Challenges Of Dementia Caregivers And How To Cope With Them?

For caregivers, helping ageing residents stay healthy, happy, and strong can be sometimes challenging. However, caring for seniors with dementia can be all the more difficult as often accomplishing the simple daily routine tasks can get difficult. To help caregivers understand this better, we have rounded a few ways to help them deal with seniors suffering from dementia: 

  • Learn about dementia: Understand the condition better. As dementia is not a single disease but rather a collective term to describe various symptoms of cognitive decline, it is important for you to learn how dementia can affect different people differently. Knowing common symptoms and safety protocols can help you plan better and provide specialised care to residents with dementia.  

  • Be quick to adapt: When it comes to caring for residents with dementia, besides physical care, you must be able to help them ease their anxiety. As the behaviour of some dementia patients can be erratic, you need to stay calm and help the residents calm down. There will be unprecedented situations where you will be expected to act swiftly and decisively. 

  • Communicate effectively: The quality of care that you will be provided to the patients with dementia depends on how effectively you can communicate with them. Use simple sentences to make yourself clearly understood. In some cases, you may also require visual objects or gestures for better communication. Look for non-verbal cues to understand what the patients are trying to convey. 

  • Take care of yourself: While caring for patients with dementia, it is equally important that you take good care of yourself.  Caregiving can be physically and emotionally demanding and, thus, make sure you take time off from work to focus on activities that you like doing. 

It is really challenging to take care of seniors with dementia. One major challenge that caregivers face is that patients with dementia fail to remember to take their medications on time. On days when the residents display difficult behaviours, it can become for caregivers to manage them.  And amidst all the chaos and confusion, occurrence of missed or delayed medication doses can happen. To avoid such medication errors, many dementia care homes in the UK are switching to eMAR. The use of eMAR provides much-needed peace of mind to caregivers, by streamlining the whole medication administration process. The caregivers may forget to administer medication but the software won’t let this happen. 

If you are a care home manager and want to know more about eMAR, here is a product tour. When you implement eMAR in your care home, training and top-up training are included in the package. 

 

Risks Of Too Many Medications for Seniors

If you are running a care home or any other assisted facility for seniors, chances are that your caregiving staff is helping the residents with medication administration. Although medicines can’t be avoided, having too many medications can be risky for seniors. Here are a few risks of medications that care workers should know about: 

  • Interactions between drugs: If a senior resident is suffering from several medical conditions, he or she may be prescribed several medications. In some cases, the side effects of drugs are misdiagnosed as symptoms of another medical problem. This further leads to further prescriptions of additional drugs. This problem is often referred to as a prescription cascade. The best way to avoid this is by detecting adverse drug reactions early on. Proper drug knowledge and regular drug awareness training can help the care workers spot the signs of prescription cascade and raise the issue with relevant doctors. 
  • Different doctors prescribing different medications: Often elder residents at care homes are seen by different doctors for different health reasons. And because of the involvement of different healthcare professionals, there are high chances of miscommunication. For example, the chances of one doctor prescribing an elderly patient a particular medicine that adversely interacts with other medications are high. In such cases, having electronic medical records of seniors can help the care workers provide accurate and up-to-date and complete information to different healthcare professionals. 
  • Doctors don’t catch everything: All the health professionals, including doctors, nurses and care workers, are responsible for the overall well-being of the patients. Sometimes doctors can miss out on some side effects and misconstrue them as symptoms. Proper drug training of care workers can help them spot the wrong drug combination and inform the doctors accordingly. 

How can care homes avoid it?

If you are a care home manager, proper tracking of prescription drugs can allow your caregiving team to streamline the medication administration process as well as record the medical history of all the residents at one place. For easy access to complete records of a resident’s medical journey, many care homes in the UK have switched to eMAR, a handheld electronic medication administration record system, that can be used on tablets and Android smartphones. The electronic MAR sheets allow care homes to streamline the medication administration process, thus reducing the risks associated with the use of too many medications.  

