The Butterfly Effect

Every day millions of carers touch the lives of those around them.  They are people like you and me, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbours or even strangers.

What we and they do is not complicated, I call it the butterfly effect, where the smallest of actions can have a life changing effect on others.  We offer a shoulder to cry on, a warm smile when your sad or companionship when your lonely.  We will care for you when your ill, hold your hand when your dying and when your gone make sure your loved ones are not alone.

Being a carer is not for everyone, but for those who can put others needs before their own, it brings it's own rewards.  Think of all the people whose lives would be poorer had you not been there for them

For our part we promise to support you, developing your skills, knowledge and career.  Together, every day we make the world a little bit better. 

Stephen

Focus Area - Infection Control

As you all know on this month our focus area is Infection Control.  Johanna has already posted information on our Google Community about:

Respiratory and Cough Hygiene
Patient Placement
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 
Hand Hygiene. 

I urge everyone to read them even if you think you already know everything about infection control.  It is good practice to keep yourself up to date as recommendations and best practice can change.  

Remember "Repetitio est mater studiorum" - repetition is the mother of learning. Discuss or share your ideas. 

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we prevent infections as we are working with vulnerable adults.  Why Infection Control is so Important?  As Service Users (SU) come into contact with many staff members there is the potential to spread infections and microorganisms.  LINK 1

Most people know that washing hands and using gloves is a good practice but why we need to wear aprons?  Aprons are worn to stop contamination of care workers’ clothes and skin.  It is used when there is a risk of splashes or sprays of body fluids and when the care worker’s clothes might get wet (body wash/shower).  Here is a great video what explains that we do not see all bacteria and how easy it is to spread them around: LINK 2  So please use aprons all the times, it takes only 5 seconds to put on. 

If you are unsure about something do not hesitate to ask.  Here are some more usefulmaterial.  LINK 3  LINK 4

Social Care Alba Nominted for Award

Earlier this year I wrote about the excitement within Social Care Alba about George Clooney's visit to Edinburgh. George is the guest speaker at this years Scottish Business Awards and will be promoting both his charity and that of Social Bites.

The Awards ceremony, is supported by the Royal Bank of Scotland and is attended by 2,000 business leaders from across Scotland and the UK. 

Social Care Alba have been shortlisted in the RBS Customer Focus Awards section.  I am extremely proud of the effort we all make every day to improve the lives of the people we support.  To read more about the awards click HERE

Music maestro please

Social Care Alba's "Shared Management Meetings" are open to all every month.  We encourage a
different person to chair the meeting as a way to develop their skills.  So how do you chair the perfect meeting?

Think of chairing a meeting as a conductor of an orchestra.  Each must follow an agenda (sheet music) and ensure that you get the most out of the participants.

A good chair will ensure each member of the meeting is brought in at the right time.  They will know when to bring individuals to the front and when to reduce the presence of others which may overpower the meeting.  Finally where possible there should be time for a solo contributor.

Then this is timing, the art of bringing all of the contributors together and to finish on time.  Of course running the perfect meeting takes practise.  So don't expect to get everything right first time, every time.  However, when it all comes together then like a maestro you should have gotten the very best out of everyone.

Open for Business

With the expansion of our Edinburgh team we are investing in a second office which will meet our growing staff and clients’ needs.  Providing a centrally located, modern and accessible office will allow dedicated space to meet with clients, family members and health care professionals.

Nation-wide cut backs mean it's a difficult time for anyone to be working within the health and social care field. However we truly believe that continued investment in our Edinburgh operation will secure jobs for our staff and high-quality care for service users in the city."

Social Care Alba operate a different model of health and social care to other companies. This involves offering specialists who are able to support service users in their own homes for particular issues e.g. a physiotherapist for mobility difficulties, an occupational therapist for stroke and mild dementia conditions and a social worker for, amongst other things, accessing services and community assistance. This in turns means people are not only more comfortable and relaxed because they are being support at home, but it also helps the NHS by cutting down on the number of hospital admissions."

In addition to taking on new clients, Social Care Alba are also employing new staff. More information on our company and its ethos can be found on the website www.social-care.org

What Ramadan means for our staff and service users

Many people are currently observing Ramadan, but do you know what it means to them.  Take some time to learn more and how we can support our colleagues and friends throughout Ramadan.

Ramadan (Arabic:; رمضان) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which the Quran was revealed.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. The Quran was sent down to the lowest heaven during this month, thus being prepared for gradual revelation by Jibreel (Gabriel) to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Furthermore, Muhammad told his followers that the gates of Heaven would be open for the entire month and the gates of Hell (Jahannam) would be closed.^[1] The first day of the next month, Shawwal, is spent in celebration and is observed as the "Festival of Breaking Fast" or Eid al-Fitr 

As Muslims must fast during the day during Ramadan, mosques will host iftar dinners after sunset and the fourth required prayer of the day, maghrib. Wikipedia

Explore: Mosque, Salat

For more than a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of prayer, fasting, and charity. factmonster.com

Explore: Sawm

Suhoor as the morning meal is matched by Iftar as the evening meal, during Ramadan, replacing the traditional three meals a day . . ., although in some places dinner is also consumed after Iftar later during the night. Wikipedia

Explore: Suhoor, Iftar

Get to know our staff

Fatou Sanneh, Team Leader

“I love the idea that I’m an important part of helping to build up the company and that I’m making a difference to not just current client’s lives but to those who’ll  receive care from us in the future too.”

Since the age of 19 Fatou Sanneh’s life has been geared towards helping others. That’s when she left her native Sweden to study for a degree in Health and Social Care in London. Then followed 14 years in the care industry, much of that time in Bradford, Yorkshire.

She moved to Edinburgh recently, tempted by the idea of working for a care company which offered a number of specialisms for clients.

“As a Team Leader with Social Care Alba I work alongside occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses and social workers,” she explains. “It’s great to be able to call in the special skills of colleagues when I need to.

“As you can imagine, the amount I’m adding to my own skills base is huge and, of course, it’s terrific for the clients to know they’re being treated by qualified health staff. “

Fatou’s team of care staff look after service users in the South of Edinburgh. Much of the work involves administering medication and supervising meals. Often that means three or four visits a day.

“It’s mostly a supervisory role that staff carry out,” she says. “Many of my team’s service users are very independent and like to do what they can for themselves and this, of course, is something we encourage.”

Fatou enjoys the responsibility of looking after staff as well as service users and appreciates the help she receives from other team leaders and staff qualified in other disciplines.  She adds: “We’re very much a team here at Social Care Alba - a family, if you like. I love the idea that I’m an important part of helping to build up this company and that I’m making a big difference to not just current service user’s lives but to those who’ll receive care from us in the future too. That makes me feel pretty special.”