Our Colouring Activities for Customers with Dementia

We provide a vast range of activities for people living with dementia in our three wellbeing centres in North Tyneside.

They are located in:

• Wallsend
• North Shields
• Killingworth

It’s a great activity for people of all ages and abilities.

EveryDay Wellbeing provides varied daily activities for those living with dementia. Sometimes it can be hard to gauge which memories and abilities they have retained as they unfortunately progress through the disease.

We absolutely avoid putting them in a situation where they might feel that they have failed, become confused or distressed.

Our activity is also an excellent for people with dementia.

Colouring has long been considered to be a therapeutic activity, again for people of all ages, young and young at heart. Colouring is also known to reduce and relieve stress, and it improves hand-eye co-ordination. Our customers enjoy colouring in company and it sparks conversation as well as being calming and relaxing.

When introducing an activity like colouring, we take a few things into consideration. Some of our older customers have never learned how to relax in their younger years. They might have had a hard time dealing with the concept of even retiring, or with letting others do things for them.

Our choice of age-related materials

Before we get down to the activity of colouring, there are a couple of things we consider. The first one is the type of material being coloured. We don’t use children’s colouring books. Some customers may initially consider colouring to be patronising as it is.

Tools for the job at hand

The second are the actual tools used for colouring. We use a combination of colouring pencils and felt tipped markers. Some older customers consider wax crayons to be childish. Bright colours are essentials ‘tools of the trade’.

We regularly colour with our customers who are living with dementia

Intergenerational Activities

We find colouring is great for intergenerational activities. In fact, a customer that may not show any interest in colouring on their own may be more than willing to colour with younger people. We sit with them and colour while we all chat and relax. Often we find that we start off by colouring alone and they then join us.

Our non-pharmcalogical approach to dementia

Colouring like anything to do with the arts provides a non-pharmacalogical approach to dementia which promotes inclusion, can help to alleviate anxiety and confusion, enhance cognition and build confidence.

Our customers have an opportunity for creative self-expression whilst giving their carer the chance to spend quality time with their loved ones.

Our wellbeing day care & respite packages

To learn more about our weekly agenda within our three wellbeing centres give our team a call. We provide a free taster session to allow you and your loved ones to sample our services. We strive to meet the individual needs of families and can tailor a package or blend services to suit you.

Accessing our services

Our Customer Co-ordination Team can arrange a taster session and a benefit check for you to ensure you are in receipt of all of the benefits you are entitled to. Take a look at our customer reviews

Customer Co-ordination Team Tel: 0191 2877028 Option 2

EveryDay Care North Tyneside & Newcastle

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to start by saying where has the time gone since my last blog? Oh my how time flies when you’re having fun.

Respite Care -Wellbeing Centres

Let me kick off by telling you that the fabulous music café monthly events have continued across all three wellbeing centres Cedar Grove, Rowan Croft and Linskill Park to the delight of customers and families. Our thanks go to our partner (MiHC) Music in Hospitals and Care for their continued support. Please take a look at YouTube which highlights the fun had by all. Who ever said that people attending Wellbeing Centres just sit and do nothing?

Our partnership with Sport Works in the centres has gone down a storm with customers engaging in daily ‘Exercise Snacking’. Our customers even received their certificates in December following completion of their course.

The wife of a customer who visits Cedar Grove describes how impressed she is with the centre and even more so now there is a regular exercise activity. She reports that her husband’s mobility has improved and he is more chatty after he has attended the exercise activity.

Customer across the centres have enjoyed music therapy, pet therapy visits, intergenerational experiences and we even had a visit from a miniature horse. The customers have loved and embraced it all.

Compliments

We receive lots of lovely compliments from families who’s loved ones attend the centres, here are just a few:

“Mum loves it.  She doesn’t stop talking about it when she gets home, what she’s had for her lunch and what they’ve got up to while she’s been there its great”!

A Facebook compliment – “Mum loves being at the centre and the difference in her is amazing she is so happy and gets up every morning looking forward to the day ahead. When I think back to how ill mum was around 6 months ago, her recovery is astonishing.  Thank you all so much”.

Employee of the Quarter Award

Wendy Dack, our Team Leader at Rowan Croft  Wellbeing Centre also received the Group ‘Employee of the Quarter’ award which is fantastic recognition for the amazing support she provides to our customers and their families.

Little Legs at Cedar Grove

Cedar Grove opened its doors to the younger generation and now operates an out of school club which began in September. Little legs can be seen crossing the car park from 3:30pm onwards and children’s laughter heard from the main lounge until 6pm. Its lovely to see new little faces and the income from the club certainly helps to support the overheads and overall running of the centre.

Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey

In July we shared our annual customer satisfaction questionnaires and received some fantastic feedback. As an organisation committed to ongoing and further improvement we welcome all comments and feedback. We already have plans in place to act upon feedback received. 

Dementia Training 

Virtual Dementia experience training went ahead as planned. Now over 75% of our staff have experienced how Dementia can effect everyday life. The team has provided excellent feedback about this and our 3D Dementia training. This also included our very own Group Chief Executive Dawn McNally, Dawn’s experience can be seen here

Extra Care Housing

Improvements in the wellbeing of customers in our Extra Care Housing schemes continued throughout the year with a variety of activities aimed to reduce social isolation and loneliness and promote gentle exercise “let’s use it or lose it” is our motto.

These activities include; social gatherings, seated exercise, entertainers, coffee mornings and intergenerational visits from local schools. We have received some very positive feedback from customers and families which is great to hear.

Tech Enabled Care

During October I attended a number of events and exhibitions including the 2019 Care Show, the International Technology Enabled Care Conference as well as visiting the National Innovation Centre for Ageing in Newcastle.

We came away from these events feeling technologized with a head full of thoughts and potential ideas to improve communication allowing staff to spend more time with their customers. Let’s see what technology changes 2020 brings for us at EveryDay .

Going For Gold

We’re very proud to announce that we were going for gold and we did it achieving the “Better Health at Work Gold Award” a fantastic achievement awarded to the Group as a whole. The official celebrations will take place in March 2020.

So to end here we are at the end of December with Christmas just behind us and a new year and decade just around the corner. Let’s end celebrating our successes, let’s welcome the challenges that 2020 will bring, but more importantly together lets end 2019 on a high.

Wishing You A Happy And Healthy New Year  

Kerry Parker, Head of Professional Care Services

EveryDay Achieves Gold Award

We’ve now officially received notification that we have achieved the Gold Level of the Better Health at Work Award.

This is a great achievement for the Group and Angela Dawson, Head of Corporate Support would like to personally thank everyone involved who has either taken part in or shared our campaigns, activities and promotions, but in particular our Health Advocates, Suzanne Enguita, Harriet Ingram, Leah Phillips and Caitlin Calvert,  whom without their commitment and support this would not have been possible.

The Group is not stopping there.

We are now working towards the next level of the Award which is CONTINUING EXCELLENCE.  This means we will be building on our work to date to ensure that we keep the momentum going and further promote a healthy place to work.

Look out for what is on the horizon for us all in 2020.

Some of the campaigns we focused on during October 2019 and December 2019 were:

Getting fit and staying healthy

• Promotion of Waves Health Walk
• Promotion of our Strength & Balances exercise classes
• Promotion of the Park Run for Parkinson’s in which our Customer Services & Marketing Manager and her husband took part.
• Promotion of our Seated Exercise activities run by our volunteer, Bob Carpenter.

Health & Wellbeing

• Jarretts at the Bradbury Centre became an official ‘Refill Station’ to encourage staff, volunteers and customers to maintain hydration levels – anyone can bring their own bottle for a refill free of charge at Age UK North Tyneside.
• National Stress Awareness Day with Stress Awareness Spaces so staff and volunteers could visit and share their thoughts and feelings about what they do when they encourage people to be open about their mental health and to ask for support if required.
• Promotion of ‘How to talk about suicide sensitively’ as part of World Mental Health Day.
• Learning how to ‘declutter your mind’ with some useful tips for distressing.
• Promotion of free benefit checks for people 50+ to ease the winter heating bills.
• Alcohol Awareness – promoting the dangers of drinking too much particularly during the festive holidays with a lead up to Dry January 2020.

• Diabetes and Your Risks – training for staff to raise awareness to help understand what people are going through who suffer with diabetes.

Women’s Health

• Wear it Pink Day to promote Breast Cancer Awareness month.
• A number of visits across 3 sites from the Sexual Health Clinic to Promotion of HIV testing and Sexual Awareness.

Winter Health

• FREE flu jabs co-ordinated via our Training Suite when staff are attending training in conjunction with BOOTS in Whitley Bay so if you haven’t taken this up please contact your Line Manager to arrange this.
• Promotion of the importance to take Vitamin D in the winter months to maintain healthy bones, teeth and muscles.

The Key campaigns going forward into 2020 to achieve Continuing Excellence are:

1. Exercise and Physical Activity
2. Alcohol Awareness
3. Woman’s Health
4. Healthy Eating

As usual we love to receive your feedback or comments or suggestions on any of our promotions or campaigns to ensure the continued good health of our care professionals

Tel: 0191 2877011.

