Healthcare | Secure Healthcare Solutions

In the UK, as the age of the population increases, the population continues to rise by almost 10 million people in the UK over the next 25 years. With an ageing population, there is a continuous need for healthcare professionals. There are over 15.5 million people aged 60 and over, equivalent to 23% of the UK population. In the UK, the number of “older” old people continues to rise, there are over 3.2 million people aged 80 or over and this is forecasted to double by 2041. If you are passionate about providing care and support, then working in fast paced healthcare role, can be the most satisfying experience and there are great opportunities to progress.

With a care role, there are many challenges that occur and you are working with patients with various healthcare conditions, there will never be a boring day.

Making a difference to people’s lives
With a healthcare role, it is a great way to get to know your community and helping someone in need. If you are a passionate individual, who is helpful, kind and caring and want the opportunity to help those in your own community, then a role in care could be role just for you.

Flexible shifts
You will always be in demand for a healthcare role. Roles are flexible, which means you can pick shifts right for you. Whether you are seeking a full-time position, part time, or extra shifts, there is always shifts available. This is great for a good work life balance and you are in a position to drive your career.

No days are the same
When working within care, there is a variety of environments and individuals that you will work with, whether care is provided within a care home or home care setting. The experience gained over the years will give you transferable skills and knowledge to lead to better opportunities to progress your career.

Great opportunities to progress
Here at Secure Healthcare Solutions, there is a variety of different roles which you could pursue, we have domiciliary care roles in the UK, which require no experience and it only requires a driving licence. With us, there is opportunities to gain qualifications and undertake training to develop your skills to apply in the workplace and to progress your career. For HCA, support worker, complex carer and Registered Nurse roles, 6 months experience is required. We are here to support you every step of the way.

Roles local to near where you live
As there is a high demand for care jobs, you can secure a role local to where you live. This reduces commute time to a workplace. This prevents you commuting every day and keeps your travels expenses very low.

Meet new people in the community and also healthcare professionals
A care job allows you to meet new people in your community, close to where you live, you are meeting multiple service users and also work collaboratively with a large team of carers and healthcare professionals to network and develop your knowledge and experience to support in progressing your career.

If you are seeking to secure a role within health care industry, then check out our domiciliary roles, HCA, Complex Carers and Nurse roles local to you within the West Midlands and Staffordshire, using our job search tool or contact us on 0121 285 9449 to find out more. Pick up as many shifts as you want and choose shifts around your availability.

Statistics reported by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) outline that young people aged 18-34 are most likely to apply to a care job, 64% and over half the people this age are open to changing their jobs to start a career in adult social care. At Secure Healthcare we understand that young individuals do not have any experience at a young age, which is why we have opportunities for individuals to start their careers with no experience.

For a healthcare role you have to be passionate about providing care and at times it can be very challenging, there may be problems that you have to solve at times.

A care job is varied, every day is fairly different and it involves you being on your feet a lot, compared to an office job which is very desk based. A career in care is about making a difference to people’s lives and there are opportunities to progress.

For an individual that has no experience, and if you are passionate about providing care, then starting your career as domiciliary carer is the best option.

Domiciliary care is when a carer visits the service user’s home to provide care and support in the comfort of their own home. With home care it may be for short periods of time, from one-two hours, several hours or 24-hour care. Providing home care services allows individuals to feel independent to allow them to live a quality life.

For a domiciliary carer, some of the day-to-day responsibilities include:
– Providing personal care such as washing and dressing
– Supporting patients to get in and out of bed
– Assistance with going to the toilet
– Help with preparing with daily meals
– Communicating with service users to provide the patient company
– Assisting with household tasks
– Aid with helping patients get around the house

(A domiciliary care role requires access to a vehicle)

A domiciliary care role is a great way to start your healthcare journey and it can open up an opportunity to become a care manager, alongside the experience, you will require an RMA qualification, NVQ 4, or QCF diploma. Click here to find out more.

If you are young individual that has 6 months care experience, but are seeking new opportunities, then a healthcare assistant could be the role that you are looking for.

