Cheesy inappropriate photographs in the media

[Jancis]

Does anyone agree with me that photographs with fake (model) nurses, carers and patients are sickening? Here's one that appeared in the Daily Mail today. The photograph is totally inappropriate for the story which unfortunately was headlined Care home nurses to be taught to play board games with dementia patients to stop them being prescribed chemical cosh. No wonder the world at large doesn't have a clue what's going on. How many care homes employ nurses to engage in activities with dementia sufferers?

http://tinyurl.com/84k5prl

[Onlyme]

I was going to suggest a team of surgeons on hand to remove the chess pieces.

Someone left this comment to the article. Just about sums up the fluffy cloud thinking and the reality.

what a great idea... so when one of my patients is refusing to go to bed at 3am, screaming and shouting and throwing faeces around or trying to attack me... i'll get the scrabble out!

[Canadian Joanne]

Seems to be typical reportage for the Daily Mail. There is a fabulous song called "The Daily Mail Song" by Dan & Dan. Absolutely hilarious and sums up tabloid newspapers perfectly.

[Onlyme]

Seems to be typical reportage for the Daily Mail. There is a fabulous song called "The Daily Mail Song" by Dan & Dan. Absolutely hilarious and sums up tabloid newspapers perfectly.

Brilliant. I found the song.

[Jancis]

Brilliant song, very very funny! Thanks for posting this!

[jimbo 111]

Does anyone agree with me that photographs with fake (model) nurses, carers and patients are sickening? Here's one that appeared in the Daily Mail today. The photograph is totally inappropriate for the story which unfortunately was headlined Care home nurses to be taught to play board games with dementia patients to stop them being prescribed chemical cosh. No wonder the world at large doesn't have a clue what's going on. How many care homes employ nurses to engage in activities with dementia sufferers?

http://tinyurl.com/84k5prl

Before I make any other comment , I agree 100% with jancis on the ‘cheesy’
pictures that accompany articles on dementia
They do nothing to give the proper story ,and often diminish the impact of serious items that should be educating the public
Having said that could I point out that the article in the Daily Mail ( Not the Internet edition ) was a single column on Page 51 headed
“ Could Board Games be the Best Medicine for Dementia”
There was No picture with the article
Not the ‘cheesy’ headline in the internet edition

“Care home nurses to be taught to play board games with dementia patients to stop them being prescribed chemical cosh”


The article ( repeated below) clearly states comments by the Care Services Minister and Professor Ballard from the Alzheimer’s Society
So the article should have some credibility
My personal view is that carers in care homes are more than ever before
facing increasing work loads that prevent them from spending additional time on occupational therapy
I have friends who volunteer three to six hours a week doing just that .
The carers are grateful that the volunteers can give their undivided attention
to the patients , whereas they face distractions when trying to engage their attention
Referring back to the article as quoted In this thread ,it is clear that the readers were passing their opinions on the internet edition not on the newspaper edition
Perhaps you think me ‘loose in the head ‘ but every day I read the papers on the internet The Daly Mail ,Independent, Guardian , and Telegraph
Then I take a walk and buy the Daily Mail
It was noticeable on the day the article appeared in the DM newspaper none of the ’heavies’ mentioned it . This is not uncommon I have noticed many times that articles appearing in the DM take several days before the ’heavies’ report it
Is it possible that the DM for all its faults is more on the ball ?????
I consider myself as being a reasonably sensible adult , I like to make my own mind up about current affairs as reported in ALL the newspapers
Controversial as it maybe I am of the opinion that the DM give a wider picture of the society we live in than the rest of the media
I have no interest in celebrities, or quite a a large chunk of items reported .But just by turning over the pages I am sub consciously aware of most things that are current , not only the things that interest me
The DM internet edition is I believe the most read newspaper in the world
Most of the articles supported by pictures (many of them ‘cheesy’ as jancis remarks )
Perhaps the DM thinks that readers of an internet edition need the added pictures to fully understand the written word

. ‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

Over the next few month nurses in 150 care homes in the UK will be trained to care for patients as people, rather than just a condition.
They will be taught to find out what hobbies patients used to enjoy when they were younger and encouraging them to take part in the activites in the care home.'Chemical cosh': The move comes after concerns that dementia are just being treated with drugs to sedate them
Research has found that activities such as painting, baking and board games stimulate the brain brains and helps stave off the devastating symptoms of dementia.
It is hoped that the scheme – which is jointly being run by the Department of Health and the Alzheimer’s Society – could reduce the number of chemical cosh prescriptions by 50 per cent.
Care services minister Paul Burstow, said: ‘Far too many people with dementia are robbed of part of their lives because they are needlessly given antipsychotics.
In order to reduce this we need to make sure staff working with people with dementia understand the condition so they are able to treat the person, not just address the symptoms. That’s why we’ve put £100,000 towards this vital project.
Professor Clive Ballard, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘Finding a way to end the unacceptable levels of inappropriate antipsychotic prescriptions to people with dementia is an urgent priority we all have to address.
‘If we don’t, many thousand more people will have their health and quality of life put at risk.’