10 Useful Tips For Caregivers

From medication administration and assisting the elderly residents with the activities of daily living to planning their weekly activities – caregivers have a lot on their minds. With so much going on, it can be difficult for caregivers to find time for themselves. Carrying pressure related to personal life also adds to the stress. If you are a caregiver and are looking for recommendations to practice self-care and avoid depression, here’s a useful read:

  • Relax and recharge: Make a list of activities you enjoy doing and incorporate them into your weekly routine. Hobbies be it gardening, drawing, or painting help you practice mindfulness. Doing things that you like also takes your mind away from negative and stressful thoughts.
  • Find time for exercise: You don’t have to spend hours at the gym. You can start going for regular walks, cycling or swimming. All these activities will keep you physically active and increase your fitness level. It will also help you relax and feel good. When you exercise, your body produces endorphins – these are chemicals in the brain that are natural painkillers and mood elevators.
  • Seek support – When you are feeling low, seek help from other caregivers. Don’t shy away from talking about your feelings. Accept offers of help from family and friends.
  • Cut down on your caffeine intake: Too much caffeine can cause sleeplessness and anxiety – both can take a toll on your emotional health.
  • Keep a journal: When you have too many things going on in your mind, try decluttering it. Writing down your thoughts makes you look at the things that are troubling you from a new perspective – as a result it makes you calmer and less jittery.
  • Spend quality time with family and friends: There’s no better way of relieving stress than spending time face-to-face with people who love you and care about you.
  • Deep breathing: Deep breaths help you relax and stay calm. Slow and deep breathing techniques also increase the strength of your lungs.
  • Healthy diet: Follow a good diet plan everyday. Eat several small meals per day. Include vegetables, fresh fruits, lean meat and nuts in your daily meals. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water everyday.
  • Check whether flexibility at work is feasible or not: Managing work commitments and household chores can become difficult at times. In such situations, sit with your team and see if they can shift your working hours for a couple of days.
  • Leverage the power of technology: As a caregiver, you want to spend most of your time caring for the residents. However, manual tasks like reviewing MAR sheets and updating medical records can take up your time and not let you focus on your primary job as a caregiver – that is helping the residents live their lives to the fullest. Many care homes in the UK are shifting to electronic MAR sheets ( eMAR ) to streamline their medication administration process so that their staff spends more time caring for the residents and less time doing paperwork. If you are still using MAR sheets at your care home, have a word with your care home manager and explain to him the benefits of eMAR in the healthcare

How to help caregivers plan for senior-friendly activities and events ?

When it comes to helping elderly residents living their lives to the fullest, meaningful and well-planned social activities play an important role. As a professional caregiver, you have to ensure that the activities you are planning for the residents in the care home are purposeful and interesting. As per a 3-year study published in The Telegraph, 6 out of 10 elderly respondents don’t participate in the events or activities that are specifically designed for them. This goes on to show the importance of listening to the residents and ensuring that their voices are heard while making an activity plan for them. 

1.Listen to them and don’t be patronising: When planning for the activities, hobbies and the interests of the elderly participants must be taken into account – there’s no two ways about it. While planning, ensure that you are involving the residents in decision making. Elderly residents have a lot to give back to the society and you must harness their knowledge and wisdom to make services better for them. 

2.Start planning ahead: Talk about the upcoming event weeks before the date. Ask the elderly residents to sign up for the event. Then send a questionnaire to the interested residents asking about their interests, food preferences, activity ideas, music preferences and other important information pertaining to the event.

3.Build a team: To ensure that the activities and the event goes as planned, build a support team. Delegate work to different team members – for instance, if you are arranging for music and decoration, then another team member can take the responsibility of arranging catering. Everyday hold a short meeting with the team to discuss the updates and progress on each task.

4.Safety: When planning for the event, check for the safety and comfort of the residents. For instance, remove non-slip rugs from the area. For seating, arrange for comfortable and accessible seats. Make the area wheelchair accessible. 