When you have gained domiciliary experience and through our internal training and further qualifications, you have the opportunity to become a healthcare assistant, which is when care is generally provided more in care homes. When progressing to healthcare assistant roles, there is opportunities to become a complex carer within a home care setting or within a care home, through our internal training and development opportunities.

As a young individual, if you are seeking to start your journey within health care, then check out our domiciliary roles and HCA roles local to you within the West Midlands and Staffordshire, using our job search tool or contact us on 0121 285 9449 to find out more. Pick up as many shifts as you want and choose shifts around your availability.

As a young adult, you may require some extra support and assistance, while living more independently or it may be that your child is moving from children’s social care to adult’s social care.

We are here to support you or your loved ones and provide care to young adults that require it, whether this is required for a few hours, a few times a week, or full time, we are here to support you. We ensure independence and allow young adults to live an active life.

At Secure Healthcare, we understand that individuals requiring help or support for a loved one, can heavily affect your emotions.

Initially, individuals may feel anxious and nervous or could feel excited and overwhelmed. Overall, it is to improve the quality of life for an individual and it allows you to live a more independent life.

If yourself or your loved one is an adult, seeking support, there is many things that you can do to make life easier. Our healthcare team can support and provide care by assisting with day-to-day tasks, support with arranging appointments, assist with providing medication, support with shopping etc.

Every young individual deserves the chance to achieve their highest potential, which is why we offer short term and long-term care for young adults with complex care needs. We want to make sure that young adults have the opportunity to identify their goals and to feel fully supported every step of the way by our experienced healthcare team.

We know that letting someone new into your home can be a difficult decision and we understand that individual’s needs are going to be different. At Secure Healthcare, we have a person-centred approach which means that our case managers assess individual needs of our service users to find the correct amount of support and care.

There are various conditions that we provide support for:
– Acquired brain injury
– Spinal cord injuries
– Palliative care
– ADHD
– Down syndrome
– Cerebral palsy
– Neurological conditions (MS & MND)
– Stroke & Hypertension
– Parkinson’s & Huntington’s
– catheter, bowel & stoma care
– Tracheostomy care
– Gastronomy care
– Ventilated patients
– Continence care
– PEG feeding

Our healthcare team are all DBS checked, receive specialist training and have qualifications to ensure the best quality care and support is provided. Our specialist care services are regulated by the care quality commission. We ensure our team receive up to date training and are fully qualified.

When supporting young adults, there is two ways that we can provide care and support. This can be provided in a home care environment or within a care home setting.

Providing care in a personal home care setting has become very popular within society and it allows individuals to be close to their loved ones, around familiar surroundings. Another benefit of home care is that healthcare provided is more flexible, for example it could be provided for a few hours a day or a few times a week. The cost of this care is much lower compared to care within a care home. Home care also allows healthcare teams to build a stronger relationship with individual patients.

In a care home setting, care is generally more full time with individuals that have more serious healthcare conditions. Care in a care home setting is more routine based and you can not be around your loved ones as much.

Whether you require care for yourself or your loved ones within a home care environment or within a care home, find out more about our services by clicking here or contact us on 01902 302017

Here at Secure Healthcare Solutions, we are aware that, Dementia care is a growing challenge, and the number of individuals with dementia continues to increase as the population ages and people live for longer. It is has become one of the most important health and care issues faced in the UK.

Dementia is a range of conditions which cause damage to the brain. Damage can affect your memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday tasks. Generally, dementia mainly affects the older generation. In the UK, there is around 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, this is projected to increase to 1.6 million by 2040.

209,600 will develop dementia this year, that is one every three minutes.

1 in 6 people have dementia over the age of 80.

With dementia, individuals will be affected in different ways, depending on the impact of the disease.

There are three different stages with Dementia.

Early stage – gradually develops over time and is often ignored, as it is gradual.
Symptoms include:

Forgetfulness
Losing track of time
Getting confused in familiar places

Middle stage – When dementia progresses to the middle stage, the signs and symptoms become clear to recognise.