SEN children spread Christmas cheer Wellbeing customers

Children with special educational needs were able to spread some Christmas cheer when they sang carols and made and delivered Christmas cards for our older customers at our three Wellbeing and Social Activity Centres.

Children aged 5-11 from Benton Dene School designed, created and wrote cards for our customers at Rowan Croft Wellbeing Centre in Killingworth.

Carols and Christmas Cards

On Friday their wonderful choir sang at the centre, where we provide a place for older people to socialise and enjoy a variety of activities, before handing out their personalised cards for our audience.

The visit certainly earned the performers some new fans, and also helped to make the entire audience get in the festive spirit.

Our Customers said

Sheila Humes, 86, said: “I thought it was absolutely beautiful. The singing was fantastic and the children were so brave to get up and sing in front of all of us.

“It is so lovely that they made Christmas cards for us all too. Some people here might not get many cards, so something like this can make all the difference.”

Jenny McCormick, 89, added: “I have been singing along and have been having a great time. We always have lovely things on at the centre, but I think this has been my favourite.”

The partnership between the school and the EveryDay started after the school became involved with a Singalong Memories group run by Age UK North Tyneside’s ‘Dementia Connections’ team.

Rowan Croft is one of our three North Tyneside wellbeing centres, with customers also attending Cedar Grove, Wallsend, and the Linskill Centre in North Shields.

The visit was one of a number of activities Manager Michelle Clement and Wendy Dack at Rowan Croft Wellbeing Centre organise for our customers, many of whom continue to live well with dementia.

Team Leader Wendy Dack said: “I think it’s marvellous that the children have come along to do this – everyone has been looking forward to it!

“We do a lot of things here to keep people happy, entertained, and even fit, and these kind of things are especially important around Christmas time.”

Benton Dene teacher Rachel Rush, who organised the visit, said: “The kids have loved it. Many of the children have autism and we did worry that it would be too much for them.

“But we have been absolutely blown away by them. Their singing has been wonderful and they put so much effort into making the cards.

“By bringing them to the wellbeing centre we are giving the children a chance to meet people they wouldn’t normally get to meet.

“It is opening their eyes and showing them people are different and living in different circumstances to themselves, which can only be good for them.”

EveryDay delivers personal care and support to the community across North Tyneside, and puts any profit it makes back into Age UK North Tyneside charitable activities in North Tyneside.

https://www.bentondeneschools.org.uk/

https://everydayuk.org/wellbeing/

Living Well At Home For Longer

Continuing to live at home is arguably one of the most important challenges people face as they grow older. For many remaining at home enables a sense of independence and freedom, self-worth and identity, comfort, and an ongoing active role in the community. This holds important implications for supporting older people to both sustain living at home and to adjust to changing circumstances.

Older people tend to spend up to 72% of their time inside their homes making the decision about where to live a crucial one. Being able to continue living at home assists older people by providing a familiar environment within which to contend with the challenges and changes to lifestyle that occur due to the ageing process.

Home also often remains the one stable entity in the lives of an older person when everything else is changing. Living at home supports older people to retain some control over their daily lives and to maintain some independence and autonomy.

Relationships & Community

Research has found that personal belongings that hold memories and bring comfort connect older people to the physical space of their home. For some, a house itself can be a place of familial heritage and allows the individual to remain connected to the generations of family members who once lived within their walls.

Relationships and roles in the community are also an integral part of the meaning of home and can provide security and comfort. A sense of identity in the community can result from friendly neighbours and nearby friends. Being forced to leave your home as you grow older can sever important community connections and remove the intergenerational aspect of community living.

Remaining At Home Factors To consider :

• Specialist advice provision
• Accessing the correct level of care and support
• Aids and adaptations for the home
• Security
• Remaining fit and active
• Remaining connected to friends, neighbours and the community

EveryDay Living can help you or your loved one to remain independent at home for longer.

We provide services which enable our customers to remain as independent as possible and remain in their own homes for as long as they are able. All EveryDay Living staff are trained, insured and DBS (Police) checked for your complete peace of mind.

Who is EveryDay Living for?

People of 18 plus years living in North Tyneside postcode areas who need support to remain in their own homes for whatever reason.

What services does EveryDay Living offer?

• Domestic support such as shopping, ironing, cleaning and light de-cluttering
• Garden maintenance such as mowing grass, pruning, weeding and planting
• Companionship and the ability to visit locally
• Other help such as accompanying to appointments and social activities
• Meal preparation
• Pet sitting and walking

What is the cost?

