Carers UK Forum

yes.i already do work. and at times it may be a sanity break..but most of the time its just another stress and worry time for me....not to mention a financial stress because i cant earn enough to have a decent living..but still earn too much to access help.

I know where you're coming from on this, Colin: it's a trap. At one stage of my life caring was taking over so much I had to reduce my hours at work, but the strain was so great I eventually stopped work. At the time my wife and I were caring for 4 people. But our financial situation got so difficult I had no choice but to go back to work. The caring situation isn't as intense as it was but even so it's hard keeping up the pace all the time...

Charles said:

I believe Marie has experience of some of this equipment and is perhaps less concerned than you or I because of this, and may therefore have very different views about the benefits/downside of Tunstall.

You are correct, although I have no knowledge of Tunstall as our equipment came from easylinkuk and is a one-off-purchase.

We have both a bed seizure alarm and an infra-red wander alarm as OH is mobile for a lot of his seizure activity.
This way we cover both bases!

I think tunstall is a monthly renting kinda deal although I'm not 100% sure so it'll be interesting to find out!

Charles is also correct, on another point - our equipment was NEVER intended to replace the human carer as it never could!
My OH needs fulltime care!

Our seizure alarm is only to alert me he's having yet another seizure and I need to get to him quickly!
The alarm is invaluable as it let's me leave my bedroom for a bit, go downstairs put on some washing or even sit in peace for a bit and have a cuppa!

Before we got them at crisis points, i was practically stuck in our bedroom for hours on end - OH could not be left as he was seizing every 10-15 mins sometimes less so I really was stuck and afraid to move - even to the loo!!

These alarms at least let me breathe for a bit!

They work to a handset for 50 metres and on the few good days we had this summer, I could sit in the garden with a cuppa for a bit as I knew the seizure alarms would let me know when I needed to go to him.

I know people have differing views about using the available technology but I've had our alarms for 18 months and they have made such a difference, I now wouldn't be without them!

Incidently, in the end, ours were funded by social services.

marie x

..who ya gonna call?tunstall!!....
cheers..colin

It's good to see that the Luddite Wing of the Carers movement hasn't lost its sense of humour...

But technically, its probably Tunstall equipment and operators that calls YOU if there is a problem detected. That said, we are still way behind, look at what's happening in Japan:

Faced with low birth rates and long life spans, both Japan and South Korea are aging quickly and are turning to robots to replace disappearing workers as well as care for the elderly. The Japanese government paints a dire picture. By 2040, children will comprise 9.3 percent of Japan's population, while the over-65 population will balloon to 36.5 percent.
http://www.manufacturing.net/News-Japan ... menuid=278

The Japanese inventors share our concerns]Developers are a generation away from true humanoids, and robots for complex nursing care are still bulky and expensive, they said.

''In ten years, robots may be able to help out around the house,'' Takamoto said. ''But I don't necessarily know that robots should do everything.''
[/quote]

See also:

http://www.gizmag.com/ubot5-care-robot/9188/

April 17, 2008 For members of Generation X, a realization must soon be dawning that our parents won't be self-sufficient captains of industry forever - and for the enormous baby-boomer generation, it must be sobering to realize they'll be relying on the most self-focused generation in history to look after them once peaceful retirement gives way to a need for assistance from an aged care industry that will struggle to accommodate demand. Money hasn't traditionally been a problem for the boomers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomer , so perhaps it's a prudent time for technology to start making it as easy as possible for Gen Xers to look after their parents in the autumn of their years. One way is to employ remote robot carers like uBOT-5, which can quietly follow its owner around the house, take care of the cleaning, give reminders about medication, help with shopping and make communication with doctors and loved ones much easier. The uBOT-5 also has the ability to recognize when its owner has fallen or become unresponsive, allowing it to immediately dial 911 for medical attention and relay important information to caregivers en route.

Sounds like a nightmare vision of the future to me....there are already so many lonely elderly people. There was a report in the news recently about how many elderly people go for days without speaking to anyone. As a society we ought to be addressing that issue not just relying on technology....and telecare is being pushed heavily by the govt...which means it is ultimately about saving money....money which you can bet won't be coming our way as carers.

I'm sure technology has it's uses......but they are limited ...and the govt 'slant' on telecare seems to be to release carers to work...the fact is that the back up services,that cannot be covered by technology, are unavailable for many of us due to lack of govt funding and the financial disincentives to working part time such as the earnings limit and the loss of income support and Housing benefit are a barrier for many carers trying to combine caring with part time working...and Tunstalls won't solve these problems.

meet & greet!
Imelda Redmond
Telecare
Choices & Opportunities - speaker from Tunstall
Q - time

LUNCH!

Information displays
Tunstall - touch & try equipment
Learning for living (Carers & Learning)

Pamper sessions
Art therapy
Aromatherapy
massage

There's an awful lot of Tunstalls/telecare on there....for a technology which will be of limited use to many carers and none at all for others. I looked at a brochure for telecare provided by our LA and none of it would prevent my husband falling in the first place.....or stop him being distressed if left alone.....an alarm system is very often an 'after the event' rather than preventive solution.

And what does learning for living involve?

Belle

And no i'm not a luddite..where do i sign for the robot that does the housework?

well Belle..we ahead of you here-already have this robot..names Colin.lol

the learning for living programme appears to be about carers identifying their skills, broadening them by learning, and then taking them futher into their lives through either continued learning, or work.
i have no problem with people learning to improve themselves whether in skills or knowledge, but what worries me is the use this can be put to aginst carers.

scene: carer at a work focused interview with jobcentre plus staff, while being moved from carers allowance to ESA.

jcp: we ae here to identify what skills you have and what work you can/could do/
carer: i care for a disbled person..i'm not actually available or seeking work
jcp: what do you mean?
carer: i care for over 35 hours per week, i get CA due to this. i dont have time to work-its all taken up by caring

jcp:well..howcome you could spend 16/18/20 hours per week to do this learning programme..if you could do that, the time could just as easily be spent in paid employment.
carer:..............( how we suposed to answer that one)

this is my problem with learning for living programme, and the strangely similar programme being trialed out by PRTC.

Excalibur: a word to the wise

you do not know me, do not know my beliefs, my thoughts on subjects other than what you see here, so please do not presume to catagorsise or try to pigeonhole me. i am not in any "wing" of any movement, and am most certainly not against any form of technology..would i be using a computer to post this topic on the internet if i was?.

so kindly refrain from calling me anything, Luddite or otherwise. all i do on discussion forums such as this is state my own personal little opinion, and if other disagree..fine. if i am answered and it is shown my opinion is wrong, outdated, misinformed i am adult and mature enough to say so. in fact, it is a method of learning i use to discover facts about caring..as i have only fairly recently come to class myself as a carer.

forums such as this are a fentastic tool for learning and information, and i welcome any reply to any post i make.

Cheers, colin

i hope no-one is offended by this post, but i have to say it.

having been told my last post here has been quoted on another site as being a response to an attack or attempt to ridicule me by the previous poster, i have visited said site and checked.
this is not , i stress, NOT my opinion, and has been used without my knowledge.

i in no way consider the remark made as an attack. i am not offended by it in any way.
as i said..i welcome any free and open debate or discussion. the points raised in the reply are perfectly valid points, they just don't apply to me.

what i am offended by is someone taking my words, and using a them to point-score in some personal battle, campaign..whatever it is. To the person who used my words..please do not do this again. thank you.

i reply now to the person i meantion above.having read through some stuff on your site..of course it was a point scoring exercise on your part..its about all you seem to do. again..from reading your post is seems you have twisted my words..where was removing said post mentioned?way your post is worded even i thought i must have asked that. and yes, offence has now been caused. i do not like to be misrepresented and misused like this...that does cause offence.

please leave me out of your comments etc in future.