Symptoms include:

Forgetting recent activities and individual’s names
Getting confused at home and lost within your home
Struggling with communication
Requiring support with personal care
Behaviour changes such as wandering, repeated questioning and repeating activities

Late stage – The late stage of dementia is much more serious and requires a lot more dependence for care and support.

Symptoms include:

Individuals being unaware of the time and place
Difficulty recognising friends and family members
Increased need for care and support to get around the house
Difficulty walking
Behaviour changes that can include aggression and anger outbursts

Find out more about Dementia by clicking here

Dementia care — Senior man is sitting alone at the dining table in his home, with a worried expression on his face.

We understand that looking after a loved one with dementia can be difficult, alongside other commitments, we know that family and friends want to remain close to their loved ones, which is why we provide dementia care within a home care setting. Whether you require personal home care for your loved ones for a few hours or for large periods of time, we are here to provide care and support. Our case managers work closely with our healthcare team to devise a care plans to accommodate individual client needs. We provide mental support, care and nutrition support, we are here to help. We have a specialist team of Nurses and Carers on call that deal with dementia care across the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

In summary how we can help

We will ensure your loved ones stay safe at home in their own family surroundings
We will help them build confidence and encourage them to try everyday tasks
We can ensure that individuals are eating nutritious meals to encourage a healthy diet
Regularly engage and stimulating individuals with activities to encourage brain activity
Supporting loved one’s families to reassure them that they are in the best possible hands
Creating and managing bespoke plans tailored to individual needs. Whether you require us to be visit many times a day or a live-in carer to be there all the time, we are here to help.
A dedicated care manager, who will be the point of contact for any queries or concerns you may have
Dedicated specialist team, with professional training and experience
24hr on-call support
Monitoring and managing care plans to ensure the best quality care is provided

If your loved ones require dementia care and support within a home care environment, contact us on 01902 302017 or click here to find out more about dementia care.

Working in the summer as a healthcare worker for a healthcare agency can be difficult because of the warm weather conditions. It is important that you stay cool and cool yourself down to prevent exhaustion.
Warm weather can cause health risks. It is vital that you identify the signs if someone is struggling in the warm weather and what you should do to protect yourself and service users from the heat.
There are various symptoms that individuals can experience in heat. These include:
* Heat stroke, which is life threatening illness in which the body temperature may be above (41 °C) within a short a short period of time.
* Heat cramps, muscle pains or spasms that occur during heavy exercise. Generally, you get these in your abdomen, arms and legs.
* Difficulty breathing and increased heart rate
* Dehydration, nausea or vomiting
* Difficulty sleeping, drowsiness, faintness and changes in behaviour
* Heat can affect the heart and respiratory system

Secure Healthcare’s tips to keep your body temperature down
Take regular showers and baths
We highly encourage you to take regular cool showers or baths. If you are providing home care for an individual, it may require you to assist an individual with a shower or bath. Even though it can be difficult during a warm period, it is important that patients regularly have a bath.

Drink regularly
While providing personal home care to an individual during the warm weather, one the most important things is to stay hydrated, particularly by drinking water and juice regularly. On average you are supposed to drink 2 litres of water a day, however during the warm weather we encourage you increase this intake. If you are providing care for an individual, you should monitor their daily fluid intake to ensure service users are hydrated.

Wear comfortable clothing
For our live-in carers, it is advised to wear clothing that is appropriate for warm weather conditions. This could be by wearing loose clothing which helps individuals feel comfortable. Here at Secure Healthcare Solutions, we provide our employees short sleeve tops and clothing appropriate for warm weather conditions. When providing care to patients it is important that they are dressed appropriately and feel comfortable, particularly during the warm weather.

Eat cold foods
During the warm weather, we encourage you to eat cold food, as opposed to hot food, eating food with high water content will also keep you hydrated, eating healthy foods such as fruits and salads contributes to a large amount of water to your diet.

Stay in the shade
When it is really hot, stay in the shade as much as possible to avoid heat stroke and heat exhaustion, it is recommended to stay in the shade as much as you can. Although sun is the best way to receive vitamin D, it is important to wear sunglasses and sun cream when outdoors to protect you from the sun.

