Myhomecare Education Newsletter for August

Psoriasis Awareness month

August is Psoriasis Awareness month and is used as an opportunity to educate and inform people on a range of topics varying from treatment, causes, triggers and management of the inflammatory and often irritating disease.

The cause of psoriasis is still unknown, but specialists do know that it is largely affected by the immune system and genetics.

Affecting men and women, all races and all ages, the disease can display on a variety of body parts at any given time therefore it is important to understand what you can do about it as and when you are affected by it. Learning to successfully manage treatment can take a long period of time but there are many ways in which the disease can be controlled and treated.

Whether you chose to do this via medication, holistic, complementary and alternative approaches, dietary control or lifestyle choices is down to each individual but there is a huge amount of support and information available enabling you to find the best solution.

An often irritating and sometimes challenging disease, we hope you can find support to manage the symptoms successfully. The National Psoriasis Foundation website has lots of useful information to guide you. Also please see below sone other helpful links.
https://irishskin.ie/psoriasis/
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/psoriasis/treatment/

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a condition that affects the airways- the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. In asthma, the airways become over-sensitive; meaning that they react to things that wouldn’t usually cause a problem, such as cold air or dust.

When the airways react to a substance, the muscles of the tube walls tighten up, making them narrow and leaving little room for air to flow in and out. The lining of the airways then gets swollen (just like your nose during a cold) and sticky mucus is produced which clogs up the breathing passages.

With so little space in the airways, it becomes difficult for air to move in and out and the chest has to work much harder to breathe. Tightening of the muscles around the airways can happen quickly; this is the most common cause of mild asthma symptoms.

Thankfully, this tightness can be relieved quickly with a reliever inhaler (usually blue). However, the swelling and mucus happen more slowly and need a different treatment. This usually is usually a preventer inhaler which is taken daily to allow the effect to build up over time.

The majority of people with asthma are prescribed a daily preventer inhaler to protect against an asthma attack and a reliever inhaler to use when symptoms occur. It is extremely important that preventer medication is taken regularly, as prescribed and even when asthma symptoms are not present.

What causes Asthma?
We still don't know the exact cause of asthma, but we do know that:

Anyone can develop asthma but it is particularly common in Ireland, where over 380,000 adults and children have the condition.
Asthma often begins in childhood but it can start at any age.
Asthma runs in families e.g. if you have parents or brother and sisters with asthma then you are more likely to have it yourself.
If you or your family members have hay fever or eczema you are more likely to develop asthma.
Adult onset asthma can develop after a respiratory tract infection (colds, flu, chest infections).
It's thought that modern changes to housing, diet and cleanliness may have contributed to the rise in asthma over the last few decades
Asthma is not infectious.
Smoking during pregnancy or exposing a child to tobacco smoke will increase their risk of developing asthma.
Being overweight increases the risk of developing asthma.
Some children lose their symptoms as they grow older but asthma is a chronic disease so it never goes away and symptoms can come back later in life.

Some Helpful Resources:
https://www.asthma.ie/home
https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/cspd/ncps/asthma/asthma-ireland/
https://www.facebook.com/asthmasociety

Key take home messages for the month on your role:

Be punctual and arrive on time
Ensure to adhere to the policies, procedures and guidelines within the company
Treat others with respect including the client, families and your work colleagues in the community
Keep up to date with your learning and courses within the company and also on continuing professional development courses.
Ensure uniform and ID badge are worn at all time

Staff Wellness 💙

At Myhomecare, our priority is our staff's health and wellbeing.

Did you know August is National Wellness Month?
This means focusing on self-care, managing stress and creating wholesome habits in your lifestyle for the month of August.

Read the Myhomecare blog on how to celebrate wellbeing, self-care and healthy habits:
https://myhomecare.ie/advice-for-older-people/a-month-of-wellness-celebrating-wellbeing-self-care-and-healthy-habits/

We have our Introduction to dementia and intellectual disability courses available in myhomecare. These links can be found on our myhomecare website under staff training! Please also check out your HSE land courses in relation to infection control and other related topics to your clients care.

Coronavirus ~ COVID-19 🦠

All the information you need regarding COVID-19.

In relation to Covid-19 ensure you are kept up to date on the most recent guidance from the HSE & HSPC websites. Remember:

•  All staff must wear gloves, apron and FFP2 mask for all visits in a client’s home. Correct donning and doffing of PPE must be completed on entering and leaving the home. Change of PPE if needed between tasks such as personal case is permitted once clean PPE is put on.

•  Handwashing must be completed on entering the home and leaving. In between tasks carried out

•  All carers are to wear enhanced PPE (FFP2 Mask, goggles/visors, full gowns, gloves) when working with a client who is Covid positive. Please contact your local client care manager/nurse manager so this can be provided to you. If you are made aware a client is awaiting a test result or is symptomatic, we can provide full PPE in the interim. If negative result basic PPE then will resume.

•  All your clothes should be washed daily using a minimum 60 degree cycle. If possible, leave your work shoes outside or in the car.

Please remember to self-monitor for COVID symptoms minimum twice daily as per guidelines. If you have a sore throat, blocked/runny nose, cough, aches/pain, tiredness/fatigue, loss of taste/smell, severe headache or any other unusual symptom please contact your GP and Myhomecare immediately for advice before continuing your client calls.

You must inform the office if you are displaying any symptoms of Covid-19, are a close contact or have received a positive antigen test.

You can visit our website www.myhomecare.ie for more information

There are also helpful links are outlined below with guidance and video resources available

https://myhomecare.ie/covid-19/
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/close-contact/

https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/

https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/

One Touch Health

It is important that you record your tasks and care provided in the notes section daily for each client. This is an essential requirement and is part of your carer & nursing duties. If you have any issues using the system, please contact your local team who will be happy to help!

Refer A Friend 💶