case study

The case study of Miss S undertaken by Symmetrikit and Positive Positioning is now available to view on the Symmetrikit website 

http://www.symmetrikit.com/downloads/downloads.aspx?gid=9809a408-30af-4d3e-9f5c-23d0a89ffc7d

Details of the the training, offered free to therapists, is also on the Symmetrikit website

http://www.symmetrikit.com/training/training.aspx

Kids Up North Exhibition

Yesterday I attended the Kids Up North Exhibition to update on new equipment for kids with disabilities and meet people I have not seen for a while. This was a very good day as there is a lot of new exciting equipment available. Some of the most exciting was the Leckey Mygo Standing frame www.leckey.com/products it has the ability to accommodate some knee flexion contracture allowing the spine to remain in more natural curves. This seems like a good idea and I am looking forward to trying it with clients.
It was interesting meeting with solicitors from Pannone and Irwin Mitchell and hearing their work in getting appropriate rehabilitation services for people who have been injured.
It was a very busy exhibition and the speakers were interesting. I managed to get to a talk by Moira Draper from Cerebra's talk about sleep and issues that can arise for children with neurological disorders. I found this very interesting and informative. http://www.cerebra.org.uk/English/Pages/home.aspx
 Overall a very good day.

Self Care Week

this week is Self Care Week 2011, it aims to help people take care of themselves and where to find help to help take care of their health. This year's theme is Technology. You can find out more by visiting http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/Yourhealth/Pages/Helpathome.aspx

Technology is changing the way we look after our health with apps like NHS Direct allowing you to check your symptoms if you are unwell. 

For people with limited mobility and those with disabilities technology and the right equipment can help you to care more for yourself and increase independence. 

What do we mean by 'self care'? It means keeping fit and healthy, if you have a long term condition it is about knowing about your condition and how to manage it day to day. If you have a long term condition you health your way 
http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/Yourhealth/Pages/Yourhealth.aspx may be helpful. http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Longterm.aspx can help you to see if you are getting the right support for your condition.

Learning and teaching styles

It is well worth planning any training to be carried out and working out what are the learning outcomes to be achieved and what methods will be used to get there. Honey and Mumford suggest there are 4 dominant learning styles Activist, Pragmatist, Theorist and Reflectivist. It is important to ensure that the teaching methods mean that all the learning styles are catered for and all people are able to learn according to their preferred style.   

I carried out manual handling (of people) train the trainers update training in Wakefield for social services care staff. Using the Honey and Mumford learning styles questionnaire of the 6 people attending the training 4 or them were dominantly 'Reflectors'. This is interesting as the I am an 'Activist' these appear to be opposites and it can be difficult for a trainer to engage people with a different learning style to their own as it is easy to plan the training around the way you personally like to learn. 

Any good train the trainers course will address how to ensure that you engage with all the learners in the room and that they all receive training that appeals to their unique combination of learning styles. When asked about the training they had received on the day they all agreed that the day had appealed to them and engaged them. 

This made the trainer feel confident that the hours of planning lesson plans and looking at what the training intended to achieve and the methods used to deliver the messages were well spent!

example of lesson plan 

Duration 30 mins	Lesson title Relevant Legislation			Lesson no: 1.2
	Learning outcomes (LO) – By the end the candidates should be able to: 1.      Be able to quote what legislation applies to moving and handling 2.      Provide a definition of manual handling 3.      State the employer and employee duties 4.      Describe what s risk assessment is and why they are important in law 5.      Describe what RIDDOR is and how to report through it 6.      State how LOLER and PUWER affect their place of work 7.      Discuss how the Human Rights Act and Disability and Equality act affect MH
Materials required: Power Point, case studies, flip chart and pens, objects for CoG
Topic	LO	Teaching Points	Method	Assessment
Manual Handling Operations Regs 1992 amended 1999	1, 2 and 3	Definition of manual handling and load Duty of employers Duty of employees	Power Point Gesture Flip chart Objects for centre of gravity	Q and A
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974	1 and 3	Purpose of Act and how it applies in workplace Establishment of HSE and HSC Duty of employers	Power Point	Q and A
Management of health and safety at work regulations	4	Risk assessments Special cases for risk assessments	Power Points Hand outs	Q and A
RIDDOR	5	What is RIDDOR What and How to report Timescales	Q and A Power Point	Q and A
LOLER 1998	6	Application of regulations in workplace Recording of inspections Who carries out inspections Frequency of inspections	Q and A Power Point	Q and A

