@elainefrancis
Care for the Older Person Team (& EnCOP) Lead at Northumbria NHS | MH Nurse | PhD student (frailty & hospital discharge decision-making for women) | #Personhood #QI #RestorativeSupervision #TransformationalLearning | Views my own
With International Women's Day approaching this Sunday, our new blog from our Senior Evidence Manager, Dr Aideen Young explores the inequalities women face as they get older in this country and the impact that has on their health. ageing-better.org.uk/blogs/intern...
#sunset #moonrise #whitleybay
"Winter trees were a poetic lodestar for Burns"
'Ev’n winter bleak has charms to me,
When winds rave thro’ the naked tree;
Or frosts on hills of Ochiltree
Are hoary gray;
Or blinding drifts wild-furious flee,
Dark’ning the day!'
#RobertBurns #ValMcDermid #Winter
#NickRipatrazone #HenryFarrer
📣 Pleased that our published paper is now live in JMIR, based on work completed during my prior role at @imperialmed.bsky.social
🔎 We wanted to find out whether videos, embedded within the electronic patient record, may support improved care for older adult inpatients with frailty
#geriatrics
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Families sometimes report feeling guilty when their loved one has #delirium but it has been missed. The truth is that most members of the public haven't been informed about what delirium is or how to spot it.
We need a public health awareness campaign on delirium.
⭐ META-ANALYSIS: Hospital delirium --> devastating long-term outcomes
253 studies, 137,000+ pts:
• 5.4x dementia risk
• 2.8x institutionalisation
• 2.5x mortality
• 1.7x readmission
⚠️ Delirium = a serious acute problem AND a risk warning.
➡️ All pts deserve robust delirium assessment
A wood fern unfurling
An English Woodland Spring is a gift beyond compare. The anticipation only increases the wonder
American professors, who wants to come to Oxford for a year or two? Get in quick - deadline soon.
www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/vacancy-geor...
There are now just 5 spaces left on this workshop👇. It's open to anyone, anywhere & a full recording's available indefinitely afterwards. You'll learn the neuroscience of how profoundly creative activity shifts our brain biochemistry in the same way as mental health medications:
Late winter beech tree buds with a stunning blue sky background
Day 1325 of #IansDailyPhotoChallenge and #HappyValentinesDay
Roses are red
Violets are blue
So is the sky
And about ruddy time too 🔴🔵🏙💘🥰
#inspiringnature #wildlife #naturephotography #MentalHealthMatters
#365DaysWild
Following on from Going DeCaf by Default across our Trust in December, our brilliant Comms team have launched a new webpage to support care homes interested in Going DeCaf.
🔗 Explore the page here:
www.northumbria.nhs.uk/go-decaf-care-homes
I’ll check that out, thanks. We move onto that in workshops, and same day / single point of access services etc - it’s been a really accessible way to help a wide range of staff reflect on the person/system, be aware of services we have in place and how to use these, and what they can do themselves
We also use the Mrs Andrews videos regularly
Piece you wrote years ago about challenging use of language for BGS I think - it fed into our care for older people taught workshops, and evolved
A small posy of blue & purple spring flowers in a cobalt blue Victorian ink bottle
I’ve just realised that the darkest ten weeks of the winter are behind us & just now we’re gaining 2 minutes of daylight each day here in the UK. A hopeful thought 🌿
Four images. the first of a dog with the words "can you feed the dog". The second of a cat "don't feed the cat" the third and fourth have the same AI generated image of a grey haired man in a hospital bed. One is captioned "can you feed bed 12" the other "Can you help Mr Blackwood in Bed 12 to eat?". There is the statement "Words Matter. The words we use change how we see people and the cre we give. Please use "help" or "assist".
Image from the Northumbria NHS Trust's Words Matter Campaign. There are three photos of staff who share their stories on video. The statement at the bottom reads "language has the power to empower, respect, and promote better care for all. using thoughtful language helps compassionate, person-centred care, that supports wellbeing and dignity."
@mancunianmedic.bsky.social Thank you for the inspiration for our recent campaign www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zTv...
For people with dementia, museums provide a unique setting for meaningful participation and the validation of identity and self-worth artgalleryofhamilton.com/focusing-on-... via @theagh.bsky.social
#Alzheimers #dementia #art #museums
All these informal terms - avoiding saying "delirium" - makes care FAR less effective.
Use #DELIRIUM.
Does your patient need you to provide reassurance?
Kindness goes a long way in #delirium.
The tiny silver whistle has now been reserved...🗝️
Photo of a garden with wide sky and sea which feels cold and wintery due to the crispness
Kept missing a shot which did justice to the conversational robin who accompanied me on this morning’s garden potter - the New Year’s Eve winter sun still well worth a share though #winter
I’m proud to say I met my self-imposed 2025 deadline! 🎉 REC ethics review for my ethnographic study on hospital discharge decision-making for women living with frailty is booked for January, and PRISMA / Spider literature review underway - exciting times ahead! Here’s to #Research #PhD #2026Goals! 😁
Today is the day! My #book is finally out. Are you planning on a healthier #2026? Start the #NewYear off right and learn why the world you live in is as important as any #NewYearsResolutions you make to stay #healthy! amzn.to/4pi7oGa #NewBook #AuthorLife #Writing #BookSky
Formally categorised as extinct on the IUCN Red List in 2025
🔴 Slender-billed curlew
🟡 Christmas Island shrew
🟠 3 Australian mammals
🟤 a species of ebony tree and Hawaiian lobelioid
⚫ a cone snail
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
4 winter flowering plant varieties & pink snowberry on white sketchbook paper with their names in hand-lettering and my illustrations of them alongside. The pen I've used to draw them is also placed on the paper
A collection of late spring flowers and nature finds with my drawings of them nearby and alongside, along with my paint brush and watercolour palette in the corner, all on a background of white sketchbook paper
Cornflowers, Nigella, Russian sage and sweet peas on the left hand page of a brown paper sketchbook and my drawings of them on the right hand page. The pen I used to make the drawings is nearby on the wooden table the book is resting on
There are now just 6 spaces left on my botanical illustration & mental health zoom workshop,10 Jan.
I teach you:
🌿how to draw plants
🧠how creative activity improves mental health
I trained as a molecular cell biologist & am also a professional illustrator:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/bota...
But something else happens too. All the time I was there, my neighbours on the ward were two older women who weren’t entirely sure where they were and one of whom very much didn’t want to be wherever it was. They both had chronic conditions. They were incontinent. They were uncooperative. But every hour of every day there were one or two nurses or healthcare assistants or carers who made time to answer their calls, to keep them safe and clean and warm and sometimes even to get a smile out of them. If you haven’t experienced it, it is hard to explain the effect of witnessing this level not only of professionalism and patience, but of love. There are studies that show that for all the criticism and brickbats aimed at the NHS, those who use it most are the most positive about it. When you’re there and watch, you understand.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Dementia Care Partner Talk Show with Teepa Snow
The Fall Paradox: When Safety Measures Increase the Risk of Falling
Dementia care educator Teepa Snow explains why attempting to restrict movement for fall prevention often backfires and results in more injuries.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfYY...
Just 3 pieces left in this collection👇including the Victorian garland of forget me nots pendant with 2 colours of gold & 1920s freshwater pearls,Edwardian nightingale charm & tiny forget me not locket necklace & an Edwardian diamond shaped locket with etched scrolls: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/silv...
