If you are wondering how you are going to cope with looking after your children this summer then now is the time to consider booking an Au Pair, a convenient and cost effective way to ensure your children can make the most of their school holidays.  Maybe they are already learning a language in school, so having somebody from abroad who wants to improve their English may also be a bonus for the children.

Although Au Pairs are not qualified child carers, they do have some experience of looking after children, either through family or friends, and they have often worked in their own country as a baby sitter.

In exchange for accommodation and some pocket money they will also help with some household chores and cooking.  All sounds a bit of a relief when you think about it!

The Bunbury Care Agency is a member of the British Au Pair Agencies Association (BAPAA). All our Au Pairs are recruited in line with their Code of Practice, ensuring that the person who comes to live in your home has been properly vetted and is able to meet all your requirements.

The bill will put “people in control of their care and give them greater choice,” ministers say.

The contentious issue of how social care is paid for is still unclear.

This week, charities and the Local Government Association called for radical change to prevent people being left “living in misery and fear”.

Discussions are currently taking place between the political parties on how social care should be reformed. A White Paper was expected before Easter, but is now due to be published later this month or in June.

‘Simplify’ the law

A Department of Health source said the government was determined to push ahead with plans to tackle social care, but this would take time.

The draft bill would aim to simplify the law on social care, which is currently spread across “at least a dozen acts”.

Funding for social care remains the most divisive issue.

In 2011, an independent review recommended a cap of £35,000 on the amount people would have to pay for social care.

Only those with less than £23,250 of assets are offered council-funded home help and care-home places. The review said that threshold should rise to £100,000.

Following those recommendations would cost an extra £1.7bn a year, the report said.

Katherine Murphy, the chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “We are encouraged that the issue of adult social care was included in the Queen’s Speech, but what was not said was deeply worrying.

“It will be impossible to effectively reform social care without tackling the all important issue of funding.

“We urge the Government to publicly clarify the issue of funding for social care and give a clear indication of whether any legislation being considered on the issue will address changes to funding for social care.”

The chairman of the Local Government Association, Sir Merrick Cockell, said described the announcement as a “positive step”.

He said: “We understand that reform is not an easy problem to solve and we know that reform comes with a price tag. But we believe it’s a price worth paying.”

Labour said care was “in crisis” and the issue was “too urgent to kick into the long grass”

Liz Kendall, shadow minister for care and older people, said: “Older and disabled people deserve better. The key test for the Government is whether they will grasp the nettle and reform the way care is funded in future.

“There is nothing to stop the Government, if they are serious about social care reform, committing to legislation in this session of Parliament, legislation which includes funding reform as well as wider policy and legal reform.”

Simon Gillespie, from the Care and Support Alliance, said: “We are deeply disappointed that the Queen’s Speech did not contain a full social care reform bill – as will the millions of older or disabled people let down by the current system of care.

“The government has effectively broken its promise to introduce legislation to sort out social care in the second session of Parliament, and failed to grasp the urgency of tackling a crisis that is currently condemning too many older or disabled people to a miserable existence.”

The director general of the charity Age UK, Michelle Mitchell, said: “A draft Bill on social care is some progress but a full Bill would have been so much better. As it is, this means no legislation for at least a year to drive the reform of social care law and funding that we desperately need.

“We accept that these reforms have to be got right and we want to work with the Government to make sure this happens; nonetheless, the millions of older people and their families who depend on good social care and who are often not able to get it will be asking why, yet again, they are being made to wait.”

Researchers led by scientists at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, studied 153 people with Alzheimer’s disease who were in care homes or hospitals. All of the participants were agitated to an extent that their doctors had recommended intervention.

Although antipsychotic drugs can help to reduce severe agitation, research funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK has shown that their long-term use can double the risk of death in people with Alzheimer’s. Moves have since been made to reduce the use of antipsychotics in people with Alzheimer’s, but a safe alternative is still needed.