The key to providing person-centered care is to understand each resident’s unique needs. To achieve this, a positive workplace environment is needed where the caregivers are encouraged to spend more time with the residents. However, in many care homes in the UK, caregivers spend their precious time doing manual work such as reviewing medication mar charts after every medication round. To help caregivers spend more time on the ward and less time doing paperwork, care home managers should try automating time-consuming processes like medication administration. 

With the help of eMAR (digital medical administration record sheet) care homes can significantly reduce medication errors. Learn how electronic MAR sheets are helping care homes and supported living services streamline the medication administration process. 

Preventing Medication Errors In Care Homes

Medication errors can occur at different stages of inpatient care -it can happen while prescribing, dispensing, preparing, administering, or monitoring medication to the patients. Hundreds of people every year in the UK are seriously harmed because of medication errors. According to a study,  every year 237 million medication errors occur in the NHS in England, and avoidable adverse drug reactions are the reason behind hundreds of deaths. Yet most medication errors can be prevented. 

Medication errors in care homes occur for a number of reasons – which include poor communication between the care home staff and doctors, inadequate knowledge of the patient’s illness, handwritten medication orders that are illegible and misspelled, missed dosage, patients are given the medicine via a wrong route and confusion with drug names that sound alike. Many care homes in the UK are automating the entire medication management and administration process to reduce the occurrence of medication errors. With the help of eMAR or electronic MAR, a handheld electronic medication administration record system, the care homes are ensuring that the medication is administered reliably and safely to the residents. 

If you are a care home manager and are planning to shift to eMAR from MAR sheet medication records, then take our product tour here 

Benefits of shifting to eMAR from MAR sheets

With eMAR you get to enjoy a host of benefits – it records every user interaction, thus helping you get an accurate audit trail. With real-time medication alerts, you can rest assured that there aren’t any missed doses. Also, the data can be tracked at all stages ( right from the moment it’s ordered at the pharmacy till administration) at the touch of a button – which means the time care home managers and senior care staff spend doing audits and checking MAR sheets will reduce significantly. Here’s how eMAR is helping our clients –

 

“It does mean that medication can’t be missed”

 

“My favorite thing is it brings up the drugs that are due at that time, and the ease that you can check things”

eMAR not only makes medication administration simple but also improves the handovers between care teams. 

 

Book an eMAR demo 

 

Get in touch with one of our team members for a 30-minute webinar demo. With webinar demos, we don’t need to come to your site – which means it’s not only easy to arrange but also there is no chance of face-to-face communication hence no risk of infection.

 

Principles Of Record-Keeping: A Useful Read For Care Home Managers In The UK

If you are running a care home, you would already know the importance of record keeping. An accurate record keeping is an integral part of the care management of the residents. There are several reasons record-keeping is important but primary reasons are: 

  • Easy access to a complete record of the resident’s medical journey. 
  • It ensures a seamless circulation of information among the different teams involved in the resident’s treatment or care.
  • With well-kept records, you can identify the areas of improvement of practices and implement changes accordingly. 

 

While there are no two ways that good record keeping is an essential aspect of caregiving. There are certain fundamental principles that should be followed. Whether your records are hand-written or digitized, here are some of the principles that help you maintain accurate records at your care home: 

1.Know the tools of record-keeping: Make sure the care workers handwrite legibly so that when the document is referred to again, it is easily understood without any confusion. Any spelling error or missing word may lead to confusion. If your care home uses a computerized record, make sure all the entries are keyed correctly. Before writing or keying the information, make sure that it is accurate. Ensure that the staff members are up to date on the information systems and tools that are used at the workplace. 

2.Maintain the integrity of the record: It is your duty to ensure the confidentiality of the records maintained. Care workers should not share with anyone – any passwords or cards that are given to them to enable access to the systems. They should make it a point not to leave written records in places where unauthorized people might see them. If your care home uses an electronic system, make sure each and every care worker signs out when they are done.  