Ventilated room
The room should be ventilated to ensure there is fresh air coming into the house. This is generally done by opening windows within the property. You could also use fans and air conditioning to ensure yourself or somebody you provide care for feel comfortable.

As a healthcare company, it is important that our staff and service users feel comfortable during the warm weather. Our staff have been professionally trained to deal with individuals in the warm weather.

Contact us on 0121 285 9449 or email us on homecare@securehealthcaresolutions to see how we can support you as staff or provide home care for your loved ones during the warm weather.

At Secure Healthcare Solutions, we offer many great benefits to join us as a Nurse. If you are seeking a Nursing career without some of the stresses of the NHS, particularly increasing workloads, low team morale, and low pay, then why not join a nursing agency and benefit from higher pay rates and flexible working hours.

Adzuna states that “Year-on-year pay for Agency nurse jobs has increased by 7.9% year-on-year, in comparison to an annual change of -0.4% for all jobs”. Find out more by clicking here

Increased Pay Rate
Working in a healthcare nursing agency gives you a higher hourly rate, compared to a full-time permanent position. Adzuna outlines that ‘the average agency nurse salary is £46,000, compared to the average Nurse salary of £36,000’.

As Nurses are highly in demand in the UK, whether you require full-time or part-time hours of work, then this is a great benefit of joining a Nursing agency work. The benefit of a nursing agency is that you can pick additional shifts to increase your income as a Nurse.

Skills Development
As a nursing agency in the West Midlands, we provide great opportunities for our staff to progress their careers. If you are seeking higher rates of pay, then being an experienced trained Nurse is required. We have a wide range of courses and training options for continued professional development, this is done internally by our healthcare trainers. Sessions range up to 3hrs, at Secure Healthcare Solutions we reward our staff with career development and high earnings.

Flexible Working Hours
In this modern age, we understand that people have busy lifestyles, which is why setting shifts around your availability is important and it allows you to have a balanced lifestyle. We offer you shifts around your childcare or other personal commitments. Whether you require full-time or part-time work, then we are here to help. If you are retired from Nursing, but still want some income, then you can arrange some shifts to suit your lifestyle.

Accepting Shifts is Easy
Selecting shifts is straightforward and simple. For our healthcare team, we have an app that allows our healthcare staff to select shifts around their availability. You can pick up as many shifts as you want.

Developing Healthy Relationships with an Agency
With a healthcare agency, you have an account manager which allows you to develop a healthy relationship with the account manager, so they understand your needs, to match you with the correct roles, depending on your experience and training. They will organize training for you to allow you to progress your career and increase your earnings.

Opportunities for Experience in Multiple Settings
Working in a nursing agency provides you experience in various healthcare settings in different areas, you have the opportunity to work in care homes, hospitals, and home care nursing. By doing this you are able to build experience within specific areas and develop relationships to then specialize in a certain area of interest to you.

We have many Nurse jobs across the Midlands and Staffordshire, offering flexible shifts to suit your availability and we offer high rates of pay. Check out our job search tool to discover roles local to you or contact our recruitment team on 0121 285 9449 to find out more about our Nurse roles and secure a role with us today.

There is approximately around 15 million people in the UK that have Complex care needs, meaning that they require long term healthcare.

What is Complex Care?
Complex care is a person-centred specialist support service for individuals that have a long-term condition, which could be due to a chronic illness, disability or when discharged from a hospital for care or treatment. At Secure Healthcare Solutions, we understand that every client’s needs and requirements are unique, therefore it is important that we provide tailored care and support to accommodate these needs.

Complex care can be provided within a care home or nursing home setting or within a Homecare setting which is becoming more popular, so individuals are close to their loved ones and are used to their surroundings, care can also be provided in the individual’s own home.

NHS funding for Complex Care
Some individuals with long-term complex health needs qualify for FREE social care arranged and funded solely by the NHS, known as NHS continuing healthcare.
NHS
Individuals requiring complex care will be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals to assess care needs.

