Feature Articles

The number of individuals with dementia continues to rise. In the UK there are currently around 900,000 with the disease. It is projected by 2025 there will be over one million, potentially increasing to around 1.6 million in 2040. Dementia Action Week, which this year runs from 16 to 22 May, aims to raise awareness and encourage people to “act on dementia”.

For Mental Health Awareness Week this year, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, the key theme involves raising awareness about the impact of loneliness on mental wellbeing. What exactly is loneliness, how does it impact mental health, and what can be done to address it in adult social care?

When the pandemic created a need for healthcare professionals to consult remotely to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection, the NHS soon saw the importance of good communications with the adult social care workforce. There have been calls for care home staff to be better trained in helping clinicians to monitor residents to improve the early detection and communication of certain health conditions, especially when the health of older people they care for rapidly deteriorates. One such example is how increased sepsis awareness in social care staff can support the early detection of the condition in the residents they care for.

The Government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities recently published its updated Covid-19 mental health and wellbeing surveillance report. This report looks at population mental health and wellbeing in England during the coronavirus pandemic. Its information is used when deciding on policy, planning and commissioning in health and social care. However, individual organisations can also benefit from the findings of the report and use these to develop their own HR strategies.

To commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there will be changes to bank holidays in 2022. The late May Bank Holiday, which would have fallen on Monday 30 May 2022 will be moved to Thursday 2 June 2022 and there will be an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June 2022. The adjustment will take effect in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Equality Act 2010 (EqA) is explicit in its prohibition of pregnancy and maternity discrimination. Yet, in the period 2020–2021, the employment tribunals in the UK heard 1435 cases of pregnancy and maternity-related detriment or dismissal, making it the 5th most common discrimination claim.

Looking back to December 2019, before the world was irrevocably changed by the Covid pandemic, employers had another issue on their minds: the Employment Bill. This much lauded piece of legislation, containing many of the recommendations from the Taylor Review and subsequent Good Work Plan, was set to bring in a raft of new rights for employees and make Britain the “best place to work in the world”.

From 6 April 2022, parents in Northern Ireland will finally be given rights that parents in England, Wales and Scotland have had since 6 April 2020: the right to take time off following the death or stillbirth of their, or their partner’s, child.

Employers often find absence a tricky thing to manage. There is a need to balance compassion for the individual, the realities of life (we all get ill or injured at some point) and the sound running of the business. What must employers consider when applying absence management policies?

Recent years have seen a growing awareness of the need for employers to address mental health issues at work and to provide adequate support for their staff. Martin Hodgson looks at seven ways in which adult social care employers and managers can help to support staff wellbeing and mental health in their organisations.