In this study, the researchers wanted to investigate whether memantine – a drug that is currently prescribed to help with some of the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as memory loss – could also help reduce symptoms of agitation. Half of the participants were given memantine for a period of 12 weeks, while the other half took a placebo. Their level of agitation was assessed at the start of the study, and was then re-assessed after two weeks, four weeks, six weeks and 12 weeks.

The researchers found no significant difference in agitation between the two different groups, suggesting that memantine is not effective at reducing these symptoms.

Dr Eric Karran, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
“Severe agitation is a distressing symptom of Alzheimer’s that can be challenging for carers to cope with, and we need better ways to help people to manage these symptoms. While this study failed to find a positive effect for memantine, it underlines the need for a better, safer treatment that can reduce agitation in people with Alzheimer’s.

“New and effective treatments for Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia, can only come through research, but it will take a long-term, sustained effort. If we fail to invest in research, we will be failing the half a million people who are living with the disease.”

Ministers have proposed that maternity leave be reduced to 18 weeks and that instead the remaining leave should become ‘flexible parental leave’, available to both parents.

Currently, mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of paid maternity leave and 13 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. Fathers are entitled to two weeks of paid paternity leave.

The proposal put forward in the Government’s Modern Workplaces consultation, published last year, would give mothers 18 weeks of maternity leave, and four weeks of reserved paid parental leave, followed by 17 weeks of paid parental leave and 13 weeks of unpaid parental leave, which could be shared between mothers and fathers.

The proposals are likely to be announced in the Queen’s Speech on 9 May and included in the Children and Families Bill in the next parliamentary session.

However, six in ten parents in the Netmums survey of 1,500 mothers said they would find it difficult to ask for more time off from their employer if they were required to request it after 18 weeks of maternity leave.

The results also showed that while some fathers would be keen to take ‘shared leave’, the likelihood of fathers being able to do so was low.

Seventeen per cent of mothers said their partner would be keen to take shared leave, 28 per cent said that he might want to but it wouldn’t happen in practice, and a further 41 per cent said that the family would not be able to afford to take the time off.

Sally Russell, the founder of Netmums, said, ‘Women are very strongly saying that 18 weeks of maternity leave is not enough.  It is possible to have a system that works for mums and dads, but this isn’t it.

‘The findings show that an 18 week limit may well push women out of employment and the result will be the opposite of what the Government are trying to achieve.’

Research by Working Families also reveals employers’ reservations about the 18-week proposal.

Nine of 11 employers questioned by Working Families raised concerns, such as the likelihood of higher absenteeism among women returning to work before they were ready, costs of rearranging leave cover if plans change, and the importance of retaining women’s skills.

The employers questioned employed between 15 and 90,000 staff and overall employ more than 300,000 people.

Viv Matthews, head of HR at law firm Henmans LLP, based in Oxford, said that the proposals was ‘a retrograde step’.

‘We know that women value spending longer at home bonding with their new child, she said.
‘Working mums find it hard to return even after six or twelve months, and we want to ensure they are fit and ready when they do.

‘We support the aim to provide more choice in families but in reality few fathers will take up shared leave. Reducing maternity leave to18 weeks may lead to long term costs to employers.’

Seventeen members of the Working Parents Group have written a joint letter to business minister Norman Lamb and to minister for women and equality, Theresa May, calling on the Government to rethink the proposal.

The group warns that a new presumption of 18 weeks could harm equality in the workplace and bring “hidden costs” to business if women return too soon.

Working Families’ chief executive, Sarah Jackson said, ‘This isn’t just about what women want: some of our top employers are warning of hidden costs to business if women come back too soon.
‘We urge the Government to think again: 18 weeks of maternity leave is simply too short for women’s wellbeing and for business success.’