Find out more about Complex Care funding by clicking here

Complex care needs managed in a home environment
With technology advancing and if patients are in a reasonable stable condition, it allows individuals to receive homecare within a home environment, close to their loved ones. Care will be provided by, complex carers, who have been specifically trained to deal with the individual needs. Case managers and support workers will work closely with healthcare staff to improve care plans and ensure social support is provided.

Live-in care
Around-the-clock support to individuals in your own home, so that care can be provided whenever you require it. The benefit of a live-in carer is that they will understand complex care needs of individuals and get to know routines. For example, individuals that have had a tracheostomy procedure and require ventilator care are likely to need around the clock care.

Visiting Care
This is when homecare is required on an hourly basis, which allows the individual that requires complex care, choose when and how you need support. This gives the flexibility for carers to pop in once or twice a week or for a few hours a day to provide care and support. This could be to prepare meals, help with housework, assist with washing and dressing and for companionship.

Respite Care
Respite care is delivered on a short-term basis, as an individual’s loved ones may be busy with other commitments, or could be on holiday, and if the individual has come home from hospital, you may require extra support to help your loved ones recover.

Individuals with a long-term illness or injury will benefit from Complex Care to accommodate towards their individual needs. We have a team of clinical Nurses with years of medical expertise and experience who work collaboratively with case managers to ensure the right level of care is in place in the comfort of your own home.

Complex Care Conditions
– Acquired brain Injury
– Spinal cord injuries
– Renal care
– Palliative care
– Cerebral palsy
– Neurological conditions (MS & MND)
– Stroke & hypertension
– Parkinson’s and Huntington’s
– Diabetes care
– Catheter, bowel & stoma care
– Tracheostomy care
– Gastronomy care
– Ventilated patients
– Continence care
– PEG feeding
– Tracheostomy care

If you are seeking Complex Care for yourself or loved one, find out more about our complex care services by clicking here and contact our homecare team on 01902 302017

Providing healthcare for a loved one can be incredibly rewarding, however it can cause a lot of stress factors. You can be affected emotionally and physically, as providing care alongside your personal day to day tasks can cause a burnout. You may be providing care around the clock for years or decades and it can be overwhelming, which can make you feel like you’re in over your head.

Learning and identifying the signs of caregiver stress and burnout is important, so you can take action to prevent things from getting worse and to improve care around your availability to improve things for you and the person you are providing healthcare for.

Signs and symptoms of caregiver stress includes:

Anxiety, feeling depressed and irritability
Difficulty sleeping
Drinking, smoking and eating more
Difficulty concentrating and feeling overwhelmed
Feeling lonely and isolated, like nobody else can help
Exhaustion and finding it difficult to complete simple tasks
Frequent headaches and low self-esteem
Gaining or losing weight
Losing interest with things that you used to enjoy

Signs and symptoms of burnout includes:

You may have less energy than you normally have
Feeling constantly exhausted, even after sleeping and taking a break
You have much less energy than you normally have
You ignore your own needs, as you are busy and do not care anymore
Increased sickness, such as colds
Waking up and dreading the day ahead

Below Secure Healthcare Solutions highlights the main tips to deal with caregiver stress and burnout.

Exercise
Finding time to work out is a great way to relax your body and mind and it can improve your mood. Getting outdoors is a great way to boost your mood. Whether it is short period of exercises such as 10–30-minute runs, daily walks or bike rides. A gym workout at home or at the gym can also be important to keep you occupied and clear your mind. Lack of exercise can increase the risk of anxiety and depression. Exercise is critical to clear your mind and negative thoughts to boost your mood.

Getting enough sleep
Approximately 25% of people in the UK have problems with sleeping on a regular basis. Having enough sleep is an important part of you overall wellbeing and can reduce stress and anxiety. For adults it is recommended to have 7-9 hours sleep per night. The NHS provides some great tips to improve the quality of your sleep which you can read by clicking here.

Hobby
Undertake a hobby such as reading, hiking, writing, cooking, learning to play a musical instrument, playing board games with your family or friends to take your mind off things and keep you occupied.

Eating well
We recommend you eating a well-balanced diet to help you feel better in general, this will help you control your moods. It is essential to have a diet that consists of proteins, high levels of vitamins, fruit and vegetables, and it is important that you are eating your five a day, also it is vital that you are hydrated by drinking enough water.

