Thus you could read the book several times over, each with a different storyline.

A. Inklewriter (www.inklestudios.com/inklewriter) allows you to do exactly that. It is designed to help writers create interactive stories with branching passages. It's very easy to use - there is no set up, nothing to programme, no diagrams to create and it's free. When you have created your story you can share it online or perhaps even get it converted to be read on a Kindle.

Phil Bradley in CILIP Update August 2014

What Can I Recycle?

While it is best to avoid buying packaging and consumables where we can, it is not always possible. In order to recycle as much of what we end up buying, we need to know what the options are and whether this is easy for us to do. Every local authority now provides some form of doorstep recycling collection, but what is collected varies from authority to authority. [These details are for the UK.]

Plastics: The type of plastic determines whether it can be recycled or will end up in landfill. Plastics can be identified by a logo printed or embossed on the product (though many items and packaging materials do not state this). The logo is made up of three arrows making a triangle with a number inside and a code in letters underneath.

• 1 (or 01) PETE = Polythene Terepthalate. Most drinks bottles are made of this.
• 2 (or 02) HDPE (or PEHD) = High Density Polythene. Includes bottles for bleach and other household cleaning products, plastic pill bottles, shampoos, milk bottles.
• 3 (or 03) V = PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). 
• 4 (or 04) LDPE = Low Density Polythene. Includes packaging typically found on fresh fruit in supermarkets.
• 5 (or 05) PP = Polypropylene.
• 6 (or 06) PS = Polystyrene. This includes yoghurt pots.
• 7 (or 07) OTHER = Items made from other types of plastic.
• Typically doorstep collections are made for types 1, 2 and 3 above. You may be able to recycle some of the other plastics by taking them to a local recycling centre - check first.

Plastic film and carrier bags can't usually be recycled in household collection schemes, but some can be recycled at supermarket carrier bag collection points. Here's what you can and can't recycle.

Yes: Plastic carrier bags; plastic bread bags (shake crumbs our first); plastic cereal bags, e.g. for porridge oats (not inner liners from boxed cereals); plastic wrappers and ring joiners from multi-packs of cans and plastic bottles; plastic wrappers from toilet roll and kitchen towel packs; plastic freezer bags; plastic magazine and newspaper wrap (the type used for home delivery); thin bags used for fruit and veg at supermarkets; bubble wrap.

 No: Cling film and other types of film; food and drink pouches (e.g. for coffee, baby food or cat food); crisp packets; film lids from ready meals and food trays.

Paper and Cardboard: These can be recycled but must be separated for different processes.

• Paper, newspapers, magazines, catalogues.
• Paper with confidential information (e.g. bank & credit card statements). It is often recommended that these are shredded but shredded paper is often excluded from paper and cardboard collections as it is very bulky for its weight. Your bank may be willing to shred statements. Another option is to put such items into your garden compost bin, where it will break down.
• Cardboard may include greetings cards. On hygiene grounds, items with food residue on them should not be included.
• Typically there are doorstep collections for paper, and increasingly for cardboard.

Glass: Is 10% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity. Recycled glass can be substituted for up to 95% of the raw materials. Glass Packaging Institute.

• Glass containers for food and beverages are 100% recyclable.
• Other kinds of glass, like windows, ovenware, Pyrex, crystal, etc. are made using a different process. If they are introduced into the glass container manufacturing process, they can cause production problems and defective containers.
• Separating recycled glass by colour allows the industry to ensure that new bottles match the color standards required by glass container customers.
• Typically there are doorstep collections for glass bottles.

Metals:

• Aluminium - drinks cans and foil - is made from bauxite ore, which is mined causing huge environmental damage. The same energy is needed to make 20 recycled aluminium cans or just one new one.
• Steel cans be recycled time and time again, without any loss of quality.
• Typically there are doorstep collections for metal cans and aluminium foil. 

Batteries: We use an increasing number of batteries in everyday life.

• Wet-cell acid batteries used to power vehicles and by industry.
• Dry-cell non-rechargeable: zinc-carbon, zinc chloride and alkaline manganese are the most common household types.
• Primary button cells: mercury oxide (hearing aids, pacemakers), zinc air (hearing aids, radio pagers), silver oxide (watches, calculators) and lithium (watches and photographic equipment). These are also increasinlgy found in children's toys and books.
• Dry-cell rechargeable: e.g. nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride and lithium ion. Used in mobile phones, laptop computers, cordless appliances, power tools, etc.
• You can take your batteries to most household waste recycling centres and most supermarkets now have collection points too. Some councils also offer a kerbside recycling service - check with your council to see if they do.

Food waste: Ideally we would only buy the amount of food we will eat and we would only have waste from food preparation (vegetable peelings). 

• Vegetable peelings and leftover boiled vegetables that are not re-used (e.g. for soup or in a stirfry) can be added to your garden compost bin.
• It is also a good idea to buy local / British where possible as these items will have travelled less air miles to get to your local shops.
• Some local authorities have doorstep collections for food waste.

Garden Waste: If you have a garden, the best option is to put as much as you can into your garden complost bins. Items which don't compost quickly may need to go back into the bins for a second composting cycle.

• Includes lawn mowings, weeds, hedge clippings, tree and shrub prunings.
• Does not include soil, stones, and building materials. These must be taken to local recycling centres.
• Local authorities often make doorstep collections, but there may be an a fee for this service.

Nappies: It is not clear whether reusable nappies or disposable nappies (and nappy sacks) are better environmentally, if all costs of production (and in the case of washable nappies, laundry costs) are taken into account. A third option is biodegradeable disposable nappies (and nappy sacks); these need to be composted to break down efficiently (landfill lacks the environment to help them do this).

Textiles: Increasingly people buy cheap clothing and wear it little before it is discarded, creating a large amount of discarded clothing. Depending on the fibre used and the quality of the item, clothing can be recycled.

• Items in good condition (especially branded items in demand) can be donated to charity shops or sold to vintage / collectables shops or online.
• Clothing and shoes can be recycled.
• Other textiles ( bedding, towels) can also be recycled.
• There are doorstep collections by (or on behalf of) charities. Otherwise, take items in good condition to a charity shop or to a local recycling centre.

Various sources (April 2015) including:
https://londonrecycles.co.uk/a-to-z/plastic-film-carrier-bags

END

Healthy Gut

Our gut bacteria are very important for our general health. There is growing evidence that probiotics in certain foods and supplements may help protect against and combat traveller's tummy, prevent diarrhoea during a course of antibiotics and help to treat ulcerative colitis.

Probiotic supplements: You need to take them for at least four weeks to see any effect, and there are several different types. Most contain lactobacillus or bifidobacterium bacteria, and the effects are strain specific- if one type does not work, try another.

Food: Up your intake of foods such as lentils, oats, bananas, asparagus and leeks, which contain non-digestible nutirents that 'feed' the beneficial probiotic bacteria in your gut.

Feature in Good Housekeeping September 2014