To reflect the week that has been, Parkinson’s Awareness Week, we at The Great Company wanted to create a lasting legacy in our efforts to raise awareness around Parkinson’s disease. It is with this in mind we would like to introduce you to our Champions for Parkinson's.
A diagnosis of Parkinson’s can impact greatly on our clients, their friends, and family. This is something we see as around 10% of the clients in our care, unfortunately, suffer from Parkinson’s. With an almost 50% increase from the previous year. To put into context further around 145 000 people currently live with Parkinson’s in the UK. Furthermore, for every hour that passes, on average another two people are diagnosed. These statistics truly do heighten the need and awareness for this condition.
Saying this, what we value most at The Great Care Company is the human lives behind those statics. That’s why awareness, staff training and high-quality support are important to us. And it is with this in mind, that we at The Great Care Company are proud to introduce our Champions initiative.
The initiative delegates roles within our company to a team member to be a Champion (or expert) of a condition, in this case Parkinson's disease. The team member will then learn, educate, fundraise and develop our company in aid of this condition.
What is a Parkinson's Disease Champion?
A Parkinson's Disease Champion is chosen members from The Great Care Company team that are highly trained and specialised to support staff, clients and their loved ones with Parkinson’s.
The team members' work will go on to build their knowledge through learning and hands-on experience. They will become involved, on behalf of the company, with the Parkinson’s UK Charity as well as participate in tasks dedicated to supporting the development of Parkinson's disease research. Below is just some of the activities they will undertake as Champions!
Complete Regular Training
To maintain and grow their knowledge of Parkinson's Disease
Support & Learning
Support the learning and development of others at their branch in this condition through developing and delivering training. The training/knowledge received by our Champions can be shared among our team to better serve our clients.
Working Together
Working with other Parkinson’s Champions to improve knowledge, training and support for those with Parkinson's.
Fundraising and Volenteering
Our Parkinsons Champions will be at the forefront of fundraising and volunteering. It is important we remember that Parkinson’s has no cure and every bit of funding raised will go to helping those affected by this disease. This is why we need people to lead this on and inspire others to get involved.
Support Parkinsons Awareness Week
Parkinson's Awareness Week and World Parkinsons Day are campaigns dedicated to raising awareness of Parkinson’s and we at The Great Care Company want to help champion this wonderful cause each year.
Who are our Champions?
We at The Great Care Company are pleased to introduce two Champions, and Georgia and Chelsie.
Georgia will be our Champion for Lincolnshire
Georgia believes the role as a Parkinson’s Champion will expand her knowledge on the disease in order to help others more effectively. She also is a great believer that knowledge is crucial within any role and the more knowledge and training she is given, the more she will be able to grow as a carer.
Georgia said
“I would like to help others develop by training them on the knowledge I’ll be given during this role. It would be good to involve as many people we can to help spread the awareness of Parkinson’s Disease. The ways in which I can help others develop is by further training, shadowing, group activity around Parkinson’s disease and awareness days.’’
Chelsie will be our Champion for Yorkshire
For Chelsie, she wants to support others within the company to help build and develop their knowledge in and around Parkinson’s. Chelsie is a keen believer that gaining knowledge on a subject can help promote confidence to others ultimately giving them peace of mind. As well this one of Chelsie’s goals is to create a professional network with our company focused on Parkinson’s so that anyone who needs assistance with the disease can receive the best level of support.
Chelsie said
‘I feel passionate that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the disease and I hope to achieve this in my role. Within my role I hope to learn more about Parkinson’s disease, as well as supporting others learn more’
How we support people with Parkinson's Disease
Our care plans are tailored to our client's individual needs by taking into consideration any conditions they may have and the equipment required to assist them. This is so they receive the highest and safest level of service.
For clients with Parkinson’s disease, access to items such as walking aids and other mobility equipment can be vital to enable them to maintain their independence.
It’s not just the bigger picture we look at here at The Great Care Company in our assessment of clients and their homes. We also concentrate on the smaller detail such as making sure our clients have the correct attire on (such as slippers or footwear with rubber bottoms to prevents falls and slips) as well as doing risk assessments making sure there are no hazards in the their home.
We guarantee that staff going into a client’s home have the full information about any specialist condition within their care plans. This is so that they have a full understanding and awareness of the condition before care is delivered.
Spreading awareness of Parkinson’s is an important part of helping people to find the right level of support for themselves and their families. This is why we feel it is pivotal that we have Champions for this disease within our company. All in the hope that we can help others spot early signs and assist them to find the treatment available.