Fragile - Handle with care!

You may find yourself in role of a carer – whether it is planned or unexpected, on a temporary or permanent basis.

A child or adult may need your help while recovering from an accident or illness, aging parents may need your help in their daily lives or you may live with an adult or child who has a disability – as result of a lifelong condition, or a life changing illness or injury.

So you find yourself hands on – but are you prepared?

We are going to share some top tips that will make a real difference to you AND the person you are caring for.

Be an enabler not a disabler

When you can see that someone is struggling with everyday tasks, like standing up and walking, washing and dressing, it is easy to step in and take over.  But you know the saying ‘if you don’t use it you lose it’? Sometimes the best thing to do is to offer support to enable the person to do as much as they can for themselves so they can keep as much as possible of their independence skills. Not always easy, and often not as quick, but a better long term answer.

Always put in mind the feelings of the person being handled, and consider how would you like to be handled that way. The experience of being handled starts from the first communication and approach, so body language, vocal tone and approach all play a part. It is important to prepare people for what you are going to do, this encourages people to participate as much as they are able and builds trust and confidence. Remember you may be invading their space and privacy, even though for a good cause.

I was taught always to use ‘paws’ not ‘claws’ – a open handed professional touch, not gripping on clothes, skin or joints which can cause discomfort and distrust.

Fragile handle with care - That goes for you too!

As a carer you are probably focusing on the wellbeing of the person you are caring for - remember it’s important to be look after your health/wellbeing too.

How does this apply helping people to move (or manual handling)?

If the carer is  in safe stance its safer for the person they are caring for too – you are less likely to injure yourself during a move, or to destabilize them or become unstable yourself, which could you both at risk of injury or a fall.

Getting practical

Pictures speak a thousand words, so we’ve also made some short  video clips to show you what we mean.

We’ve looked at using crutches and sticks the right and wrong way.

The importance of a stable position when handling.

Assisting someone to stand and walk.

How to assist someone to get up from the floor, after a fall for example.

You may have been given or purchased some equipment to help you. It is really important that you understand what is designed to do and how to use the kit safely for all involved. It may also need servicing to keep it working correctly. There is no magic piece of kit that works for everybody or in every situation – it is rather a toolbox of different kit for different jobs, different environment, different people, different carers.

People can be very resistant to using aids like walking aids, crutches, sticks, frame, wheelchair, seeing them as outward signs of failure. But used properly they are not a loss of independence – but actually an opportunity to gain or maintain independence. We’re back to the use it or lose it concept here, and using an aid may make the difference to being able to mobilize with confidence, and maintain muscle strength and function.

So to summarise:

Put yourself in the other people’s shoes, and do as you would be done by.

Know (and work within) your limitations at any point in time – it will vary.

Promote independence wherever you can

Break what you are doing into easy steps, don’t rush or man handle

If you are using equipment- get the right kit, get trained and always check it's fit for use.

As a carer keep yourself safe – doing that, you keep the person you are caring for safe too.

If you would like to find out more how I can help, please contact me here. 

Did you get a new Gadget?

Did Santa bring you a new gadget for Christmas, or perhaps you bagged a bargain in the sales?

If so, I am thinking that the main focus of your attention has been on how it works and all exploring all the cool/  funky /whizzy things it can do?

I’m also thinking you probably haven’t thought too much about the short and long term effects that  using your new gadget may have on your body?

What do I mean?

Often our gadgets have relatively small screen areas, controls and keyboards that invite us to close up over them. Next time you are in a coffee shop, take a moment to look at the postures of the people you see around you… Typically, out come the gadgets and down goes the head, with effects can be felt in the head, neck and shoulders. We hold onto the gadget, to place it a level where we can interact with it, and we don’t want to drop it either! This fires off muscles in our arms, wrists and hands that will be fatiguing quickly in this static mode, while our thumbs and fingers are working overtime with scrolling and typing.

So what’s the problem?

If we are doing these types of activity for just a short time each day, we are not looking at a big problem, but the reality is that we spend more and more time each day bonded to our technology, for work and leisure. 

