7th July 2021

Hello Everyone

So yesterday I spoke at a national conference The Health Services Research UK Conference.  I spoke about the incredible way the carers of Tower Hamlets stepped up during the Pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and the differing struggles you all faced.

I spoke about how the Carers Centre remained open throughout, how I adapted the Carers Academy to provide a virtual timetable and how the team undertook virtual Carers Needs Assessments.  The main theme was the hidden care, carers provided throughout the last months.

The conference were in awe of carers and the amazing resilience shown throughout the last fifteen months.  I am happy to chat to carers if they want to know more about the conference, so please ask.

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Tonight is the Semi – Final Euro’s match

Between England and Denmark

Who is going to win?

Who loves football?

Who does not?

What do you think the score will be?

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 Nutrition, Motivation & Healthy Eating for Carers

We are announcing a new partnership with Change for Good to keep carers wellbeing the best it can be, and each session will take place every Friday for 12 weeks from Friday July 16^th 11am to 12noon via Zoom.

This group aims to help carers learn about nutritional food, amazing recipe ideas, encourage walking and getting fitter, supporting and motivating each other to achieve personal goals.

Having the support of your peers is a strong way to keep up motivation, and this is central to the course. We want to bring people together in an encouraging and supportive group. Sharing your experiences and hearing inspirational stories from your peers is a good reminder that you are all on this journey together.

You can even do this with the person you care for if you want to.

Email tony@ccth.org.uk

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Do you care for someone who has Challenging behaviour? Has the person you care for’s behaviour changed due to the lockdowns?

We have a workshop on Thursday 15^th July where carers can learn about causes and mechanisms to cope and reduce incidences of Challenging behaviour. The session is being delivered by The Community Learning Disability Service and is for all carers who experience challenging behaviour, not just carers of people with a learning disability.

Email tony@ccth.org.uk

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London’s Global University

UCL School of Pharmacy

Development of e-learning for Remote Assessment and Diagnosis of Dementia UCL School of Pharmacy has been awarded a grant by NHS Improvement to develop an e-learning course to support staff working in memory service clinics to carry out remote consultations for the assessment and diagnosis of dementia. UCL School of Pharmacy has expertise in developing short courses that are delivered online. They are working with a group of experts in dementia assessment and diagnosis to develop the learning material for this course.

It is important that the e-learning represents patients’ and carers’ experiences of remote consultation, and we are looking for patients and carers to talk to us about their experience of remote consultation for assessment and diagnosis of dementia. Please read the information below to find out what this would involve.

What will I need to do?

If you are a patient, we would like to talk to you about your experience of remote consultation for your dementia care.

If you are a carer, we would like to talk to you about your experience of remote consultations as a carer. This will last up

to one hour, depending on how much information you would like to share about your experience. We will send you the

questions that we will ask in advance. The questions will cover the following topics:

•  Benefits and challenges of different types of remote consultations
• Your experience of remote assessment of cognition
• The carer’s role in the remote assessment of cognition
• Your experience of seeing different members of the healthcare team remotely
• Practical considerations in having your consultations carried out remotely
• What it is like receiving a diagnosis through a remote consultation

You do not need to be able to answer all the questions to take part. If you can talk about one or two of these points we would like to hear from you.

How will the talk take place?

We will use Zoom to set up a meeting with you. You will need a device with a camera and microphone that connects to

the internet. The meeting will take place at a time that suits you. One of our team will meet with you and ask you the

questions that you will have been sent in advance. The team are all pharmacists with extensive experience in talking with patients and carers.

If you are not able to use Zoom, please let us know and we can arrange another way to meet with you.

We would like to record the Zoom meeting.

Is there payment?

We are able to reimburse you for your time and any reasonable expenses.

Who do I contact to express my interest in taking part?

For more information or to express an interest in taking part, please contact:

Dr Lizzie Mills

Associate Professor in Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Education

l.mills@ucl.ac.uk

020 3987 2847

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Things can feel very hard at times. Support is available for whatever you are going through, there is hope and you are not alone.
In London, there are a range of free resources, online tools, and helplines available to help you cope and stay mentally healthy. These sit alongside non-urgent NHS psychological treatments, such as talking therapies, if you need further professional support to help you cope with mental and emotional problems.

Helplines

Many of us might be feeling unsafe, vulnerable, alone or unable to cope with grief or loss. The following helplines are free and confidential:

Samaritans: 116 123
Whatever problems you are facing Samaritans are there to listen.

SHOUT: Text Shout to 85258
Text service for support with any mental health concern (it will not show up on your bill).

CRUSE: 0808 808 1677
Support and advice if you are grieving or dealing with bereavement and loss of a loved one.

Switchboard helpline: 0300 330 0630
The LGBT+ helpline is open daily from 10am-10pm.

Looking out for friends and colleagues
It might feel more difficult to mention to someone that you’re worried about them, but now more than ever we need to keep our connections strong.

If you’re worried about someone, The Samaritans has a range of resources to help get the conversation started.

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We Are Having A Picnic at Victoria Park

Thursday 22nd July 12 noon to 2pm

We wanted carers to have the opportunity to get together in a safe way, so we thought ‘how about a picnic’?

We can meet at Victoria Park at 12 noon at the Pavilion Café and then walk to a grass area.

Bring a blanket to sit on, bring something nice to eat and drink, you bring your kids and people you care for and we will bring water, fun, and laughter.

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