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A poem by David Edwards

Do not mistake solitude for loneliness,
For solitude brings its own friends.
It can bring peace and understanding,
The joyous sound of children laughing Echoing across the years.
The clink of glasses, Raised in ceremonious hope,
A fingertip touch, that meant so much more.
Solitude has time for you,
It can say, Take me home And I will lie with you While you warm your heart In the embers of desire.
It will stand by your side As you watch your first sunrise And still be fresh As that same sun then slips into the pocket Of the coat, worn by night.

- But beware of its rival, For loneliness has no peace.
It cannot understand the joy of solitude.
It will place its hand over the mouths of children And you will try, but fail To hear the laughter that belongs to you.
Its glass lies empty Dashed on the rock of truth,
Its embers have grown cold And leave you shivering As a helpless puppy Who trembles in fear. You stand alone at sunrise,
For loneliness shuns the light of day Preferring its pocket of darkness, Unwilling to see the dawn of truth - So be on your way with solitude
And give no thought to loneliness and its life

Found on the Campaign to end loneliness website

The NHS Surrey Public Health team have been working with Eagle FM on mental health podcasts as part of mental and emotional health promotion. Through the Surrey Suicide Prevention Strategy Group; they have coordinated podcasts on different themes - partner agencies who work in that area have delivered the podcast. Each month there is a new theme. This month the theme is Chronic pain. Link to the podcast: http://www.964eagle.co.uk/podcastdirectory/nhs-mental-health.php Previous themes included debt, Christmas stress and depression.