3.Avoid convoluted phrasing: Records are not just for internal communication but they can also be used as evidence in case of a complaint. It is thus crucial that events are recorded accurately and clearly. The care staff should avoid unnecessary abbreviations or convoluted phrases that may not be clear to other team members.  They should write in a simple language so that if the resident or his or her family member wishes to see the record at some point, they will understand without difficulty. 

4.Avoid overwriting: Care workers should not change or overwrite somebody else’s entry. If they do wish to make amendments, they need to ensure that it is done clearly. Make sure the change has been signed by the concerned staff and the date reflects when the change was made. 

5.Record information relevant to the residents’ care: The care team must record events they may think are contributing to the resident’s care. If a resident’s behavior seems off-key then it must be recorded. However, while recording such an episode, they must focus on facts and not assumptions and speculations. The language used to describe the event should be dignified and in no way insulting or derogatory. 

Maintain records effectively with electronic MAR sheet 

Record keeping should be a routine practice and not something optional. Record keeping makes the continuity of care easier. Many care homes in the UK have switched to eMAR, electronic medication administration record system, to keep streamline operations. The electronic template is the same as paper-based MAR sheets, making it easy for care workers to adapt. eMAR not only helps in reducing medication errors but it also records medication notes prepared by the staff. 

What care home managers in the UK need to know?

Developing and maintaining an agile workforce is key in delivering high-quality care with positive outcomes at care homes across the UK. However, recruiting and retaining skilled care workers is becoming increasingly difficult. Over here we discuss how eMAR (electronic medication administration system) can help care home managers motivate and organize the workforce –

1.Reducing paperwork burden – Care workers love caring for people; they are driven by a desire to improve the overall well-being of the residents. But when there’s a feeling that the time they spend caring is diminishing, they feel that their job is losing its meaning. If your care home staff is regularly complaining about spending most of their time doing paperwork and admin related activities, it’s important that you start looking at different technology solutions to automate processes. For instance, with eMAR you can automate the medication management in your care home and help your staff complete tasks in a short period of time with greater accuracy and safety. With the help of eMAR, your team doesn’t have to spend time checking every MAR sheet every day manually, also with records being digitized the staff doesn’t have to worry about illegible notes and missed signatures. To know how eMAR is helping care homes in the UK to streamline and accelerate medication management processes, book a demo today.

2.Continuous learning culture: It’s important to create a learning culture where care workers are encouraged to learn from those who are senior and have more experience than them. Make it an engaging experience where the caregivers can ask questions, seek help, or get advice. E-learning is becoming an increasingly popular type of training because of its engaging nature. With interactive features, such as videos, infographics, and online discussions your care staff remains engaged throughout the course. When you automate your medication management process with eMAR, you free up your most experienced care workers’ time to focus on training the new members. Instead of checking MAR Sheets every day, or even every round, the senior care staff of your home can help the new caregivers tackle the challenges of their role. Such training is important in shaping a viable career for relatively new caregivers.

3.Career development: Automation is impacting different aspects of healthcare and caregiving is no exception. If you are still using paper-based MAR sheets in your care home, you in many ways are not helping the carers learn the new-age skills they need to climb the career ladder. Because let’s face it – in today’s world where the impact of technology can be seen everywhere, your care staff can’t miss out on software solutions that are specifically designed to automate the entire medication management and administration process. We can train your care staff remotely on our system in 10 minutes, and remote manager training will take only 1 hour.  Know more details about eMAR here 

Factors associated with health care professionals that may influence medication errors

According to a report, more than 237 million medication errors are made every year in the UK. Medication errors can occur at any stage be it prescribing, dispensing or administering medications. Most medication errors are preventable. One of the best ways to reduce the risk of medication errors is to take an active role in your care home. Be it poor communication among caretakers or staff burnout, there are several factors associated with health care professionals that may influence medication errors. 

