If you had only 1,000 days left to live, would you want to spend them in your pyjamas, or in a hospital?
Join the #EndPJparalysis Challenge 17th April – 26th June 2018
The End PJ Paralysis Challenge highlights the importance of valuing the small daily activities that can help shorten a person’s stay in hospital by supporting them to get up, get dressed and, where possible, get moving. The aim of the challenge is to encourage and enable those in their senior years to enjoy their life as much as possible.
While there are regional, social and ethnic variations at play, the average man can expect to live to the age of 79 years old, and the average woman to 83 years old. With this in mind, it’s important to remember that elderly people may no longer think of the rest of their life in terms of years, but in days instead.
Hospital Trusts and the NHS are suggesting that one of the small ways to help improve a person’s enjoyment during the later years of their life, even if they are in hospital, is to help them value their time by supporting and encouraging them to start each day by getting up and getting dressed, rather than sitting in pyjamas and letting their day pass them by.
Whilst this won’t always be possible, where able, getting dressed and being active, in whatever small way, can help a person to retain a level of independence, maintain or improve their mobility, and avoid preventable hospital stays.
Introducing the End PJ Paralysis Challenge has lead to:
- 37% reduction in falls
- 86% reduction in pressure ulcers
How can HCPA member services get involved?
Social Care Providers can get involved on the back of this campaign. We know a few people within residential services and some people who are supported in their own homes remain in their pyjamas during the day out of choice. However, the job of a Social Care Practitioner is to encourage enablement, so what better way to start than by encouraging those who are able to get up and get dressed. We know this makes us feel better – it makes sense to us all. This campaign allows us to raise awareness of this within our teams and to remind the people we support the value of getting out of their pj’s every day.
And, it’s not just getting dressed. It’s also about getting moving (if within a person’s current capabilities). Too many people are moved out of bed into a chair and then remain sat down all day. This is something all Social Care Practitioners need to consider – help your staff to think about what they can do to help people improve their mobility, such as strengthening exercises.
This year HCPA have launched their StopFalls Campaign covering everything about prevention and intervention of Falls (one of the most common reasons for hospital admission in the elderly) from information and advice, to exercise classes for service users and education for your staff. Visit the StopFalls Campaign page to learn more and access all the resources you need.
Get involved!
Please join us in promoting the NHS ethos around the ‘End PJ Paralysis Challenge’ to help support the small changes wherever possible to make a big improvement to the lives of the people you provide care for. By building mobility and engagement into each day you can help avoid preventable, and damaging, hospital stays.
Please get in touch by emailing hello@endpjparalysis.com so they can help you register.
The NHS will be reporting on the results at the end of the 70-day challenge. Don’t forget to tell us at HCPA how you are getting involved and the outcomes you’re achieving. We can then share this best practice amongst all members.
What can HCPA member services do next?
Register your participation in the challenge by emailing hello@endpjparalysis.com so they can help you register. Once you’ve registered just follow the steps below to download the app and track your progress throughout the challenge.
- Search for #endPJparalysis in the Apple store or Google Play store
- Open the app and select ‘sign up’ (at the bottom of the page)
- Enter your name, work email address, chosen password, country and name of your care service when prompted
Please note: if your care service does not have multiple sites skip step 4) - To select a Social Care Speciality type the word ‘general’, select from the list and enter the number of beds/services users you have
- Click the registration button
How can you make the most of the HCPA StopFalls campaign?
Take advantage of the fully funded falls education for your staff so your service can help prevent falls and enrol your service users on to the bespoke exercise programmes designed to improve strength and balance. There’s lots of infomation and resources available about falls prevention and intervention, including tool-kits, checklists, risk-assessments and much more. Get involved – visit the StopFalls Campaign for further details.
Email stopfalls@hcpa.info to let us know how you are getting on!