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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Translate documents to Braille free

A Danish company has launched a free service which will automatically translate documents into either Braille or speech. The service is free for non-commercial use and may be of great assistance for organisations seeking to ensure equality of access for the sight impaired.

The service can be obtained through the RoboBraille website .

RoboBraille allows the user to;

  • Translate documents into contracted Braille
  • Translate documents into speech
  • Translate text into visual Braille
  • Convert text documents between different character sets
  • Convert Braille documents to specific Braille character sets
  • Partition documents into smaller parts

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Research: Dementia patients die from prescribed drugs

Research by a leading UK dementia charity, the Alzheimer's Research Trust, has revealed that many Alzheimer’s patients die early because of prescribed sedatives. The research is the largest neuroleptic withdrawal study of Alzheimer's patients and the only long-term one of its type.

The research results were presented at the Alzheimer's Research Trust conference in Edinburgh. Results from the five-year project, which was funded by the Alzheimer’s Charity revealed that the prescribed drugs were linked to a significant increase in long-term mortality - patients dying on average six months earlier than normal.

The investigation was conducted by King’s College London researchers and found that the sedatives, known as neuroleptics, were associated with significant deterioration in verbal fluency and cognitive function. They also found that neuroleptic treatment had no benefit to patients with the mildest symptoms.

In nursing homes they found up to 45% of people with Alzheimer’s disease are prescribed neuroleptics as a treatment for behavioural symptoms such as aggression.

Professor Clive Ballard, Professor of Age Related Disorders at King’s College London, and lead researcher on the project, said:

“It is very clear that even over a six month period of treatment, there is no benefit of neuroleptics in treating the behaviour in people with Alzheimer’s disease when the symptoms are mild – specifically when a measure of behavioural disturbance known as the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Score is equal to or less than 14. For people with more severe behavioural symptoms, balancing the potential benefits against increased mortality and other adverse events is more difficult, but this study provides an important evidence base to inform this decision-making process.”

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said:

“These results are deeply troubling and highlight the urgent need to develop better treatments. 700,000 people are affected by dementia in the UK, a figure that will double in the next 30 years. The Government needs to make Alzheimer’s research funding a priority.

“Only £11 is spent on UK research into Alzheimer's for every person affected by the disease, compared to £289 for cancer patients.”

It will be interesting to see if this research results in changes to prescribing patterns for Dementia patients, particularly in care setting where there has been concern at the use of medication as a form of chemical restraint.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

An outsiders view of Elderly Care Home Standards

Random Acts of Reality is written by a London Ambulance worker. He has written about his experience of visiting a care home to pick up an elderly lady. It makes sobering reading and illustrates just how far some care settings have to go to achieve reasonable standards.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Scottish Care Commission Frequency of Inspection New regulations

The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (The Care Commission ) will in future operate under a new framework of Scottish Regulations for the minimum frequency of Inspection.
The Care Commission previously operated under a minimum frequency of Inspection of 12 months for all registered care services. The new minimum inspection frequency regulations change the minimum frequency for certain types of regulated services;

  • For Housing Support services operated by a social Landlord minimum inspection frequency becomes 36 months.
  • For Day Care of children services where the service is only for children aged 3 yrs or over minimum inspection frequency becomes 24 months.
  • For Child Care Agencies - 24 months
  • For Nurse Agencies - 24 months.
  • For all other service types the minimum inspection frequency is 12 months.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Mental Welfare Commission Scotland Guidance April 2007

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland produces a number of helpful guidance documents;
The current list -

Nutrition by artificial means- a guide for mental health practitioners - new legal and ethical guidance for practitioners considering the use of artificial nutrition for mental disorder.

Consent to treatment - new guidance to help mental health practitioners interpret the legal basis for treatment and to give treatment that is in line with best legal and ethical practice.[2006]

Covert medication - a legal and practical guide - new This guidance responds to cases and research evidence that identifies this is an issue for those using and providing mental health and learning disability services in Scotland. The guidance suggests that there may be situations in which this might be necessary to keep an individual from harm. A Covert medication care pathway and review is provided to support decision making, that is structured and recorded in a way that safeguards that the health, safety and legal rights of the individual. [2006]

Guide to interpreting - new a toolkit for people who need to use interpreters in mental health and learning disability settings. Includes checklists for service providers, service users and interpreters. [2006]

Carers and confidentiality - new good practice guidance on how to balance the principle of carer involvement with the patient's right to confidentiality. [2006]

Rights, risks and limits to freedom (new edition) - guidance updated to take into account the principles of the new mental health act. Includes an appendix of legal considerations by Hilary Patrick. [2006]

Guide to welfare and financial guardianship in care homes - a summary guide for residential care workers with checklist that can be attached to resident's files. [2006]

Safe to Wander - Principles and guidance on good practice in caring for residents with dementia and related disorders where consideration is being given to the use of wandering technologies in care homes and hospitals. [2005]

Information for general hospitals - guidance on treatment of patients with a mental illness, learning disability or other mental disorder in general hospital settings. [2006]

Guidance on the admission of young people to adult mental health wards - guidance on the provision of care and treatment to under 18 year olds when admitted to adult wards. [2005]

When to invoke the Adults with Incapacity Act - updated guidance reflecting recent case law. [2005]

Authorising significant interventions for adults who lack capacity - guidance on the use of the Adults with Incapacity Act by Hilary Patrick. [2004]

Care of older people with mental health problems - a position statement on mixing dementia patients and patients with longer term mental disorder in a single ward. [2004]

Monday, April 02, 2007

CSCI hands over childrens services regulation

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has predicted that the handover of the inspection of children's services to education regulator Ofsted would not see immediate changes to the inspection approach.

CSCI's made the handover to Ofsted officially on April 1 at which point responsibility for regulation and inspection of most children's social care services in England moved from the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to Ofsted.

The office of the children's rights director, Roger Morgan, based within CSCI, also joins the new Ofsted.

A CSCI statemnt said: "The inspection and regulation of children's services does not change significantly in the short term, with many CSCI staff transferring to Ofsted and continuing the focus on the experience of children who use services."

CSCI retains all functions for adult social care including services for younger adults and older people. It will also continue to regulate a small number of services that serve both adults and children - some home care services, nurses agencies, care homes and specialist further education colleges registered as care homes. CSCI will also continue to have an interest in the transition from children's to adults' services.

Ofsted also has a new title as the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills.

Christine Gilbert, chief inspector of education, children's services and skills, , said: "The reach of the new inspectorate is extensive. At least one person in three makes use of the services we shall inspect or regulate. This puts us in a position to make a difference to the lives of many millions of our fellow-citizens, of all ages. This is a privilege, and a great responsibility."