Medication and yoga to reduce stress
It is beneficial to meditate and practice relaxation techniques to help you deal with stress. There is a lot of content on YouTube which you can watch to help you learn about this. The NHS provides a lot of information abut stress and how to deal with it. Click here to find out more

Listen to music
It has been scientifically proven that music stimulates the brain and can lift your mood, lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety. When you are feeling stressed play your favourite music and have a singalong and dance.

Go outside
Spending time outside and breathe in the fresh air, whether it is going for a walk or run or looking at nature, it is an effective way to reduce stress.

Laugh
Laughing releases endorphins in your body which reduces the effects of stress. This could be watching comedies, playing board games with family and friends or going out for food and days out.

Reach out
You are not alone, reach out to your family members and friends to discuss matters. Having someone to talk to and listen to you is important, and extra support is something that you should be thankful for, so your problems can be solved together. As a Healthcare provider, we understand that extra care and support can be required at times, as looking after your loved ones on top of your personal day to day responsibilities can be difficult, which is why we can provide extra care and support for when you need it.

We are here to support you with homecare, whether you require it for short periods of time or longer periods, feel free to get in touch, so we accommodate care plans to suit your needs.

Click here to find out more about our homecare services and contact our Homecare team on 01902 302017 to discuss care plans to suit your loved ones needs.

What is Homecare
Home care services is when care and support is provided in the comfort of your own home and surroundings. In your home throughout the day, you are use to your own familiar surroundings and are used to interacting with people that you love. There will be a time when extra care and support is required which is why we offer home care in the comfort of your own home. With home care, there is much more flexibility, whether you need extra care and support for a few hours or live-in care. Home care is a financial saving, compared to care provided in care and residential homes.

Here at Secure Healthcare Solutions. We provide quality home care designed to deliver domiciliary care, specialist home care, and complex care to the elderly, adults, and children. We are governed by the CQC, with a rating of good, and we work with service users, families and friends, local authorities, social services, and cases managers to create tailored personal home care plans, so we can provide quality care to ensure our service users have a quality of life.

Our home care services are provided by our trained and qualified care team and we have a trained and qualified in-house healthcare team to ensure we provide quality care.

There are different types of home care, depending on the needs of the individual requiring care.

Personal care
This when extra care and support is required to assist with daily tasks throughout the day, which may be because of an illness or for an elderly individual.

Examples of personal care include:

Assisting with washing and dressing
Support with getting patients in and out of bed
Help with going to the toilet
Preparing daily meals
Talking to the patient and providing the patient company
Support with household tasks
Helping patients get around the house
Administering basic medicines

Companionship care
Companionship care is generally for the older generation who are lonely or at risk of becoming lonely. These individuals are healthy to live in the comfort of their own home, however require some company to not feel lonely to stay happy and mentally strong. Loneliness is a huge issue that impacts a lot of people in life and it is important to have somebody to talk to to build an individual’s confidence, ensure social involvement and avoid or ease depression.

Dementia care
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, there is over 850,000 people in the UK with dementia, which is likely to increase by one million by 2025. There is no cure for dementia yet and looking after a loved one requiring dementia care full time can be difficult for a family member, alongside other commitments. Individuals with dementia are likely to have challenging behavior which is unpredictable throughout the day. For example, individuals with dementia may get confused, have angry outbursts and forget daily tasks on a regular basis. With an individual that has dementia, changing routine and the environment will be challenging which is why home care is much more beneficial than residential care, as loved ones are used to the place they know.

Live-in care
Live-in care is having the reassurance of 24-hour care when a professional carer lives in the home of the individual provided care and support for. Generally, live-in care will be for individuals that have a long-term condition that requires full-time care and support. It could also be to cover a family carer that is having a break. It is a great avenue for those that need daily care and companionship, which allows you to live in the comfort of your own home, have a routine, and develop a strong relationship with the carers.