Over here we discuss how can you address these factors and reduce the risk of medication errors: 

  1. Inadequate drug knowledge: When caregivers do not possess adequate drug knowledge they do not know how different drugs interact with each other and they may also get confused between same-sounding drugs. A lack of drug knowledge compromises patient safety. Regular medication awareness training can go a long way in managing the residents’ medical needs effectively. 
  2. Lack of training: One of the practical ways to address medication errors is ensuring that staff is receiving adequate training from time to time. Incorporating medication-safety related information in training will help reiterate the message. Conducting weekly performance reviews to get an overview of areas where the staff is lagging behind can help care home managers address the issues effectively. 
  3. Miscommunication between staff and doctors:  Sometimes medication errors can stem from poor communication among the nursing staff and the doctors. This can be either verbal or written communication. Poor handwriting, ambiguous abbreviations, verbal instructions, etc, can lead to medication errors. 
  4. Staff burnout: Long working hours, physical and emotional exhaustion are some of the challenges caregivers deal with on a daily basis. Doing the same job day in and day out can take a toll on care workers. As a care home manager, you should look out for signs of burnout in the early stages and address them. Ensure all care workers are getting time-offs so that they get to do things other than caregiving. 

From choosing the right medication for the right patient to ensuring the right dosage route, the administration of medicines involves a lot of work. On top of that, the care worker has to document all this, involving multiple layers of manual cross-checking. As a result, care homes are increasingly realising that it is no longer feasible for care workers to check paper-based MAR sheets. Which is why they are automating medication administration process by shifting to eMAR- a software that can be installed on mobile devices. eMAR will help you reduce mistakes occurring due to illegible notes or missed signatures. Real-time medication alerts mean no dose is missed. This will save valuable time of the caregivers, letting them focus on providing person-centred care to the residents. As part of our offerings, we help you with training and top-up training. To book a demo, click here.

Useful Tips: Developing a Care Plan for the Elderly Mar Chart Training

As a caregiver or a care home manager, you are aware of the fact that there are many facets to wellbeing. So, how do you include all the important elements of holistic care while preparing the care plan?

To help you, here are some of the useful tips to create a care plan that reflects older people’s interests and responds to their needs – 

  1. Involve the concerned parties – From setting out the action plan, responsibilities (who is doing what) and right expectations to planning the safety of the residents – a care plan is a tool to ensure that the individual needs and wishes of the residents are met. Hence, it’s important to get up-to-date information on the resident’s medical history, mental and emotional profile, current medications, eating preferences, hobbies, and communication needs and preferences. Get all this information from the elderly resident, his or her doctor, caregivers, and family members and involve them while creating the care plan.
  2. Medicine routine – Medicine management in care homes should also involve participation from the residents. Also, respect for the older resident and their dignity as an individual should be at the core of the medication process. To help the residents adhere to a medication routine, it’s important to understand certain nuances and add them to the care plan – which stages the resident is currently at with regard to his/her journey with a disease or a condition, his/her specific needs, and beliefs in the treatment. 

Many care homes in the UK are shifting to digital tools (electronic MAR charts is one of them)  to help reduce the manual work involved in the medication process. Learn how care homes in the UK are using eMAR charts to reduce medication errors and improve operational efficiency. Caregivers work hard to provide high-quality care and keep the residents safe, but sometimes people are inadvertently harmed. With an estimated 237 million ‘medication errors’ per year in the NHS in England – there’s a widespread need for advanced technologies helping the caregivers maintain the health and safety of the residents. Also, embracing digital solutions for manual work like organising rotas or managing care plans can help the care workers spend less time on streamlining paperwork and focusing more on the health and safety of the residents.

  1. Social participation – Here’s a useful read on making an activity plan for seniors. Along with planning activities that the elderly resident enjoys, you can also try leveraging the power of mobile and digital technology to help the residents interact with their loved ones in new ways. They can also participate in meaningful activities online; learn and develop new skills, and share their learning experiences with others online. 
  2. Meal preferences – Meal plans impact an older person’s health and wellbeing. It’s important to get proper information on a resident’s dietary and hydration needs before making the care plan. Note down the allergies (such as gluten intolerance, nut allergies) and food preferences (such as vegan, vegetarian).  Based on the information, prepare a list of do’s and don’ts while designing the plan. You can check this informative read on improving food practices in your care home 

Care Home Owners : How to Motivate Caregivers to Improve Quality of Care?

