Caring for Elderly People may require additional professional services.  These may include:

Occupational Therapists

Occupational therapists help people to find ways to remain independent despite any physical difficulties. They will give practical advice on how to cope with everyday tasks such as cooking, dressing, washing. They can also provide special equipment to help with these chores, and inform older people where they can find the necessary equipment.  They also practice basic medical skills, such as making splints to support and protect joints in those affected in a severe way by arthritis.  They can also offer advice on:

• Employment
• Health benefits
• Cars
• Wheelchairs
• Ways to get around
• How to look after vulnerable joints
• Leisure activities
• Making homes more accessible
• Aids and adaptations.

An older person will usually be referred to an occupational therapist by their doctor.  The occupational therapist may visit the person’s house to see how it can be altered to suit the person better.

Physiotherapists

Physiotherapists specialise in human movement with the aim of keeping the person active and free of pain. They are usually based in hospitals or clinics.  They can provide a range of services such as:

• Hydrotherapy: exercise sessions in heated water that can help to lessen pain and improve mobility.
• Advice on how to minimise the impact of conditions, such as arthritis on a person’s lifestyle and work.
• Pain relieving treatments, such as:
  • Acupuncture
  • Massage
  • Electrotherapy

Physiotherapists can also help elderly people by:

• designing special exercise programmes to mobilise their joints and strengthen their muscles
• demonstrating to the person relaxation techniques aimed at reducing stress and muscle tension, which can help alleviate conditions such as arthritis.

Complementary Practitioners

Older people may sometimes seek complementary practitioners to help with their physical and emotional changes. Before they seek a complementary practitioner, it is important to ensure that:

• The advice of their doctor is sought.
• The practitioner is reliable. Do they belong to an organisation that sets standards?
• They are experienced in working with older people
• They are experienced in working with people with the elderly person’s condition.
• The treatment does not interfere with their medication
• It is affordable
• The number of sessions required before the benefits are felt is discussed
• The client feels comfortable with the practitioner
• The practitioner provides their credentials
• The client is not encouraged to believe in miracle cures
• The client does not stop taking medication or stop any other treatments.

Aids to Communication

There are professionals who are involved in helping older people to continue to communicate.  For example, older people may be reluctant to use a hearing aid. Perhaps they are reluctant to accept the physical effects of ageing or are concerned about the stigma of deafness. Modern hearing aids are very much improved compared to a few decades ago. They may not return hearing to normal, but they will help a person substantially.

SOME EXAMPLES OF ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS

Alexander Technique: This is a way of teaching people to stand better in order to improve their posture and to move more efficiently. In so doing, a favourable alignment of the head, neck, and back can be developed and maintained to reduce unnecessary bodily stress. It can be used to alleviate pain and to promote rehabilitation.

Aromatherapy: Involves the burning of essential oils from trees, plants and flowers, and is considered to be soothing and relaxing. It can be combined with bathing, but is usually combined with massage.

Chiropractic: This involves manipulation of the bones and muscles to improve mobility and reduce pain, by adjusting the joints in the spine and limbs where there are signs of restricted movement. The spine is of particular focus because disorders are considered to emerge from the nervous system. This is not recommended for people with inflamed joints or osteoporosis.

Homeopathy: This is a system of remedies based on giving people very small amounts of a substance that in larger amounts can produce symptoms similar to the condition that is being treated. In other words, some diseases can be cured by administering minute doses of the disease to stimulate the body’s own defence mechanisms.

Osteopathy: Osteopathy involves physical manipulation of bones and muscles to restore normal action to the body and reduce pain.  This is also not recommended for people with osteoporosis or inflamed joints.

Reflexology: This is massage which uses pressure to stimulate certain reflex zones of the feet, hands or head which are thought to improve the health of various organs of the body, or to promote general well being.

Yoga: This involves using a combination of relaxation, breathing techniques and exercise to combat stress and help movement and circulation to the joints.

Acupuncture: Acupuncture involves inserting the tips of needles along the energy lines of the body, which are thought to stimulate the energy flow and reduce pain by restoring a healthy balance of energy.

Herbalism: This is the use of plants and herbal remedies to treat illness.

COUNSELLIING PROFESSIONALS

Counsellors: Counsellors provide guidance for clients and a support system, rather than working with the deeper levels of the psyche. However, there are other therapists who work with people with difficulties.

Psychoanalyst: This is someone who has been trained in the theory and techniques of psychoanalysis.  Initially they may have been trained as a physician, psychiatric social worker or psychologist.  However, it is possible for people from many different backgrounds to train to be a psychoanalyst. Their training will involve several years of personal analysis.  Psychoanalysis is the term used to describe Freud’s set of theories about human behaviour and the form of treatment of mental disorders he devised. However, psychoanalysis has developed considerably since Freud’s time.

A psychotherapist is a practitioner of psychotherapy.  S/he is usually a psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist or a psychiatric social worker.  Psychotherapy is the use of psychological techniques to treat psychological disturbances.  The four main forms of psychotherapy are behavioural, cognitive, humanistic and psychoanalysis.  There are many variations of the four approaches.