Extracts from a recent report: Carers have been telling us for many years that they feel the effect that caring has on their own health has gone largely unnoticed by health professionals -“ignored and invisible”. National studies, as well as the stories we hear from carers locally, indicate that caring can take a huge toll on a carer’s health, both physical, mental and emotional. The 2001 census updated in line with 2008 population projections indicates that in Surrey there were over 106,000 carers of all ages, which equates to: * 9.6% of the population. * 51,234 carers providing over 20 hours care a week (48% of the carers). * Of these, 32,021 provide over 35 hours a week (30% of carers) and 23,482 were providing 50 hours a week or more (22% of the carers). * Just over 60,000 carers reporting struggling to balance work and caring (57% of the total number of carer's). The 2001 census figures updated for population growth show that in the county there were just over 106,000 carers who save the public purse an estimated £1.595 billion a year. In the Carers’ Strategy of November 2010 Government allocated an additional £400m over four years (2011–14) to the NHS for primary care trusts (PCTs) in England to provide breaks for young and adult carers. The Government requested PCTs to work with local authorities and carers’ organisations to develop policies, plans and budgets to support carers and make provision available to local people. National Picture The Government has highlighted carers as a group experiencing health inequalities within their plans to promote public health . Evidence of comparative poor health of carers includes: • A four year study of 392 carers and 427 non-carers aged 66-92, which found that carers who were reporting feelings of strain had a 63% higher likelihood of death in that period than non-carers or carers not reporting strain; • Carers providing high levels of care being associated with a 23% higher risk of stroke; • 52% of carers providing substantial care in one study being treated for stress-related disorders. In another, over half the sample said they were in good health, but General Health Questionnaires (GHQs) indicated that 94% could be identified as having psychiatric disorders; • More than 80% of carers saying that their caring role has damaged their health; • Carers providing more than 50 hours of care per week are twice as likely to report ill-health as those not providing care. What Carers Asked For (in order of priority): • Carers Breaks, night time, weekend, palliative care trained staff • Health Checks often referred to as MOT’s • Counselling services, including bereavement, future planning, and emotional support. • More Training in the Disease/Condition of the cared for person, and back care. • Recognised and valued as carer during Hospital Discharge • Flexible appointments with GP. • Support from Employers. • Access to leisure activities, including sports centres, pampering days. According to Carers UK report 2004 ‘In poor health’: Carers are twice as likely to suffer from mental ill health if they do not get a break from caring. Carers should not have to ignore personal health concerns and needs because their caring role does not allow time to address them. The services and support available to carers should be such as to enable them to stay as mentally and physically well as possible throughout their caring role. (DH, 2009:20) The three key areas of importance to Surrey carers were: • Carer Respite including evening, weekend and overnight respite with palliative care trained staff • Counselling. This could be divided up between bereavement, emotional support and future planning especially for parent carers, Stress and anger management training were also cited. • Annual health checks often referred to as annual MOT’s Carer quote ‘Yes we have the GP projects but the basic problem in every day practice is that Carers remain ignored and our role is not universally respected. Carers can be seen as trouble makers and people who deny patients their privacy and rights. The fact that Carers provide the lion’s share of the care has been missed and we have not to date been seen as an essential part of the network of care – often the only care!’ Quotes from Carers Counselling, counselling! A support network is vital…… talking to those who care to be bothered No time to attend appointments nowhere to leave my disabled child Some counselling for parents of disabled children is desperately needed. I have tried for years to access this through my GP with no success. I wouldn’t ask for it if I didn’t think I needed it. But because I’m generally competent all together, efficient sort of person (because I have to be) no one knows how it feels to be a parent of a disabled child every day…… and one day I might go over the edge, but where would that leave my child? Had to give up job, employer not sympathetic Can’t afford to attend dentist – local dentist private no NHS dentist near enough I have sacrificed my career, health and marriage and financial security by being a carer for my son No energy permanently tired and short tempered For my needs to be taken seriously before I commit suicide or put M into care Need help preparing for the worst i.e. Death and bereavement counselling My main anxiety is focused on when we are no longer around I need help with the district nurse calling to do blood tests as I’m currently taking warfarin. The GP surgery is saying that as I am mobile I must attend the surgery for these tests. I cannot leave my husband unattended. He has severe Parkinson’s People with severe difficulties are often bad tempered and aggressive. This can be the worst part of being a carer to be made to feel worthless by the person you love. I have arthritis in my neck and knees and spine, which has obviously got a lot worse since caring for my wheelchair bound husband I have been caring for 31 years I am getting very tired. Get rid of my husband! He is doubly incontinent and I get no help Being a male carer I’ve been ridiculed for living with my mother, which I didn’t bargain for. I am angry but I’ll do my best by her. My employer hasn’t helped and increased my hours. I need more respite and one million pounds in my bank account see what you can do please! I feel that once initial fire fighting is over the NHS loses track. No one seems to check up on our well-being. As always it’s up to us to be pro active I am the walking dead I have been made to feel as a waste of space There is no light at the end of the tunnel Health Checks 4.11 The Government is committed to the future of the national NHS Health Check programme. As part of the programme, 40 to 74 year olds will be offered a free NHS Health Check that will help carers, among others, stay well for longer. Everyone receiving an NHS Health Check will receive a personal assessment and individually tailored advice and support to help them manage their risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The assessment can be carried out locally and in a variety of settings, including pharmacy and community settings, to help to ensure that the service is accessible to all those eligible, including carers who may find it more difficult to access some health services. Carers should be encouraged to take up their offers of a free NHS Health Check when they receive them. 4.12 The carers’ demonstrator sites focusing on health and well-being checks are testing different ways of reaching out to carers, including those in ethnic minority communities, and offering structured consultations to discuss their own health and well-being. The final report from the independent evaluation of the demonstrator sites, particularly around accessibility for carers, will be fed into the on-going policy considerations for the NHS Health Check programme. According to the DH evaluation of the National Carers Strategy Demonstrator Sites Programme, four months after the check about a quarter of respondents felt the way they looked after themselves, took care of their health, and the exercise they took had improved. Of the almost 2 million people aged 16-74 who are permanently sick or disabled, 273,000 provide some unpaid care for other people and 105,000 provide 50 or more hours care. Furthermore, the Supporting Carers: An Action Guide for General Practitioners and their Teams, 2008 highlighted the following statistics: • More than 80% of carers say that caring has damaged their health. • Out of all carers caring for more than 50 hours a week, one third report depression, a half report disturbed sleep and 25% report back and other strains. • The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity is significantly higher in those who care for others in their own home. End of Life (EOL) Carers Support National EOL Intelligence Network Report Feb 2011 indicates that 60% of people would choose to die at home; but only 21% do. Where an end of life care service has been available, this has resulted in more people dying at home because the carer has felt supported. In line with ‘Supporting people to live and die well: A framework for social care at the end of life’ (DH NEOLCP 2011) it is a key priority for Surrey that we deliver high quality end of life (EOL) care and support to people approaching EOL and their carers, to allow them to live and die well in the place of their choice. As part of the wider National End of Life Strategy, NHS Surrey in partnership with Crossroads Care Surrey has developed an EOL carers’ support service, providing palliative care trained staff. The service is designed to ensure that the provision of breaks services, funded in line with the National Carers Strategy, is accessible to carers in "End of life situations”. The aim of this new service, which will be available to all carers, is to address the need, highlighted in the End of Life Care Strategy and in ‘Healthier People, Excellent Care’, to support carers and patients, enabling them ‘to choose where they die and not be admitted to hospital in the last days of life, if that is their preference’. This service is being rolled out across Surrey from November 2011 and is funded by NHS Surrey on an annual basis via a Surrey County Council grant. The funding is for £300,000 annually.

