We are currently working towards expanding our high quality and compassionate care services to other parts of the United Kingdom.
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Physical Disabilities: The First Step Is Understanding
Physical disabilities come in a range of forms, and they stem from a variety of causes. At CompKey Healthcare we provide the understanding, find of ways to limit the impact of, and get support for your physical disability. For most of us, life is difficult enough.There is always something or the other we wish we could change or modify to better suit our purposes and motives. Most often, people with disabilities are the ones who exhibit the strongest desire to succeed against all odds and display unmatched moral courage to challenge destiny every day of their lives! Such people should be inspirations for everyone to stand up and face life head on despite all odds! Whatever you are capable of doing yourself we will support you to do it.
At CompKey we believe that disability is not inability. Enabling plans will be drawn each according to what they can and cannot do.
Types of Physical Disabilities
Broadly speaking, these disabilities fall under two categories – skeletal disabilities and neuromuscular disabilities. Disabilities and disorders of the skeletal system are those which affect our bones and either weaken them or cause gradual degeneration.
Most of the time, skeletal disabilities may be due to birth or growth defects and these account for a large percentage of disabilities in children. Skeletal disorders like fracture, arthritis, incorrect posture and deformation of the skeletal structure are included under the purview of skeletal disabilities.Neuromuscular disabilities are those which affect the muscular and nervous system, causing disturbances in the coordination of limbs, muscular weakness, loss of control over muscles, limited activity, etc. Loss of muscular function and muscular control may lead to spasms and involuntary fits of twitches and stiffening of the muscles. A common instance is epilepsy and epileptic attacks.
Skeletal disabilities such as deformations and growth and birth defects prevent a person from being able to perform the activities of his/ her daily life on their own. Let’s look at a comprehensive physical disabilities list to understand the scope of this term.
- At CompKey healthcare, we understand that learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities – for example household tasks, socializing or managing money – which affects someone for their whole life.
Learning disability and other conditions
Some people with learning disability also have other physical and emotional conditions, and may receive more than one diagnosis. This could have an impact on the kind of support they and their families need in their day-to-day life. This is where we come in with that compassionate hand of support to make a difference in one’s life.Autism and Asperger syndrome
Like a learning disability, autism is a lifelong condition. Someone may have mild, moderate or severe autism, so it is sometimes referred to as a spectrum, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are three common features of autism, which might affect the way a person:- Interacts with others in a social situation
- Is able to communicate with others
- Thinks about and deals with social situations
Autism is not a learning disability, but research suggests that around half of people with autism may also have a learning disability, which will affect the level of support they need in their life. Some people may also receive a ‘dual diagnosis’ – for example, they may have Down’s syndrome and autism.Asperger’s syndrome is a form of autism which also causes communication and emotional problems. However, people with Asperger’s syndrome often have fewer problems with speaking and are less likely to have a learning disability.
We hear from many parents who think their child may have autism, or who have just received a diagnosis and are looking for help and support.
Challenging behavior
This may include tantrums, hitting or kicking other people, throwing things or hurting themselves. Living with challenging behavior can be a stressful and exhausting time – parents have told Men-cap that even everyday activities, such as going to school or to the park, can become complicated when they are worried their child may get angry or upset with those around them.Challenging behavior is not just a ‘stage’ that someone with a learning disability will grow out of. It often appears in people who have difficulty communicating their needs and wishes in other ways. If your child suddenly starts to act in a challenging way, it may also be an indication that something new is wrong – for example, that they are in pain or something has upset them.
Some people with a learning disability may demonstrate extreme behavior, which is often referred to as challenging behavior.Cerebral palsy
Someone with cerebral palsy may also have a learning disability.Down’s syndrome
A person with Down’s syndrome will have some degree of learning disability. During childhood, this means they may take longer than other children their age to reach certain milestones and to develop certain skills. They may also need ongoing support for different aspects of their life when they become an adult.There are some health problems associated with Down’s syndrome, such as heart problems and difficulties with sight and hearing. However, these will not affect everyone with the condition. Increased awareness and better healthcare also mean the health and well being of people with Down’s syndrome have improved greatly in recent years
Down’s syndrome is a genetic condition. It is often diagnosed shortly after birth due to the physical characteristics associated with it.Fragile X syndrome
Fragile X is a genetic condition that affects both boys and girls, although boys are often more severely affected.Global development delay
The term ‘developmental delay’ or ‘global development delay’ is used when a child takes longer to reach certain developmental milestones than other children their age.