WHAT MOTHERS SAID

• “(18 weeks) is no way enough time to bond with your new baby.’
• ‘It should stay as it is. Women shouldn’t have to negotiate time with baby at such a crucial age.’
• ‘If I had to negotiate longer than 18 weeks it would have been very difficult to continue breastfeeding as I did up to a year. I would have had no choice but to stop work.’
• ‘I suffered from severe post-natal depression and if I had to go back to work and suffer the guilt of leaving my child in nursery on top of the illness, I would have killed myself. My employer would have wanted me back as soon as they legally could but I would not have been ready. I simply couldn’t have coped. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to ask for longer and even if I had, I would have felt equally bad about letting my team down for not being there.’
• ‘It’s hard enough telling your employer you’re taking maternity leave, having to negotiate extra maternity leave so soon after birth is just an added stress.’

The letter to ministers was signed by Bliss, Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice, Family Lives, Fawcett Society, Maternity Action, Mothers Union, National Childbirth Trust,  NUJ, Prospect, Twins and Multiple Births Association (TAMBA), TUC, Unite, UNISON, University and College Union, Usdaw, and Working Families.

The finding by American researchers contradicts previous warnings by the World Health Organisation that giving breast feeding infants pacifiers can discourage nursing.

A team from Oregon Health & Science University in fact found that taking dummies away from infants in some cases discouraged breast feeding.

The researchers looked at the feeding habits of 2,249 newborns over a 14-month period.

They reduced the number of dummies available between June 2010 and August 2011 thinking it would improve breast-feeding rates, but in fact they found the opposite was true.

Breast feeding rates declined from 79 per cent to 68 per cent, while babies receiving formula in addition to breast milk increased from 18 per cent to 28 per cent.

‘Our observations suggest routinely removing pacifiers may negatively impact exclusive breastfeeding rates during the birth hospitalisation,’ said co-author Dr Carrie Phillipi.

It is possible that instead of causing breastfeeding problems, dummies are more likely to be used by women already having difficulties breastfeeding.

The authors therefore concluded that if a mother was well-motivated to breastfeed it was up to their own personal preference whether they used a dummy or not.

However, the review, published in The Cochrane Library, did not look at whether dummies might promote shallow suckling habits leading to cracked nipples and breastfeeding difficulties. It was also based on research from just one hospital.

The authors admitted they did not yet have enough data on the long-term effects of dummies on babies’ health and development.

Therefore co-author Dr Jacqueline Ho said ‘mothers should not use pacifiers if they have an alternative way to deal with crying and fussing.’

The World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund recommend that hospitals caring for newborns follow Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. One of the steps states that artificial teats or pacifiers should not be provided to breastfeeding babies.

Co-author Dr Laura Kair said: ‘Our goal with publicising this data is to stimulate conversation and scientific inquiry about whether there is sufficient evidence to support the universal recommendation of not offering pacifiers to breastfeeding infants in the first few days to weeks of life.’

Using a dummy after six months has been linked with a decreased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Nancy Vaughan is a charming and lively conversationalist, a friendly host, and at nearly 90, still has much of the sparkle and attractiveness that must have turned many heads when she was in her heyday as a model in New York.

But she also has trouble remembering her own name, or the fact that she is married (62 years and counting), or indeed, much of the time, some of the basics of the English language.

Nancy is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s.

On a sunny late autumn day I visited Nancy and her husband, John, at their home in Phoenix, Arizona. We made friendly conversation in the kitchen and for moments I could have believed that she was mentally well.

Her smile is still engaging, she is physically fit, and she can sometimes carry on brief exchanges. When I asked if she had any problems with her memory, she said an emphatic “no”.

But when John posed the question directly “Nancy, what is your name?” she looked a bit baffled. Asked for her surname, Nancy said “Bread”, a little uncertainly. I wondered whether this might be her maiden name, but was told that was Johnson.

Nancy and John’s life has become surreal and stressful in many ways. John has taken to wearing a name tag with his name on it to help Nancy identify him.

He has also stuck a copy of their wedding photo up in the kitchen so that, in her confused moments, he can prove to her that they are married.