When you’re scrunched up, slumped and static, your muscles, tendons and ligaments are over-stretched, lengthened or shortened and basically over-worked. On top of that, they are having to work extra hard just to support the weight of that forward leaning head and upper body –not a good combination.

The other big problem? We are designed to move frequently, and it improves our comfort, concentration and productivity - but research suggests that, on average, we now spend more time sitting down (9.3 hours) than sleeping in any given day. It is so easy to lose ourselves in our work, focus on meeting deadlines and suddenly realise that is has been hours since we moved from our chair. 

The scary part? Research now shows this sedentary behaviour is not balanced out by taking by exercise – frequent movement is the key.

In ‘Eat Move Sleep’ , Tom Rath states ‘Make inactivity your enemy. Exercise alone is not enough. Working out three times a week is not enough. Being active throughout the day is what keeps you healthy.’

In ‘Standing Up for workplace wellness - a White Paper’ publised by Ergotron, Dr. Marc Hamilton-   microbiologist from University of Missouri-Columbia - explains that “Sitting too much is not the same as exercising too little. They do completely different things to the body. In other words, exercising more will not counteract the problems caused by sitting too much. It may seem a subtle point, but the distinction is key to our new understanding of sedentary behaviour.”

The good news is that the answer is simple!

Here a few suggestions to bring movement into your daily routines – stand up to take phone calls, and walk around if your environment allows, network to a printer that you need to walk to, take a walk and talk to colleagues rather than always sending an email, take the stairs not the lift. Have you       experienced standing or walking meetings – these often have the added benefit of being more focused too!  

These may all feel disruptive when you start, but persevere and it will become second nature.

Standing is like walking - it increases energy, burns extra calories, tones muscles, improves posture, increases blood flow and ramps up metabolism, and is easy to fit into your day.

Interested in the idea of standing meetings? There are some thought provoking articles around –here are a couple to get you started  Meet Until You're Weak in the Knees from 99U ( http://99u.com/articles/5798/meet-until-youre-weak-in-the-knees ) , Deborah Sweeney wrote ‘Skip The Seat And Take A Stand During Meetings (Or Not)’ for Forbes

My key message - small choices have big effects.

Take a moment to think about your posture when interacting with your technology, and learn to build in movement into your working day - your body will love the difference, and you will reap the benefits in the short and long term.

For more top tips, check out my ‘Body Talk’ blog from June last year 

Body talk!

Ouch…what are you going to do about it?

This week I have teamed up with Steph Smith from Pea Green Physio - and we are both passionate about posture!

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin ….

We all spend so many hours of our life sitting around in an array of positions on unhelpful chairs and for prolonged periods; think about time spent flopped in front of the TV, sitting at your desk, travelling and driving. Before you know it, you’ve been in one position for 2-3 hours!

This need not be a painful experience, but the only time we really think about the consequences of our behavior is when it starts to hurt.

Doctor, Doctor, can’t you see I’m burning, burning …

When you’re scrunched up, slumped and static, your soft tissue (muscles, myofascia, tendons and ligaments) are either over-stretched and lengthened or shortened and over-worked.

The problem?

The overworked muscle tissue fatigues quickly as it’s designed for short spells of activity with power to create movement.  The lengthened and over-stretched tissues are holding on for dear life - they are trying to support your upper body weight while they’re stretched to the max! Your muscles work so much better in mid-range, not extremely shortened or lengthened.  As a result of this, your muscles begin to develop trigger points (which are little bundles of de-oxygenated muscle contracting around a nerve end plate - when active they can refer pain patterns along the nerve path) Lactic acid builds up and blood flow becomes sluggish, which in turn makes you feel tired, sluggish and sore!

Your core muscles are much more adept at sustaining neutral posture for long periods of time as they are designed to contract at a lower level and have better endurance. 

Sitting slumped in a BIG ‘C’ shape also causes pressure to build on the discs and causes their nucleus to bulge slightly, imagine a ‘jam doughnut’ if you put pressure on one side of the doughnut, the jam (or nucleus) exudes out of the other side - the same thing happens with your discs! So when you stand, and you try to get upright, you have to shift the ‘jam’ back into the middle, and this takes a few seconds to a few minutes, or not at all if you’ve gone too far and the disc has prolapsed or ‘slipped’.