A parent’s story: global development delay
During pregnancy my wife received all the normal antenatal check-ups. We weren’t really given any information, except for a mis-diagnosis that scared the hell out of us.Other conditions
There are a number of other conditions that can result in someone having a learning disability - Mental health is everyone’s business. We all have times when we feel down or stressed or frightened. Most of the time those feelings pass. But sometimes they develop into a more serious problem and that could happen to any one of us. There’s a stigma attached to mental health problems. This means that people feel uncomfortable about them and don’t talk about them much. Many people don’t even feel comfortable talking about their feelings. But it’s healthy to know and say how you’re feeling.
Compkey Healthcare will help you to understand and appreciate talking about your mental health condition and feelings to improve the quality of your life. Talking about your mental health condition will help us to give you the best support in your personal care, shopping, cleaning or even arranging visits to the GPs.
Being mentally healthy doesn’t just mean that you don’t have a mental health problem.If you’re in good mental health, you can:
- Make the most of your potential
- Cope with life
- Play a full part in your family, workplace, community and among friends
Some people call mental health ‘emotional health’ or ‘well-being’ and it’s just as important as good physical health.
Everyone is different. You may bounce back from a setback while someone else may feel weighed down by it for a long time.
Your mental health doesn’t always stay the same. It can change as circumstances change and as you move through different stages of your life.Mental health problems range from the worries we all experience as part of everyday life to serious long-term conditions. The majority of people who experience mental health problems can get over them or learn to live with them, especially if they get help early on.
Mental health problems are usually defined and classified to enable professionals to refer people for appropriate care and treatment. But some diagnoses are controversial and there is much concern in the mental health field that people are too often treated according to or described by their label. This can have a profound effect on their quality of life. Nevertheless, diagnoses remain the most usual way of dividing and classifying symptoms into groups.
Most mental health symptoms have traditionally been divided into groups called either ‘neurotic’ or ‘psychotic’ symptoms. ‘Neurotic’ covers those symptoms which can be regarded as severe forms of ‘normal’ emotional experiences such as depression, anxiety or panic. Conditions formerly referred to as ‘neuroses’ are now more frequently called ‘common mental health problems.’Less common are ‘psychotic’ symptoms, which interfere with a person’s perception of reality, and may include hallucinations such as seeing, hearing, smelling or feeling things that no one else can.
Mental health problems affect the way you think, feel and behave. They are problems that can be diagnosed by a doctor, not personal weaknesses.
Mental health problems are very common. About a quarter of the population experience some kind of mental health problem in any one year.Anxiety and depression are the most common problems, with around 1 in 10 people affected at any one time. Anxiety and depression can be severe and long-lasting and have a big impact on people’s ability to get on with life.
Between one and two in every 100 people experience a severe mental illness, such as bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia, and have periods when they lose touch with reality. People affected may hear voices, see things no one else sees, hold unusual or irrational beliefs, feel unrealistically powerful, or read particular meanings into everyday events.Although certain symptoms are common in specific mental health problems, no two people behave in exactly the same way when they are unwell.
Many people who live with a mental health problem or are developing one try to keep their feelings hidden because they are afraid of other people’s reactions. And many people feel troubled without having a diagnosed, or diagnosable, mental health problem – although that doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling to cope with daily life. - Sensory impairment is when one of your senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and spatial awareness, is no longer normal. Examples – If you wear glasses you have a sight impairment, if you find it hard to hear or have a hearing aid then you have a hearing impairment. Life become very difficult to lead, CompKey Healthcare comes in as a dedicated compassionate pair of eyes and hands in your personal care needs. Specialist training will be provided to our care and support workers to fulfill their roles to your satisfaction.