If you are running a care home, then you know your care staff plays a key role in the delivery of high-quality and safe care. When your staff is motivated, then key metrics such as care staff productivity,  quality of care, resident satisfaction and medication safety – all improve. We have often seen that simply pushing for more productivity doesn’t help care homes improve health outcomes. Instead it can hurt the morale of the staff and negatively affect their productivity, thus hurting the quality and safety of the care offered at the care home.

So, how do you motivate your staff to improve quality of care and lower costs?

  1. Integrating well-being into the design of work – First and foremost, ensure that your employees are working in safe and hygienic conditions. During the COVID-19 times, maintaining a high standard of hygiene is a necessity to keep the residents and care home staff safe and healthy. Train your housekeeping staff and caregiving staff on usage of PPE, sanitisation tools and hygiene practices (respiratory hygiene, hand-washing, social distancing and more). Sleep and stress are the biggest detractors to care staff performance. If you notice signs of stress, talk to your care staff. Here’s an informative read on caregiver stress and how to help your care staff overcome it. You can encourage them to quit unhealthy habits that are taking a toll on their mental wellbeing by sharing useful resources such as ebooks and educational videos. Remember healthier care staff perform better, cost less and cause fewer errors.
  2. Embrace technology – Many tasks and processes in a care home can be automated to improve staff efficiency. Instead of your staff spending a significant amount of time on manually reviewing the MAR sheets at the end of every week or double-checking the dosages on MAR sheets or even organising rotas, help them upskill. A lot of processes in care homes are designed keeping in mind the tradition and has got nothing to do with quality care or patients’ needs. Relook at how your care home processes are designed and make necessary changes so that your staff doesn’t spend time on pointless work. With digital tools, you can improve your care home efficiency and employee productivity. Many care homes in the UK are shifting from traditional MAR sheets to eMAR – a simple software that can be installed on mobile devices to help the care home staff record what medicines have been administered – the dosage – time – route (plus more) – digitally instead of using a paper-based MAR chart. To book a demo, visit here
  3. Empower your staff – From leadership and team working skills to being able to make the right decisions at crucial moments, help increase the job satisfaction level. Monetary benefits like appraisals and incentives can help the care home staff meet their basic needs. For most care workers, the biggest motivating factor in their work is purpose – that is to care for the residents and make their lives better. With autonomy and accountability, you can help them achieve a bigger purpose in life.

Making an activity plan? Include these craft ideas for seniors at your care home

While making an activity plan for seniors to keep them physically and mentally active, do keep craft ideas in mind. Crafting helps seniors boost their fine motor skills and also allows them to enhance their mental strength. Experts say that crafting can keep anxiety and depression at bay and protect the brain from damage caused by ageing.

To help you with activity plan, we have rounded up 5 wonderful craft ideas for seniors that will help them spend their time creatively: 