Surrey Police is warning elderly residents to be on their guard as officers investigate a series of distraction burglaries and thefts in which the offenders claim to be police officers.

 

Detectives are looking at around 30 incidents across the county where elderly people, often living alone, have been approached by offenders posing as police officers or UK Border officials to gain entry into homes.

 

Victims are approached by between one and three men in dark clothing either at their front door or discover they have entered their property through an insecure door. When confronted, the men often claim they are police officers investigating a crime and show false identification before stealing items.

 

In some cases the offenders have forced their way inside a property whilst the occupier is in another room or asleep and when challenged have claimed to be police officers.

 

Over the last three months offences have been reported in Elmbridge, Guildford, Spelthorne, Epsom, and Mole Valley. Last Friday evening (March 16) a 90-year-old woman in Hersham was targeted by thieves posing as police officers who showed her a false silver badge before stealing two handbags and a significant amount of cash. During the incident they pulled the victim’s handbag away from her causing her to fall to the floor and injure herself. She was treated in hospital for injuries to her hip.

 

In another incident in Surrey Heath, two offenders approached the home of an elderly woman and claimed to be police officers who had caught a thief in her garden. They asked to come in under the guise of needing to search the home for evidence but on this occasion nothing of value was taken.

 

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Karen Hughes said: “To target the most vulnerable members of our community in this way is despicable and cowardly. We are doing everything possible to find those responsible and anyone with information which could assist should contact police or call Crimestoppers anonymously

 

“Detectives are working closely with local Safer Neighbourhood Teams to gather information, look at CCTV and any forensic opportunities. We are also working with neighbouring police forces to see if these offences are occurring over a wider area.”

 

This week Crimestoppers offered a £5,000 reward for information about the offence in Hersham which left a woman requiring hospital treatment.

 

Neighbourhood Superintendent Sharon Bush said: “Across the county Safer Neighbourhood Teams are working with their local communities and partner agencies, particularly those who support the elderly, to raise awareness of these crimes. We need people to stay vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to us.

 

“If you live next door to someone who is vulnerable or have elderly relatives living alone please remind them to keep their doors secure even when they are at home and take precautions when answering the door to strangers. If you are not expecting the caller keep your door locked and ask to see some identification - perhaps through a window or letterbox. If you decide to open the door, engage the chain and keep it engaged until you are completely sure the caller is genuine. Genuine police officers will not mind waiting outside whilst you phone the Surrey Police switchboard on 101 to confirm their identity.

 

“If you do find intruders in your home, your personal safety is the priority. Stay calm and raise the alarm as soon as possible by calling the police.”