A clinical psychologist is a practitioner of clinical psychology.  They may also be psychotherapists, but this is not essential.  They may work in hospitals or clinics or may have a private practice.  Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the application of psychological theory and research to the treatment and diagnosis of mental, emotional and behavioural problems.

A Psychiatrist is a person who specialises in psychiatry.  Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that covers mental illness.  The subject matter of psychiatry overlaps to a great extent with clinical psychology, the main difference being in the training of the psychiatrist and the clinical psychologist.  A psychiatrist has no training in psychology, other than psychopathology and uses the medical model to deal with mental disorders.

The clinical psychologist is not medically trained, cannot prescribe drugs and tends to view normal and abnormal behaviour as on the same continuum.

Role of the Counsellor

Counselling means different things to different people. It is not a get well quick option, offering quick answers, but is asking the person to engage in a process and an exploration. There are many definitions of counselling.  A simple version is that counselling is a working relationship where the client is helped to explore and manage what is happening in their life by making changes. It is a form of psychological or talking therapy that offers people the ability to change how they live and feel.The aim of counselling is to provide the client with a more satisfying experience of life.  Everyone has different needs, so counselling can be concerned with many different aspects of a person’s life. They may wish to undertake traditional counselling or prefer online or telephone counselling.  Counselling can help them to retain their self-sufficiency, build better relationships and help them to make and act on their choices.  The role of the counsellor is to facilitate the person’s resolution of these issues, whilst respect their values, personal resources, culture and capacity for choice.  Counselling can provide people with a regular time and space to talk about their problems and explore difficult feelings in a confidential and dependable environment.

Counsellors do not usually offer advice, but instead give insight into the client’s feelings and behaviour and help the client change their behaviour if necessary. They do this by listening to what the client has to say and commenting on it from a professional perspective.  Counselling covers a wide spectrum from the highly trained counsellor to someone who uses counselling skills as part of their role, for example, a nurse or teacher.

Many people provide counselling skills in their daily lives. However, sometimes it may be inappropriate for an individual to use their usual methods of support. They may not want to discuss their problems with a friend or family member.  They may feel that the person is too close, that they do not want them to know their confidential problems. Indeed, the person they would usually confide in might be part of the problem. Hence, they may prefer to seek the services of a counsellor. Counsellors are trained to be effective helpers in difficult or sensitive situations. They should be independent, neutral and professional, as well as respecting of privacy. Counselling can help people to clarify their problems, identify changes they would like to make, get a fresh perspective, consider other options and look at the impact that life events have made on their emotional wellbeing.

Counselling can help people to come to terms with specific issues. It works best if the client enters counselling of their own free will. Counselling is a specific arrangement between the counsellor and the client.  It is not about making judgements.

There are five elements that must be in place for counselling to work, as follows:

• A contract between the counsellor and client
• A warm and trusting, professional relationship
• The focus is on the client
• A space where the client feels safe
• A place where the client is able to share difficult feelings in an accepting atmosphere.

EBOOK TO COMPLIMENT THIS COURSE

Counselling Handbook Ebook

The engaging world of the human psyche is thrown open in this deep and intriguing ebook.  Multiple case studies help the reader explore this fascinating subject in depth.

Counselling Handbook

by the Staff of ACS

Counselling Handbook eBook course online. Full of interesting case studies, this ebook is a wonderful introduction to the complex world of the human psyche. Expand your mind and learn about what makes people tick.

Are you a good listener? Hone your skills by learning popular counselling theories and techniques.

You will learn about:

• Listening skills
• Non-verbal communication
• Influencing skills
• Defense mechanisms
• Our perception of others
• Attributions
• Convariance theory
• Lay epistemology

(and many more such things that may not make sense now but will by the end of the book).

Contents:

1. Where can counselling be used?

2. How to see behind the mask.

3. Emotions and attitudes.

4. How to communicate better when all you have is words.

5. Theory versus practice.

6. Diffusing difficult situations.

7. Golden rules or tips.

8. Appendicies.

Extract from book:

We don’t know for sure how much of our communication is non-verbal. Estimates vary from 50% to the 80%. Non-verbal communication becomes more significant, the more mixed the messages are. So if a person is saying one thing, but their body is saying something else, we will tend to pay more attention to what their body is saying to us. Most of us are aware that this is a sign of attempted deception.
Meharabian (1971) carried out a study to see how people decide if they like each other. They looked at facial expressions and spoken words. Participants had to listen to a recording of a female saying one word “maybe” in three tones of voice – neutral, like and dislike. The subjects were then shown photographs of a female face with three expressions – neutral, like and dislike. They were asked to guess which emotion the person in the photograph, the person on the recording and both together were experiencing.

The participants were more accurate in guessing the emotion of the photographs than the voice at a ratio of 3:2. Meharabian also carried out another study where participants had to listen to nine words. Three showed liking (dear, thanks, honey), three showed disliking (brute, terrible, don’t) and three showed neutrality (oh, maybe, really). The words were spoken in different tones. The participants were asked to guess the emotions behind the words. They found that tone carried more meaning than the word.

They concluded that:

■Without seeing and hearing non-verbal messages, there can be more chance of misunderstanding.&