John cares for Nancy fulltime. They have no children, so there is no family help take the strain – and they are not in the financial position to have Nancy go into a care home.

Aged 88, John is the full-time carer for someone with many of the same needs as an adult-sized toddler.

John and Nancy are by no means exceptional. There is a slow-moving tsunami of dementia advancing towards us as our population ages.

It’s reckoned that one in eight Americans aged 65 and over has Alzheimer’s – the most common cause of dementia. Nearly half of the over 85s has the disease. As medical science has become better and better at prolonging our lives, the mental side of things hasn’t kept pace.

Nowhere is this more in evidence than in Phoenix. For years Phoenix has been a mecca for America’s elderly, who are attracted by the year-round sun and dry desert heat.

Now increasingly it is a kind of capital of the forgetful and the confused.

Not coincidentally, Phoenix is also pioneering the way dementia sufferers are cared for and treated.

One of the top destinations for people in need of round-the-clock care is Beatitudes, a gated retirement complex, which has, tucked among its many buildings, a memory support annex.

Most of the residents at Beatitudes have seriously impaired memories, to the point where they can no longer look after themselves, are quite often confused, and occasionally have delusions.

It’s not uncommon for a resident to imagine that they’ve seen a non-existent intruder, or to suppose that because they cannot find a purse or wallet, that someone has stolen it.

Partly under the influence of a Bradford University-based psychologist, Tom Kitwood, Beatitudes’ carers have a policy of not contradicting – and even playing along with – the delusions of the residents, avoiding confrontations, de-escalating conflicts, and “redirecting” the attention of those in distress, using distractions and pleasurable activities.

Beatitudes staff use medication as little as possible. They try to be flexible and adapt to the quirks of the residents and the symptoms of their condition, letting them wander the corridors at night should they feel urge, letting them bathe, eat and sleep on their own schedule, and offering them snacks and chocolate at any time of the day or night.

I spent the best part of two weeks at Beatitudes, observing their practices first-hand.

One of the people I got to know was Gary Gilliam. A 69-year old, Gary had been a successful dentist in his younger years, as well as doing time in the army.

He’d been at Beatitudes several months when I met him, and though his memory came and went, he spent much of his time under the misapprehension that he was still a practising dentist, stationed at a military base.

Gary was genial and playful, constantly cracking jokes, and so it took me a while to realise quite how advanced his dementia was.

He told me he’d been having some problems with his short-term memory but he had no idea he might be in any kind of care home. But rather than contradict him, the staff would gently go along with Gary’s version of reality.

Quite often, especially in the evening, Gary would imagine that his time on “the base” was up. He’d pack his bags and start looking for the exit.

Staff would cajole him into staying another night, saying it was a little late now, it was dark out, better to leave it until morning. Or they might ask Gary to look at their teeth, at which point he would switch into dentist mode and forget his plan.

Gary also had a habit of forgetting that he was married, despite the fact that his wife of nearly 30 years, Carla, was alive and well, and a frequent visitor.

Being one of the few men on his unit, Gary’s company was much in demand. He had two girlfriends, who enjoyed cuddling with Gary, though the exact extent of their intimacy wasn’t clear.

I had the chance to observe this rather odd love triangle – or “love square”, if you include the second girlfriend – when I accompanied Carla on a visit. To my surprise, she suggested that Gary bring one of the girlfriends with him.

She said this would make the visit run more smoothly – seeming to imply that Gary might prefer the company of his new friends over hers – but I was also struck that Carla was keen for me to see and understand the pain and the strangeness of loving someone with Alzheimer’s.

Perhaps the most extreme visit I observed during my time at Beatitudes took place between a young man called David Watson and his mother Gail.

Though she wasn’t very old, Gail’s dementia had progressed very quickly. She was on the fourth floor of the Beatitudes memory support building, home to the most advanced cases.

Gail could no longer speak at all, though she was physically well, and would wander the corridors often picking up objects and approaching people, endlessly repeating a sound that sounded like “gulla”.