All services are charged at £15.95 per hour and can be arranged weekly or fortnightly Minimum 1hr per session.

 What our customers say about their service

https://everydayuk.org/about-us/testimonials/

Find out more

For more information send us an email, or give us a call. We can even access a free benefit check for you from Age UK North Tyneside to ensure that you are in receipt of any and all benefits which you may be entitled to which could enable you to access services to help you to remain living well at home for longer.

Phone: 0191 2877028 Option 2
Email: enquiries@everydayuk.org

Visit our website:  https://everydayuk.org/living/

Useful contacts in North Tyneside

Age UK North Tyneside offers impartial and confidential information and advice on all aspects of care provision in North Tyneside https://www.ageuk.org.uk/northtyneside/our-services/information-and-advice/

Healthwatch North Tyneside offers advice and information to carers https://healthwatchnorthtyneside.co.uk/ourwork/carers/

EveryDay Living Service

EveryDay is run as a social enterprise, wholly owned by the charity Age UK North Tyneside. This means that all profits generated are donated back to the charity to help support and fund vital services for older people in North Tyneside.

The service is a ‘one stop shop’ for all home support needs providing domestic cleaning, housekeeping, pet sitting and walking, meal preparation, grocery shopping and companionship to customers aged from 18 plus years in North Tyneside.

EveryDay prides itself on providing a high quality, reliable service to its customers. All EveryDay team members undergo regular training and development and all are required to have cleared an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check before they join the team. The service is fully insured for your peace of mind.

Paula Larkin Our EveryDay Angel

Paula joined the EveryDay Living team in June of this year having previously worked as a domestic and prior to that for Next clothing for 15 years. She supports customers in and around North Shields, Whitley Bay, South Wellfield and the Marden Estate.

Her customer’s age ranges from 60 – 92 years.  Paula said that the EveryDay team is different because “they dont dash in and out, we take the time to talk to our customers. They might be the only person they’ve seen and spoken to all week and it makes a huge difference to their lives”.

The EveryDay Living team comprises of 10 EveryDay ‘angels’ who support customers to continue to live independently at home for longer.

Customer Satisfaction Is Paramount

Customer service is paramount for EveryDay so we undertake customer evaluations when a customer has been in service with us for 4 weeks to ensure our offer completely meets their individual requirements.

Paula’s customers have been highly complementary about her dedication and demeanour saying “she is a pleasure to have around and she is very thorough. I’m very happy with the service and enjoy Paula visiting. We would definitely recommend the service to others.”

Customer Evaluations

Feedback on the EveryDay Living service from the recent annual customer satisfaction survey speaks for itself.

99% of customers were very satisfied with the service
99% of customers said they would recommend the service
100% of customers said that the service met their needs
100% of customers said that they receive a quality service
94% of customers felt that the service was value for money

If you would like to access this service why not give the team a call? We will undertake a visit to your home to ensure that the service we offer exactly matches your own individual needs and requirement.

We can create a bespoke service to ‘blend’ if required aspects of the Living service.

Tel 0191 2877028 Option 1

Ageing feet, how to help keep your feet comfortable and healthy.

Gary Eden owner of Genesis Podiatry is an HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) registered Podiatrist and member of the College of Podiatry. He qualified at the Chelsea School of Chiropody in 1983, and returned to the north-east, joining the Chiropody department in North Tyneside.

Gary worked in North Tyneside as a podiatrist, gaining promotion through his experience and skills to become the lead podiatrist for the Diabetes Resource Centre, at North Tyneside General Hospital, a post he held for 17 years.

Gary then took on the challenge of managing the Chiropody / Podiatry teams at Gateshead Health NHS Trust and South Tyneside Foundation NHS Trust. The benefits of his managerial role he feels, were the management and organisation of a service, which covered a large population. The challenges were ensuring that the service provided a high quality, patient centred service which responded to the continual pressures within the NHS, such as high demand.

While a manager, Gary maintained his clinical skills and prides himself at ensuring that he provides the best possible service, with a very friendly professional and approachable manner.

On leaving the NHS Gary set up his own private practice, Genesis Podiatry, which offers treatments for foot conditions in your own home and our wellbeing centres located in North Tyneside. Having had 33 years NHS experience Gary Eden is able to provide a high quality service to people with foot ailments and conditions at a very reasonable price.

Gary explains why foot care in older people, especially during the winter months is  important.

In general signs of ageing feet include more regular aches and pains, the development of bunions, signs of clawing of the toes along with general circulatory problems.

As we age, we naturally develop more problems with our feet due to normal daily wear and tear of joints, but also because the skin starts to become thin and loses its elasticity, as well as being dry and much more fragile.