Respite home care
Respite home care is a short-term care service. This could be to support somebody who cares for a loved one and it could be daily or weekly to help the family carer that has other commitments. It may be for a short period of time, while the family carer is on holiday or it could be to provide extra help when a patient has been discharged from hospital to help the individual recover, as the individual could struggle with movement, have difficulty performing daily tasks and taking medications or injections while recovering.

Nursing care
Although care workers are trained to do medical tasks and administer a lot of medications and wounds, there will be medical tasks that need to be carried out by a qualified nurse which requires nurses’ training and experience. A nurse could be required to care and support for those that have the effects of a stroke, Huntington’s disease, brain or spinal injury, muscular dystrophy, motor neuron disease, cancer care, surgical procedures, tracheostomy care, stoma care, and catheter care, which requires specialist training. Nurses could also be dressing wounds, treating and managing skin problems, and administering injections and some types of medications.

Whether you or your loved ones require home care full-time or part-time, then we are here to help. Find out more about our home care services by clicking here. Contact the home care team on 01902 302017 to discuss home care needs for yourself or your loved ones.

As a healthcare provider, where our healthcare staff has experienced stressful situations during this pandemic providing personal care, we understand that stress is a normal part of life, during your lifetime everybody will experience stressful situations. Stress is the feeling of being affected mentally or emotionally pressured. It can be very difficult to get rid of stress, as there could be reoccurring thoughts and situations which you experience or have experienced. Stress can be overwhelming when you are exposed to it for a long period of time.
Everyday life experiences can cause stress, such as work, relationships, and money problems, when feeling stressed it can be difficult to sort out these issues and it can affect everything that you do.
Stress can cause mental health problems. For example, if you struggle to deal with feelings of stress, it could lead to mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression.
Mental health problems can cause stress. It may be difficult to deal with your mental health problem, and also managing medication, health care appointments, or treatments that can cause further stress.

What are the signs of stress?
You are likely to experience stress differently in various situations. It can be difficult to tell straight away if you are experiencing stress, and you may just carry on with everyday life. Stress can impact you emotionally and physically, which is likely to impact your behavior.

There are various symptoms that you can experience:
Cognitive symptoms
Memory problems
Difficulties concentrating
Poor judgment
Negative thoughts
Anxious thoughts
Constant worrying

Emotional symptoms
Depression
Feeling unhappy
Anxiety and feeling agitated
Moody, irritability, or anger
Feeling lonely and isolated.

Physical symptoms
Muscle aches and pains
Diarrhea or constipation
Nausea & Dizziness
Chest pain and a rapid heart rate
Frequent colds or flu

Behavioral symptoms
Eating more food or loss of appetite
Sleeping a lot or not enough
Avoiding others and finding it difficult to communicate
Procrastinating
Nervous habits (shaking leg, nail-biting, chewing pen)
Drinking or smoking

Secure healthcare suggestions on how to deal with stress

Exercise
Regular working out is a great way to relax your body and mind. This can improve your mood. Getting outdoors is a great way to boost your mood. Whether it a short period of exercises such as a 10–30-minute run, daily walk, or bike ride. A gym workout at home or at the gym can also be important to keep you occupied and clear your mind. Lack of exercise can increase the risk of anxiety and depression. Exercise is critical to clear your mind and negative thoughts to boost your mood.

Eating well
We recommend you eating a well-balanced diet to help you feel better in general, this will help you control your moods. It is essential to have a diet that consists of protein, high level of vitamins, eating vegetables and fruit is imperative to ensure you are having your five a day, also it is important that you are hydrated by drinking water.

Sleep
Ensure you get seven to eight hours of sleep, keep yourself occupied during the day, and also meditation and relaxing sleep music can help you get to sleep.

Hobby
Undertaking a hobby such as reading, hiking, writing, cooking, learning to play a musical instrument, baking, and playing board games with your family and friends can take your mind off things and keep you occupied.

Meditation, stress reduction, or yoga
It is beneficial to meditate and practice relaxation techniques to help you deal with stress. There is a lot of content on YouTube which you can watch to help you with this.
The NHS provides a lot of information about stress and how to deal with it. Click here to find out more.