A successful business man was growing older and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, "It is almost time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO." One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!" All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified.. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!" When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed, Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "This is your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. "How could he be the new CEO?" the others said. Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!" * If you plant honesty, you will reap trust * If you plant goodness, you will reap friends * If you plant humility, you will reap greatness * If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment * If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective * If you plant hard work, you will reap success * If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation. So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

SCIE is developing a new website to help people to make choices about care and has published a holding page for 'Find Me Good Care', which will be launched later this summer. The site will provide information about care and support for all adults, including regulated and unregulated services. It will help providers of all sizes to promote their services and support councils to provide cost-effective information to local residents. The site will include: a comparable directory of services; an interactive guide to choosing and paying for care; and a feedback mechanism that will be moderated carefully to ensure that individuals and organisations are treated fairly. See more details at the Find Me Good Care webpage http://www.findmegoodcare.co.uk

Jo Cumming at Arthritis Care describes the symptoms and treatment of arthritis. Arthritis is the UK's biggest single cause of physical disability and affects nine million people of all ages. At least 8.5 million people have a degenerative form of arthritis called osteoarthritis, which usually affects people over the age of 40. What is 'arthritis'? 'Arthritis' is inflammation within a joint and is a general term for around 200 musculoskeletal conditions affecting bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissue. The two main groups are 'inflammatory' - like rheumatoid arthritis and gout - and 'degenerative' like osteoarthritis (OA) which appears mainly in people aged over 40 or in younger people with joints already damaged by injury or disease. What is osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is an incurable condition involving the breakdown of cartilage, the cushioning material between adjoining bones. In healthy joints, cartilage provides a slippery surface over which bones glide smoothly. With osteoarthritis, this cushion becomes brittle and thin so the bones grate painfully against each other, developing unwanted 'bony spurs', which deform the joint, causing pain, stiffness and inhibiting movement. Why do people get osteoarthritis? The causes of osteoarthritis are unclear. However, it occurs more commonly and often more severely in women. A genetic element means that family history can indicate susceptibility. A 'lifestyle' component is also significant in what triggers or accelerates cartilage loss - age, obesity, previous injury, and a demanding physical occupation which misuses or over-uses certain joints are all factors in the development of osteoarthritis. What are the symptoms? The main symptoms are pain, stiffness, fatigue, restricted movement and impaired mobility. Osteoarthritis in the fingers, thumbs and wrists, weakens grip, making everyday tasks hard. When load-bearing joints like knees, hips, spine, and ankles are affected, it can make walking difficult. How is osteoarthritis diagnosed? If you think you may have arthritis, make an appointment to see your GP. He or she may refer you for tests to determine whether your condition is inflammatory or degenerative. Inflammatory arthritis may mean referral to a rheumatologist, whereas people with osteoarthritis usually remain in the care of the GP. What treatment is available? Many people with osteoarthritis need pain relief and take analgesics like paracetemol to remain active. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) like diclofenac and ibuprofen - available as gels or tablets - are also useful in reducing stiffness and pain, while a steroid injection may curb a flare-up in a single joint. Physiotherapy and hydrotherapy exercises treat stiffness and improve mobility. Podiatrists and chiropodists provide foot care and advise on soft-uppered shoes, special insoles, and bunion pads. However, severe osteoarthritis can damage joints to the extent that surgery might be needed. Nowadays, such surgery is widely available - hip, knee, spine, shoulder, wrist, elbow, ankle joints can all be replaced. Can I help myself? Anyone diagnosed with osteoarthritis needs to think about how to make the most of living with the condition long term. This means getting correct treatment and support from health professionals, informing yourself about your condition, and evolving self-management strategies to help you live better with arthritis. Self-management involves following principles of good diet, good exercise, good posture, and positive attitude: planning, prioritising and pacing tasks, reorganising your house and life to ensure your limited energy is used productively. How can Arthritis Care help? Arthritis Care is the only UK charity supporting people with arthritis in any of its 200 forms. It has around 300 UK branches, and offers free services: Challenging Arthritis courses, Helplines, online peer-support and discussion forums, workshops, and medically-reviewed and impartial information. For further details of living with arthritis, visit Arthritis Care's website http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/Home or call its free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 4050, 10am-4pm weekdays. Take control of arthritis pain - five top tips 1.Lighten Up: Shed excess pounds to reduce stress on weight-bearing joints, like back, hips, and knees 2.Don't suffer in silence: Your GP needs to know that you are in pain, and what kind in order to find you an effective treatment or refer you to a pain management specialist 3.The Ex Factor: Exercise releases the body's own natural ‘morphine' in the form of endorphins so appropriate exercise really can make you feel better 4.Chuck out the chintz! Have a look at your furniture and decide if your bed and chairs are helping your pain or making it worse 5.Doctor Gadget: Look in Arthritis News and catalogues for self-help products designed to make everyday tasks easier. Occupational therapists, physiotherapists, ergonomists and doctors can suggest helpful work or home devices.