David tried showing old photos to his mum. He tried stopping her on her perambulations for a hug. There wasn’t much sign of recognition that I could see.

David explained that his sisters no longer visited. “Because this is hard,” he said. But then, a moment later, David’s mother leaned in and held his face in her hands. “So that’s why I come and visit,” he said, visibly moved. “Because sometimes that happens, and then that’s good.”

Near the end of my stay in Phoenix, egged on by John, I volunteered to care for Nancy for half a day, hoping to give him some small respite but more importantly to have a small glimpse of what John goes through on a daily basis.

I discharged my duties as carer with mixed results. We played ball in the kitchen and broke a glass. We started a walk and then abandoned it.

Some of the time, she was baffled as to who I was and exactly what I was doing in the house. But along the way, we also managed to enjoy ourselves, listening to music, eating lunch together, looking at photos, and indeed chuckling together over the minor calamities that befell us.

When John returned and relieved me of my position, I asked him how much of Nancy he thought was left. He answered in the spirit of the engineer he’d been, with an exact number.

“Thirty per cent,” he said, and then he tapped his head, and said that the rest was still preserved safely in his memory.

It was an oddly romantic moment.

The ravages of dementia can be unbelievably upsetting to see. No one would wish the confusion and forgetfulness that goes along with the disease on another person – though sadly, for demographic reasons, they are likely to be an ever-increasing part of our lives.

But my stay in Phoenix also taught me to be mindful of certain positives.

However much is taken by dementia, something always remains. There can still be a person beyond their words and their memories, a spirit, for want of a better word, and a continuity with the person they were.

Faced with the disease, and with the right support, most people can learn and adapt, finding new ways to love their parents and partners.

Jane Worroll secretly filmed her mother’s room in Ash Court, London, after she noticed bruising on her mother’s arms and legs and suspected she was being mistreated.

Maria Worroll, 81, suffers from Alzheimer’s and arthritis, and requires around-the-clock care.

The footage, broadcast for the first time on BBC Panorama, shows care workers feeding Maria Worroll too quickly, manually rolling her over, and hauling her roughly into bed – an action that should have been performed using a hoist.

All five main care workers filmed by Jane Worroll were sacked.

Forest Healthcare, which manages the home, say this was an isolated incident, and that they receive positive feedback on the care in Ash Court, which is subject to “continual improvement.” Fiona Phillips reports.

Forest Healthcare has no connection to Forest Care Ltd which operates homes in Hampshire and Surrey.

Panorama – Undercover: Elderly Care, Monday 8.30pm, BBC One.

The study, commissioned by Ribena Plus, reveals that, as a result of ever busy lives, two out of three parents feel they no longer have enough time to play with their children. Fifty-nine per cent of dads and 42 per cent of mums find they have less than five hours a week to play with their children.

With technology increasingly dominating our lives, it is hardly surprising the report reveals that only 32 per cent of children still play with household items (for example, pots and pans and cardboard boxes), while 70 per cent play on video games and 90 per cent watch DVDs.

Seventeen per cent of parents admit to buying toys and video games for their children to take the pressure off themselves. Ribena’s brand director, Verity Clifton, said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with watching TV with your child, but we feel it’s also important to encourage play.’

The study, which surveyed 2,000 parents across Britain, also shows that 92 per cent of parents believe imaginary play is important, but 16 per cent do not know how to create it with their child.

Play expert Adrian Voce, founder and former director of Play England, said, ‘All parents know the importance of the 3 Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic – but playing comes first and is even more vital. It is the main way children explore the world and their responses to it.’

The research also indicates that 30 per cent of parents ‘feel under pressure to be fun’. However, they are willing to change that, as nearly half of the questioned mums and dads say they welcome support with ideas on how to play with their child.

Parents’ lack of confidence is also reflected in the 28 per cent who ban rough and tumble play which risks kids getting ‘bumps and bruises’.

The Pre-school Alliance said that parents should not be afraid of taking part in their children’s play time.