A person does not have to have full loss of a sense to be sensory impaired.What is dual sensory impairment?
It is the combination of both hearing and sight impairment. It is not necessarily a total loss of both senses – indeed the majority of dual sensory impaired people do have some degree of sight and/or hearing. Those with a less severe degree of both sight and hearing impairment may also be referred to as having a dual sensory impairment or loss. The words dual sensory impaired and deaf blind are generally accepted as inter-changeable words.
When a person has difficulties seeing and hearing then the person can be termed deaf-blind. Although it is more common to refer to someone as being deaf-blind if there combined sight and hearing loss which causes difficulties for them with communication, mobility and access to information.
The combination of the two sensory impairments intensify the impact of each other, which usually means that a deaf-blind person will have difficulty, or find it impossible, to utilize and benefit fully from services for deaf people or services for blind people. Meeting the needs of deaf-blind people therefore requires a separate approach.
Deaf-blindness is a unique and extremely complex disability that often requires specialist communication methods and systems being introduced to the person and those around them to enable communication to take place.
Deaf-blindness has adverse effects on all areas of development, in particular the language acquisition process, conceptual development, motor development, behavior and personality of a person. - The word dementia describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Dementia is caused when the brain is damaged by diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease or a series of strokes. Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse.
A diagnosis of dementia can come as a shock. Even if you have been half expecting it, this will be a worrying and upsetting time. It can also be hard for those close to you. You will all need a great deal of reassurance and support. However, there is much that you can do in the early stages that can help to make life easier and more enjoyable, both now and in the future.
Caring for a person with dementia
When a person with dementia finds that their mental abilities are declining, they often feel vulnerable and in need of reassurance and support. The people closest to them – including their carers, friends and family – need to do everything they can to help the person to retain their sense of identity and feelings of self-worth.
CompKey Healthcare values those family ties and relationships and we provide just that. Investing in improving the perception of the condition within our organisation will enable our staff to respond appropriately to the needs of people with dementia, providing effective assistance and guidance. This will ultimately improve the lived experience of people with dementia and help them to remain living within the community for as long as possible.
We provide and deliver high quality training based on best practice in dementia care, providing whole staff teams with common skills and knowledge in dementia. We will work with organisations responsible for the care and support of people with dementia in health and social care, as well as community based organisations whose staff may have contact with people with dementia.
- Promoting independence in the comfort of one’s home.
Most of us want to live independently in our own homes for as long as possible, but as we get older we may need some support and assistance. If one feels there is need for that assistance and support, CompKey Healthcare is just by the corner. We will play our part of promoting independence in self-care and provide service users with the capability to maintain independence longer that can leave them with a sense of achievement when they complete a task unaided. Service users that require assistance with activities of daily living are at a greater risk of losing their independence with self-care tasks as dependent personal behaviors are often met with reinforcement from caregivers. Our care and support workers will respect your wishes, dignity, autonomy, independence and decisions in enabling you to live the life you want to lead.
At Compkey healthcare we believe that it is our duty to ensure that measures are put into place to preserve and promote function rather than contribute to a decline in status in a person that has physical limitations. We are conscious of actions and behaviors that cause one to become dependent on others and we will enable one to maintain as much independence as possible. Providing information to the service user on why it is important to perform self-care may allow them to see the benefit in performing self-care independently. This will also enable them to give informed consent, a vital element of cooperation, in the provision of care. If the service user is able to complete self-care activities on their own, or even if they need supervision, we will encourage them in their efforts as we value that maintaining one’s independence can provide them with a sense of accomplishment and the ability to maintain independence longer.
These are the kinds of services CompKey Healthcare will provide you with to enable you remain in the comfort of your own home:
Getting in and out of bed, Bathing and washing, Preparing meals, Medication, Cleaning, Fitting equipment in your home, going to a day centre, Shopping, Laundry and Ironing, Dressing and all forms of Personal care including catheter care.