THE treatment of elderly people in care is now so bad that it meets the legal definition of torture, the Government’s human rights watchdog said yesterday.
Some cases of neglect and abuse breach the internationally recognised prohibition on “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The health and social care watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, is also accused of failing to identify and prevent abuses of the basic human rights of elderly people.

The commission also hits back at widespread criticism of the Human Rights Act and what has been widely labelled the “human rights industry”.

Setting out 10 areas in which it believes public bodies have failed to meet human rights standards it singles out care of the elderly, which it says is too often “undignified and humiliating”.
“At its most extreme, abusive, cruel and degrading treatment is similar to torture,” the report says.
“The current care system is teetering on rotting foundations and if the Government fails to show the vision needed on the funding of care, hundreds of thousands of people and their families across the nation will stand in judgment.”

By the time you read this the Rural Life Centre, Tilford's country life museum, will, whatever the weather, have started its summer season. As is now traditional much has been achieved over the winter months by the army of volunteers to improve the scope of the displays and present an ever changing programme of events. Among the "new arrivals" is a 1920s holiday chalet formerly at Box Hill. This little wooden building started life as a shed for camping equipment by regular visitors to the Dorking site before one thought the shed itself formed a suitable holiday home. Named "Smudgers" the museum now thinks this event marked the birth of the British holiday chalet and is pleased to announce that the restored building is now fully open to visitors. On a smaller scale, the centre's prefab home has now gained a garden shed in the form of a 'recycled' Stanton air-raid shelter recovered from a local garden where it had previously served in both roles. Both these buildings will be formally opened at the Countryside & Woodland Show in April. However the season starts with a temporary exhibition mounted by the Bramshott & Liphook Preservation Society on the history of Liphook and its surroundings. Subtitled "The Coaching Stop that Grew", the exhibition highlights the settlement's importance as a hub on both early roads and the later railways. Today the village has grown out of all recognition but the exhibition will introduce newer residents to the earlier roots. Among other event highlights which are new to the museum this year are Days Gone By, a major new vintage rally organised by the Central Southern Vintage Agricultural Club in co-operation with the Countryside Restoration Trust at adjoining Pierrepont Farm, and Romany Day, a very successful event, moving to Tilford from its former venue at Ewell, where visitors can learn the heritage of Romany Gypsies in Surrey. An international flavour pervades in August, though, when it is hoped a representative from the Polish embassy will be on hand to open the Tweedsmuir Barracks permanent exhibition on the history of the Polish Resettlement Corps at Thursley after the second world war. Titled "Tam Mieszkalismy" (which means 'we lived there'), the Lottery funded project is the brainchild of brothers Wies and Zen Rogalski who were brought up in the former Canadian wooden barracks and still forming a home for displaced families until the 1960s. The season's last event in October will be the ever-popular Land Rover Rally but there is something different going on at the museum almost every weekend and visitors are advised to check the website for the latest information. The Rural Life Centre, Reeds Road, Tilford, Surrey, GU10 2DL, an accredited museum, is open from 10am to 5pm on Wednesday to Sunday each week. A full diary of events can be downloaded from the website at www.rural-life.org.uk or call 01252 795571 for further details. Rural Life Centre Old Kiln Museum Trust Reeds Road, Tilford, Surrey, GU10 2DL www.rural-life.org.uk 01252 795571 Reg. charity 289150