You’re hip bone’s connected to your thigh bone…

Joints need to be moved because this is how they lubricate themselves - without movement they form adhesions which causes long term stiffening of the joints. 

Get up, stand up, strut your funky stuff!

What can I do about it?

In a nutshell … get moving more often! LIKE NOW!

In, out, shake it all about!

Set a timer for every 20 minutes - when it goes off stand, stretch and wiggle, then take a moment to re-set yourself into a good posture when you sit down again.

Moving combined with stretching is even better, so here are Our super duper magic secret weapon 5 exercises to rock your body. We will be putting them in a video on YouTube too.

What’s a helium balloon and BIG orange got to do with posture?!

1.       Neck and Trapezius Stretches: Slowly move your ear down to your shoulder until you feel the stretch in the top of your shoulder, hold for 30 seconds and slowly return to upright postion, then repeat on the opposite side. Repeat 3 x each side.

2.       Chin retractions: Giving yourself a double chin, draw the head back over the neck, without dropping or lifting the chin, imagine your head is a filing cabinet draw! Hold for 10 seconds, repeat x 10.

3.       Pectoralis or Chest Stretch:  Place your hands on your lower back and squeeze elbows in together behind you, so that you feel a pull across the front of your chest, hold for 30 secs, repeat x 3

4.       Shoulder girdle position, open up the shoulders by drawing the elbows down towards the floor and open the chest by drawing the shoulders gently backwards – and try to keep them there!

5.       Spine Twists: In your chair, cross your arms in front of you like a Cossack position or use the arms/back of the chair to assist with increasing the stretch, turn your upper body as if you’re turning up a spiral staircase towards the right and then the left, move only as far as your body will allow, remember to breath fully throughout this exercise! Repeat 3 x each side.

5 Top Elf Tips to Improve Your Comfort at Your Workstation!

1.       We need to get you out of the ‘C-Shape Slump’ and find that ‘S’ bend that your spine loves!

Let’s start with your chair – Identify all the knobs and levers and work out what they do! We’re aiming to get you more upright, supported in your lumbar curve and balanced on your sitting bones.

2.       Seat Height: Don’t start by planting your feet on the floor! You need to be at the right height in relation to your desktop - with your elbows in at your side and forearms at right angle, your forearms should be floating approx an inch above the desk. If achieving this raises your seat height so that your feet are off the floor this is when you need a foot rest.

3.       Keyboard Skills: Do not plant your wrists on the desk while typing or mousing - think ‘type then rest’ not ‘rest and type’! Getting this wrong puts pressure on vulnerable nerves, blood vessels and tendons which can lead conditions such as carpel tunnel syndrome.

4.       Mouse Work: Try to keep a relaxed grip, no claw grip here! Get a mouse that fits your hand size and is best suited for the type of work you are doing e.g. data entry, graphics, scrolling and reading etc. An ambidextrous mouse allows you to rest your dominant arm if you start to feel fatigue or discomfort.

5.       Screen Height and Distance: Once your posture is correct (after following the set up steps above) your eye line should now be just below the top of your screen .This isn’t exact, it depends on your eye sight/glasses and type of work you are doing. In the case of laptops, use a separate mouse and keyboard so you can raise the screen to the optimal height.

Ok, I’ve done all of the above and I still hurt! What do I do now?

Come and see the Professionals!

Alison – The Safety Elf offer: Normal Price for Full Workstation Assessment  normally £149, for Pea Green Clients ONLY £125 with Code: ‘GreenElf’

Steph and The Pea Green Physio Team – FREE 15 minute ‘Check Up’ and £10 off your first treatment with code ‘GreenElf’

So stop sitting here reading this blog and get moving!

Watch this space –we’ll soon be posting video links to top tips and demonstrating the exercises too!

Paperwork is important - isn't it?

You can picture the scene…I am invited to guest blog for Meet and Mingle. 

My first reaction? Great! What a wonderful opportunity to spread the wellbeing word.
My next reaction? Oh no – what do I write, where do I start?!
And that reminded me of how many of my clients feel about completing health and safety paperwork. 