Chief executive Neil Leitch, said, ‘With millions of people in Britain working longer hours than in most European countries, perhaps this anxiety is due in part to work pressures that mean some parents feel unable to set aside sufficient time for play and reading with their children.

‘Children love involving their parents in play, so it is more important that adults are willing to be included rather than feel the need to impose a structured regime.

‘We accept that many children do spend too much time in front of the television, but parents should not be made to feel guilty if occasionally they enjoy their child’s company, snuggled up on a comfy sofa at the end of a long hard day.’

The report coincides with the launch of Ribena Plus, a brand new range of no added sugar juice drinks.

To download Ribena’s fun and easy play ideas for parents, visitwww.ribena.co.uk.

The brain condition affects almost 130,000 people in the UK.

Dr Donald Grosset, a neurologist at Glasgow University, said he hoped to find better ways of both diagnosing and treating the disease.

Charity Parkinson’s UK is looking for 3,000 volunteers with the condition – and their siblings – to take part in the study.

Parkinson’s is a debilitating condition with symptoms which include tremors, mood changes, movement difficulties, loss of smell and speech problems.

The charity said it was investing more than £1.6m in the Tracking Parkinson’s study with the long-term aim of boosting the chances of finding a cure.

The study will follow 3,000 volunteers – people recently diagnosed with the disease, people diagnosed aged under 50 and their brothers and sisters.

The aim is to identify markers in the blood which could be used to create a simple diagnostic test for the disease, something which does not yet exist.

Parkinson’s UK said early diagnosis is crucial if doctors are to be able to prescribe the right drugs for people with the condition.

The responses to various treatments of those taking part in the study will be closely monitored for up to five years.

Eventually the project will link up to 40 research centres across the UK.

Dr Grosset said: “The cure for Parkinson’s is a global challenge and all the samples gathered from our thousands of volunteers will be available for analysis by researchers the world over.

“This, in itself, will speed up our ultimate goal – to develop a cure for Parkinson’s.

“I am very excited to be leading this cutting edge research collaborating with top researchers from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

Dr Kieran Breen, director of research and innovation at Parkinson’s UK, added: “Finding a cure for Parkinson’s is like building a gigantic jigsaw, but we still have a number of the pieces missing.

“This vital new study will help us fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge.”

Our Experience

Since 1968 we have been providing private home care for the elderly and the infirm.

Our rota system, known as the ‘Rosy Rota’, has proved most successful over the years, enabling people to remain in their own homes, even when life has become very difficult.

Elderly health care, whether it be a Companion Housekeeper or a Carer for those with debilitating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, requires a great deal of personal involvement and sensitivity. This can be extremely demanding on family and friends.

Our Carers and Companions are very flexible and the service we provide is tailor-made to suit your needs and requirements. Rarely is there a situation beyond their experience or capabilities.

Our Aims

• To provide Carers and Companions who look after you with the greatest of care, respect and understanding, maintaining your dignity and independence.
• To ensure a continuity of Carers and Companions that you look forward to seeing on a regular basis. As time goes by, a trusting and friendly relationship will develop between you, giving you peace of mind and the reassurance that you can continue to live in your own home.

• Our Carers and Companions are all very experienced and their details are rigorously checked by the Agency.
• Our dedicated team work tirelessly to plan a personal diary of live-in Carers and Companions.
• We do our best to ensure you have Carers and Companions that you request and you will never be left alone or in distress.

Residential Carers – Live with you on a rota basis providing full or part time personal care.

Daily Carers – Care on an hourly basis providing part time help, personal care, general housekeeping, transport and companionship.

Respite Carers – Relief for family members who have appointments or need a holiday.

Temporary Carers – Convalescence support after an illness or rehabilitation following an operation.

Companion Housekeepers – General help with household duties, cooking, shopping, transport and companionship.

STOP PRESS – Can you provide after school care? If you have experience in child care and can spare a few hours before or after school please contact us.