It is estimated that 144,000 patients with dementia are wrongly being prescribed antipsychotics.
There are around 750,000 people in UK with the condition although many have never been diagnosed.
An early trial of the scheme carried out by researchers at Kings College London found that it halved the numbers of patients diagnosed with dementia.
Antipsychotics are only meant to be given to patients as a last resort but often they are used as sedatives to calm patients if they are aggressive or anxious.

[Saffie]

Is it possible that the DM for all its faults is more on the ball ?????

The Daily Mail is routinely attacked but it does do a tremendous amount of good. Many of its campaigns are very successful in forcing companies and/or government into action. As a wife of a dementia suffferer I applaud and appreciate the campaign it has led for greater understanding of the condition. It has raised issues about the elderly and the armed forces amongs others. It may not get it right all the time but it does try!!!

[Jancis]

I'm really glad someone agrees about the use of cheesy photos even if this one was not in print.

Thanks Jimbo for pointing out that the internet story wasn't the same as the one in print. Whoops, I'll have to be careful when reading newspaper articles on the internet in future as they may not be giving a good impression of the newspaper - mmm, that's weird isn't it?

It was the photo of the nurse in uniform that irritated me, having seen it on a prominent dementia information website. My immediate thought was, how many nurses are employed in care homes? Even in nursing homes they are few and far between. Correct me if I'm wrong, I only know what I've gleaned from TP and my own research.

[NeverGiveUp]

Love the song!

As for the board games, mum was sent to a Memory Clinic a few years back, they apparently played children's games (her words) and spoke to the elderly people as though they were children, she felt insulted to be treated like a child, she expressed her disapproval by eating the free lunch and falling asleep when the games came out again. They terminated her place on the course and refused us any more help.

More recently I tried to find out what could be done to help mum, 2 people from the Memory Service turned up at at our house, gave me application forms for Community Transport and Over 50s Day Centre (form for me as well ), I told them what I really wanted were strategies etc which might hold back VasD, they told me all they did was print off pages from the Alzheimer's Society web site, there isn't anything else!

I am probably just being cynical but, if these new ideas are lauched, I bet we will be told that they aren't available in our area

[Onlyme]

Mum's place does have nurses, you just have to spend hours finding them as they are so rushed.

Mum refused anything like board games as she too thought they were for children. It must be a generational thing - games are for children as the adults were must too busy.

[Jancis]

By way of contrast did anyone see the feature article in the Saturday Times Magazine about the famous Hogewey village complex? The headline and intro: "A Second Life - No grim, silent lounges, no institutional meals: Hodgewey in the Netherlands is developing a revolutionary approach to caring for people with dementia. Janice Turner visits the village where patients can once more be truly themselves". The photographs by Pavel Prokopchik are reassuringly real and they say it all (my comment).

[NeverGiveUp]

Mum found not only the board games childish but also the attitude of the people running it, she said they spoke to the group in a way which one would talk to a child, mum was apparently in a group where they had a lot of capacity. I think the pair who visited our home telling me to look on the web site for info as they do, these were the Memory Service of the NHS - they didn't have info of there own! They talked to us as though we should believe that we were being given lots of help when we were actually told nothing. When i mentioned the memory clinic and mum's opinion I judged their reaction, suspicion reinforced that it was the same pair!

Is the article in the Times magazine on line anywhere? It sounds exactly the sort of thing which i want to know about.

[Canadian Joanne]

I do agree that often people speak to residents as though they are children and I also find this annoying. I don't even speak to children that way.

It's not only the staff. I have a friend who always spoke that way to her mother and mine. It was all very well-intentioned so I said nothing.

[Jancis]

Is the article in the Times magazine on line anywhere? It sounds exactly the sort of thing which i want to know about.

No I don't think so. I can try scanning it for you if you like (please send me a PM) but I don't think I'm allowed to reproduce it on here?

You can find many other articles on the village if you google Hogewey care home.

[jimbo 111]

--------------------------------------------

Is the article in the Times magazine on line anywhere? It sounds exactly the sort of thing which i want to know about.

Never Give Up
If you click on this link to Google there are many articles on Hogewey Village

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourc...illage+complex


jimbo 111