Health, safety and wellbeing is my business and my passion, but I do know it is not everyone’s favourite subject! Health and safety paperwork especially is a topic full of myth, fear and confusion, and many of the businesses I talk to have started to think of their health and safety activity mainly in terms of the paper trail.

Paperwork is important isn't it? 

It is true that paperwork is an important part of the process. But it is there to record the really important part, which is thought processes and actions that have gone into keeping people physically and mentally safe and healthy.
   

So why is paperwork important?
Here are some reasons worth considering;
- It demonstrates that you have actually considered the risks presented by your business activity and taken steps to reduce them (therefore demonstrating that you are meeting your legal duties under health and safety law too).
-It ensures that this key information can be shared and is easily retrievable, ensuring consistency and continuity.
-and it helps businesses to monitor their health and safety performance, another essential part of the whole process.

And now the how:
That's the 'why', now here are some top tips on how to make the paperwork process easier (and this works for blogger's block too!)

- Involve others – You will gain other perspectives that you may not   have considered and can test out your thoughts and ideas 

-  Read and research -Look at how others have done it by looking at case studies or examples on the HSE website, relevant professional associations or sources of expertise (like The Safety Elf!) 

- Make a start and get something down – sometimes there is nothing scarier than a blank piece of paper!
- Only write it if you believe it to be true – this is not a work of fiction, and in health and safety terms there is absolutely no point in putting effort into producing a document that has no bearing on reality.
- Make it relevant and accessible to your target audience – think about the language and style you are using to present the information. Does it fit with the ‘where, how and who’ of its use?
- Don’t forget the review part – people may give you feedback, you may become aware of new information or there may be changes (e.g. in legislation, in your business activity, premises or staffing). They all present great opportunities to review, and maybe improve, what you are doing.
 
Remember, the paperwork is only recording the really important part – the things you are doing to make a difference to the health, safety and wellbeing for you, your employees and your clients and customers.
 
So next time you are having a paperwork panic or even facing blogger's block, I hope you will find this advice helpful - I would love to hear your thoughts or questions.
 
For more top tips on making health, safety and wellbeing a positive experience please do get in touch with The Safety Elf.  

Are your communications really communicating?

I'm still buzzing from the thrill of being at the final glorious day of Olympic Dressage. As horse and rider seemingly danced around the arena, I heard so many people asking "How do they do it?"

As a rider I know it involves hours of training, technical understanding and skill. But even more crucially there must be trust and communication. Those moments of harmony between horse and rider are one of the true joys of riding for me.

The horse doesn't have to do what you ask - if you get into a battle of strength with a horse to get what you want, you will lose as they always have the size and strength advantage. You need to build up the horses’ confidence and trust that you are not going to do anything that hurts or scares them and communicate what you want in a way they understand if you hope to have a partner working with you rather than against you.

Don't stop reading if you're not interested in learning to ride - I think there is a much wider lesson to learn here about the communication within organisations. Unsurprisingly, being The Safety Elf, I am going to reflect on how organisations typically communicate health and safety messages.

• Using the whip – a ‘Do as we say or face the consequences’ approach 
• A battle of wills isn’t always the best approach with people or horses. You need to take time to understand the perspective from all who are involved and impacted by the decisions if you hope to get buy-in and a sense of ownership in the outcome. 

• Being inconsistent – or ‘Do it this way when the boss is looking’  
• You won’t get a perfect 10 in a dressage test if you do something different every time you practice a technical dressage movement. People won’t behave in the way your safety systems prescribe if there is no consistent message that everyone does it the right way everytime, no matter who they are or who is looking. 

• I’ve told them there’s a problem - but it makes no difference  
• People and horses work best when they feel valued. If people feel that their voice isn’t heard when it comes to decisions about safety, they are much less likely to respond to the rules in the way you expect or to let you know when there are issues that really do need your attention. 

• Creatures of habit        
• Horses and people are creatures of habit, so don’t underestimate the impact (and resistance) when introducing changes.

These are just a few examples – I hope you will share some of your own. 

If you would like to know more about the psychology of risk, then I recommend you check out the work of Dr Robert Long.

In summary – I recommend adding ‘horse sense’ to your common sense!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts…