| By :
Jamie Simpson
Care homes, nursing home, skilled nursing units, rest homes, or convalescent homes - these are all names for the same basic type of residential place for people who need nursing care due to various deficiencies. Residents may be the aged population or individuals with mental or physical disabilities. Some facilities may also provide physical, occupational, or other therapies for rehabilitation for individuals after an illness or an accident. The majority of the care homes in the UK are privately owned; they are inspected periodically by the Care Quality Commission and given a rating. To be able to own a care home, the only criteria is that the owners have no criminal record. To top it off, no minimum training standard exists to be able to take care of dementia patients or patients with special needs. The majority of people living in care homes (approx. 2/3) suffer from a form of dementia, so the main function of these homes is to be able to provide dementia care. The kind of dementia care provided has a major impact on the quality of life for the patient suffering from dementia. While many homes have the facilities to provide a stimulating environment for their patients in different stages of dementia, very many are ill-equipped to deal with such patients. There are at least 40,000 people living in care homes in England who reside in "social isolation", and some 13,000 have no relatives at all. This means they get no letters, visits or calls. There is noone around to stimulate their memories or help to remind them of who they are and their histories. According to the latest findings, one care home resident is admitted to a hospital every 25 minutes with diabetes related problems that are due to a lack of training and failings in screening. It has been further found that 60% of the care homes with diabetic residents do not have staff trained for this condition. Even worse is the fact that only 23 percent of care homes bother to screen inhabitants on a regular basis for the disease. This lack of screening translates to 13,500 possible residents in the UK care homes with undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes. Untreated diabetes can lead to complications like stroke, heart disease, blindness, amputation, and kidney failure. Running a care home is not difficult when looked at from a business point of view. It is like running a small hotel with the benefit of having permanent customers. These homes are recession proof and high profit yielding businesses. Many of the homes make as much as 30% profit as a matter of routine. In comparison, Tesco makes 6%! There is definitely plenty of margin so if the will to improve training of staff is there, it can be done easily. The Government Actuary Department record shows that there were 300 people over the age of 100 in 1951 and it is estimated that by the year 2031 this figure will jump to 36,000. Health experts claim that the number of people with diseases like dementia, heart disease, depression, and other conditions needing twenty four hour nursing care will increase significantly. It is an absolute necessity that care home staff is trained to handle the influx.
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