Foot pain can be debilitating and can also lead to issues with walking and exercising, which are an important part of health and wellbeing as we age. If you are less mobile then this can impact on getting out and about and our involvement in social activities, which are so very important as we get older.

As long as you take routine care of our feet, serious problems can usually be avoided, however, ageing can also mean that we develop other conditions, such as diabetes and arthritis, which in some cases can affect the foot and lead to requiring treatment. Healing may also take longer.

How can I help myself?

Pain and uncomfortable feet aren’t an inevitable part of growing old or something to ‘put up with’.  A lot can be done to improve comfort, relieve pain and maintain mobility by following these general rules:

• Keeping active and on the move helps to keep your feet (and legs) healthy – it tones up muscles, helps to strengthen arches and stimulates blood circulation.
• Keeping toenails cut and under control. Long toenails can press against the end of the shoe and the constant pressure can cause soreness, infection and ulceration. Toenails that have been poorly cut can also become ingrown.
• Check your feet daily and apply a moisturising cream to dry skin (but not between the toes) to them keep supple, as feet start to dry out and lose their natural oils as they age.
• Keeping warm is also important, by wearing warm stockings or socks can help but avoid anything too tight which can restrict your circulation or cramp your toes. Wearing fleece-lined boots or shoes or even an extra pair of socks will also keep you warm but do make sure your shoes aren’t tight as a result. Bed socks are also a good idea.
• Footwear is so important in keeping your feet comfortable and pain free. Wear a shoe which is comfortable, well-fitting and holds your foot firmly in place to give adequate support. A shoe which is held firmly on the foot with a lace, Velcro or functioning buckle gives more support and comfort. A pair of running shoes is a good option, as these provide a good amount of shock absorption and stability and also support the arch.
• Avoid plastic ‘easy clean’ uppers which don’t allow the foot to breath and won’t stretch to accommodate your own foot shape.

Corns and calluses on toes can be very painful, as are ingrown toenails and these are often associated with ill-fitting shoes, these can alter your gait and therefore increase overall discomfort. These can be treated by an appropriately qualified podiatrist who will also give tailored advice and assistance with all aspects of your foot health. Ensure your podiatrist is registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as this ensures they have the appropriate training and qualifications to treat your feet.

For further advice and treatment in the comfort of your own home, you can contact Gary on 07796924576 or see him by appointment at our Wellbeing and Social Activity Centre at Cedar Grove,  Wallsend Tel: 0191 2630511.

https://everydayuk.org/wellbeing/

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/tips-on-foot-care/

https://cop.org.uk/foot-health/keep-on-walking/older-persons-guide-to-good-foot-health/

We’re recruiting for our Wellbeing Centre In Killingworth

Role PSA1 or 2

Location: Rowan Croft, Killingworth

Salary: £8.55 – £8.70 per hour

Hours:  Tuesday & Thursday at Rowan Croft,

Flexibility to cover other days as required

Contract: Zero Hours

EveryDay, a social enterprise wholly owned by Age UK North Tyneside, have an exciting care assistant opportunity. We are looking to recruit a personal support assistant to work across wellbeing centres in  North Tyneside.

This position is for a zero hour contract, personal support assistant at either level 1 or level 2.

Purpose

To offer practical, flexible assistance, tailored to the individual which promotes independence, improves confidence, respects the dignity of the individual and provides support to maintain social networks as detailed in Care and Support Plans

What we offer our Care Assistants

As well as fantastic rate of pay, we also provide our care assistants with a range of employee benefits:

• Paid training and induction
• Paid DBS check
• Two free EveryDay care assistant uniforms
• 4 wees paid holiday – separate to hourly rate
• 8 days paid bank holidays
• Double time for Christmas Day and New Years Day
• Staff engagement forum representing group employees
• Annual Pay Review
• Health and Wellbeing Events
• Loyalty bonus paid after two years’ service
• Refer a Friend Scheme £200 payment
• Pensions Scheme
• Career Progression Opportunities

What we look for in a care assistant

Previous experience in care or as a care assistant is not necessary. Full training is always provided.

We require you to have:

• Right to work in the UK
• A kind nature and passion for making a difference as a care assistant

EveryDay is a social enterprise, wholly owned by Age UK North Tyneside. This means that any profits we generate are returned to the charity to help fund vital services for older people. We have been providing regulated care services for more than twenty years, leading up to the launch of our home care business in 2005. In 2017, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) awarded us a ‘Good’ rating for the quality of our care.

Closing Date: 11^th October 2019

Apply with a completed C.V. to email HR.everyday@everydayuk.org