PUWER 1998	6	Application of regulations in workplace What it covers	Power Point Q and A	Q and A
Human Rights Act and Disability 1998 and Equality Act 2010	7	Apparent conflict between HR and DE and MH Rights within the law Protection of vulnerable adults and children What classifies as abuse	Dissuasions Case studies Power Point	Q and A

Evaluation of Lesson

Get candidates to call out all relevant legislation and definition of MH Point out duties of employer / employee Discuss how LOLER and PUWER affect the workplace and discuss Human Right and Disability and Equality discussion to encourage interaction Describe what a risk assessment is and why it is important and what is included

 

manual handling injury claim

http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/personal-injury/southern-cross-pays-compensation-injured-carer.htm

This story illustrates how important is is to have the right equipment for the job and have received proper training in its use. The carer in question had worked for 12 years and had 4 months off work with a disc problem after turning a patient on the bed without the correct equipment. The claim was settled out of court when the employer admitted liability but the carer was not able to return to her former duties and is not currently working as a carer.

This emphasises the importance of correct training.

Postural care Mencap campaign

Mencap launches a new campaign to raise awareness of postural care www.mencap.org.uk/posturalcare

it aims to raise the profile of postural care and ensure that people are aware of the implications of 24 hour postural care and how it can help prevent secondary complications whilst maintaining peoples comfort. 24 hour postural care involves looking at the position someone sits, stand and lies in and ensuring they have the right support to keep them safe, comfortable and as near to symmetrical as possible. It also involves what activities the do to train their own muscles.

People who find moving difficult are at risk of developing unusual body shapes as they lie and sit in a limited number of positions. An unusual body shape can lead to many secondary problems such as

• contractures
• scoliosis
• difficulites with breathing
• stomach and digestion problems
• pain
• difficulty with social functioning

postural care can gently help reduce these problems or if introduced early help them not to occur. 


From a commissioners point of view it reduces the burden of care and the need for expensive surgery. 


Positive Positioning is please to be able to offer assessment, advice and on-going support to people with movement problems and their families and carers. Please email info@positivepositioning.co.uk or telephone 07944566606 for more information

care assistants

There has just been a feature on the radio saying that there are many care assistants in residential homes, nursing homes and carrying out care in people's own homes who receive no training. This seems very poor especially when thinking about safeguarding and protection of vulnerable people. It also made me think about the health and safety of the employees including training in safer handing techniques. 
Employers would have much less sickness if they invested in effective training as their employees would know how to protect themselves form injury. 
Effective training would also raise morale and assist with retention of staff as they would feel valued. 
Positive Positioning is proud to deliver high quality cost effective bespoke manual handling training in the care sector. for more information see www.positivepositioning.co.uk

Problem Sovling

Yesterday I went to see a gentleman who has learning disabilities, bi-polar disease and spinal cord compression in his neck. He and his support staff are finding it difficult to assist him in transfers between his wheelchair and his bed. 
I worked with him and his support staff to work out the best way of allowing him as much independence as possible. 
We decided that he would continue to use the handle on the wall to pull himself up into standing and support staff will use small pieces of equipment to assist him onto the bed. It was very good getting several members of his support staff together and hearing the ways in which they support him. This gave us the opportunity to choose the best methods and pull them together and ensure everyone is doing the same thing so there is a good level of consistency in his care. 
The staff were trained to use the new small pieces of equipment and are confident in the use of them. They will be able to cascade this training onto other staff members. 

  These are a few of the pieces of equipment they will be using. (pictures taken from http://www.nrs-uk.co.uk)
Things taken into consideration included the fact that there is only space for one member of staff to assist, the gentleman's health difficulties meaning he can change in mood very quickly and the need to maintain his abilities. 


The assessment and problem solving went well and now it needs to be put into practice to monitor how well it works in reality.