It has been reported this week that a Dial-a-Ride scheme in Cambridge is on the look-out for new volunteers. Lifeline 24 would like to spread this news and explain how helpful a service like this is for the elderly.
The Cambridge Dial-a-Ride service celebrated its 20th anniversary this month and it vital to the elderly and disabled members of the community. The non-for-profit group helps them to get out and about in Cambridge – to places such as the shops and doctors.
It is reported in the Cambridge article that the service, which costs around £250,000 per year to run, has around 480 clients. In recent months the service has lost a number of volunteers, which does put the business in danger.
Lifeline 24 – the UK’s most affordable personal alarm provider – wanted to share this appeal for new volunteers as we know how important it is for the elderly and disabled to be able to go out to the shops or medical centres.
Preventing Loneliness
Unfortunately, loneliness is all too common amongst the UK’s elderly community. Many elderly people end up living alone and can be isolated in their home, with no friends or family to visit. It can be that they are unable to go to the shops without assistance as well. It was reported earlier this year that loneliness can also increase the risk of stroke or heart disease.
The Dial-a-Bus scheme is a way of ensuring that the elderly and disabled can still go out. By going to the shops they can get their food and general household items which are obviously very important to a person’s well-being. Being able to get to the doctors is also very important during old age.
The elderly can meet friends on their Dial-a-Bus journeys who can then become friends away from the scheme. It is likely that this scheme also takes people to local community centres for hobbies and social groups.
Again, the elderly and disabled can meet new people and therefore make new friends. Becoming a member of a social ‘unit’ or club can do so much for a person’s confidence and well-being.
Belonging to a group such as this can give a person a great sense of pride – along with somewhere to go on a weekly basis. The friends that you make there can become your friends outside of the club as well. You can go round to each other’s homes, go for meals and to the shops. Having friends can make the elderly feel much safer.
Without the Dial-a-Ride scheme the elderly might not be able to get to these groups, which will cause a lot of disappointment and sadness.
Preventing injury / illnessÂ
The elderly and disabled can struggle with general everybody movement. The older you get, the more issues can arise with your legs and back muscles or bones. This makes it extremely difficult to get around if you have no form of transport.
There have been plenty of cases lately where the elderly have suffered a fall whilst walking to the shops, or have required help to get across busy roads. Not being able to walk very fast can make it hard to people to get across certain roads. Having a fall outside can have severe consequences as you could hit your head on concrete or fall into the road.
Of course the elderly and disabled can also struggle with their heavy shopping. The Dial-a-Bus service allows them to put their shopping down whilst they are driven back to their front door. The service also cuts out the walk into town.
This helps even more during the winter months as the cold weather strikes. The last thing the elderly need to be doing is walking around in the cold weather – putting themselves at risk of illness.
Lifeline in your Cambridge home
As well as having the Cambridge Dial-a-Ride ‘lifeline’ for when you leave your home, why not take this opportunity to order yourself a Lifeline personal alarm for your home? Our system has been designed specifically for the elderly and disabled, especially those who live alone.
The system comes in two parts, including the Lifeline Vi Base Unit and the MyAmie Pendant. The base unit needs to be plugged into your landline telephone socket and a power socket – with your telephone then going into the back of the base unit.
The pendant can be worn either around the neck or around the wrist. Both attachments come alongside the alarm so the choice is really down to you. The pendant is waterproof, which means you can keep it on in the bath or shower and also has an impressive range of up to 100 metres. This means that you can still do your gardening and sunbathing in the summer months without having to worry.
If you should have a fall, or if you feel unwell, then you just need to press the red button on your pendant or base unit. This sends an alert message to our 24/7 Response Team who will respond immedietly by trying to communicate with you over the base unit loudspeaker.
Once the situation has been assessed the Response Team will then begin to call your emergency contacts. These are selected by you during the set-up process and are usually made-up of family members, close friends and neighbours.
The emergency services will also be contacted on your behalf if they are required and will be presented with your medical records by the Response Team.
You can order a personal alarm through our website or over the phone with our sales team on 0800 999 0400. Quote the discount code BLOG2016 to receive £10 off the price of a Monthly or Annual Plan.