  1. Origami:  Paper is a versatile thing to work with. Flowers, gift boxes, and boats, these are some of the few things seniors at your care home can make by folding papers. Seniors can work with papers of different sizes, textures and colours. Origami helps seniors improve hand-eye coordination and motor skills. It also enhances mindfulness and relieves stress. 
  2. Handmade festive cards: Holidays can be an emotionally rough time for seniors living in care homes. But nobody is ever too old to give or receive a handmade greeting card. You can encourage seniors at your care homes to make festive handmade cards. They can post them to their family and friends. They can also exchange cards with other residents. You can also use printables for those who wish to colour but not draw. Give them craft paper and see the magic happen. 
  3. Pot painting: Painting not just improves motor skills but it also fosters mental well-being.  Painting different pots can be fun and help seniors full their day creatively.  You can let the seniors paint the pots and decorate them with ribbons, glitter and stones. After they are done, these pots can be decorated in their room or throughout the facility. This would give them a sense of accomplishment as well as belonging. 
  4. Quilting a blanket: Quilting is like maths but only the difference is that it is fun. The activity lets seniors use their creative and analytical skills as seniors have to do a lot of activities – from choosing the fabric, colours, and patterns to quilting. It helps to improve their dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Quilting may seem like a solitary activity, but when done in groups it can help seniors to make friends and socialise. It can bring a sense of purpose to the daily life of seniors. 
  5. Pottery: If you are looking for a stress-relieving activity for seniors, give pottery a go. The very experience of creating something with their hands can give seniors immense joy. Pottery will not only help them create a ceramic gift, but the sensory stimulation will also affect their health positively. Expressive art activities help seniors in socialisation and keeping anxiety and depression at bay.

Caregivers can encourage residents by taking into consideration their personal preferences. They can also ask residents to work in groups so that those who are not very keen will feel less hesitant. Getting a volunteer to help residents with craft activities can work wonders. To help caregivers focus on person-centred care, care homes in the UK are shifting to electronic MAR. The software automates the medical administration and eliminates the need to manually maintain the records. This will only improve the operational efficiency of medical administration but save caregiver’s time. To know how eMAR can help your care home, book a demo. 

Things to consider while making an Effective Post-Stroke Care Plan

If you are running a care home with residents who have survived a stroke, you need to have an effective rehabilitation plan in place. The aim of post-stroke rehabilitation care is to help the residents improve their motor, sensory, and cognitive skills. Throughout the recovery, the needs of patients may change, so the plan has to be modified accordingly. Having an effective post-stroke care plan can not only improve the quality of life of the residents but will also reduce the chances of another stroke.

Over here we discuss factors that you should consider for making an effective post-stroke care plan:

Learn about the effects of stroke: The effects of stroke vary from person to person and, thus, the post-stroke care plan has to be individualised. The care depends upon the type, severity, location, and the number of strokes. Depending on the area and side of the brain affected by the stroke, any or all the functions related to that part may get affected. While some stroke survivors recover quickly, many may require long-term care. As a stroke happens quickly, you should be aware of its symptoms so that you can act swiftly in case of a second stroke.

Assess the personal needs of the patient: Before extending care you need to determine the kind of help the patient needs. The care plan involves personal care such as bathing, combing, and dressing. While you must encourage patients to take responsibility for their care, there will be a time when there will be a change in abilities which may demand a change in care services. Any improvement or decline has to be taken into account.

Make care home safe: Impaired mobility and reduced balance are the leading causes of falls and fall-related injuries among stroke survivors. You have to ensure essential fall prevention practices are followed in your care home. Modify the room, especially the bathroom to match abilities. Remove rugs that cause falls. Put grab bars and seats in the bathroom and shower.

Ensure a healthy diet: Eating well after a stroke is the key to recovery. A healthy diet that helps in keeping blood pressure, body weight in check can help reduce a person’s risk of having another stroke. Many patients in the early stages of recovery may find it hard to swallow. You need to come with a diet plan that has a lot of soft foods or thicker liquids.

Don’t miss a medicine: A stroke can leave its survivors with many new medical issues. Depending upon the type of stroke, a patient will be prescribed antidepressants, Osteoporosis supplements and several other medicines. These medications are important to lower the odds of another stroke. Many care homes in the UK are automating their medication process by switching to electronic MAR. It’s a software that informs the care home workers about the list of medicines to be given to each resident. As it sends an alert when medicines are due, there is no chance of a missed dose.

Learn how eMAR can help your care home
eMAR automates the entire process and reduces the risk of human errors. The software can be customised as per the needs and requirements of your health care facility. It has the same template as that of MAR sheets, hence your care home staff won’t need much training. Learn how care homes in the UK are using electronic MAR at https://www.electronicmar.co.uk/emar/.