How we are incorporating family centred care into our home
In the 21st century, person-centred care has become the focus of care offerings across many homes around the world. Nurses are no longer focusing their attention solely on the illness/condition; rather, they take into account the whole person, considering their personal needs and interests to take a more holistic approach to care.
At Huntington and Langham Estate, we have looked at what it means to shift towards a more ‘family-centred’ approach to care. As a family owned and operated home, we’re certainly no stranger to embracing close personal connections; but what if we were to incorporate more of this into our style of care?
How the Coronavirus changed our approach to care
Having experienced the Coronavirus pandemic; during this time we saw amazing examples of how families were still being involved in the lives of family members living on the estate, and how care homes have played the part of families themselves. So, with this in mind, how can care homes embrace more family living?
More Involvement From Relatives
From spending time with our residents’ relatives at the estate, we’ve discovered the wide variety of expertise and experience that we can tap into. From landscape designers to professionals in security and occupational therapy, the valuable conversations we’ve had with our residents’ families have really inspired us to incorporate their experiences into the running of our home – especially in cases where this expertise is not present in-house.
In some cases, our residents’ relatives have actually taken hands-on roles within our home; for example, we had a lady who came to help us with our gardening. The son of a resident, too, who was working in security, came to visit and very kindly conducted an external audit of our home, to see where there may be holes in our security and safety. He then helped us pull together a plan that would create a safer home for us all.
These are just a couple of the amazing examples where family members (even when they haven’t been able to visit their loved one), have still been able to provide input and remain invested in our home.
A Community-Run Care Home
At the estate, it’s so important to us that we instil our family ethos into everything we do. That’s why we love the idea of a community-run home; one that’s regulated and maintained by the wealth of expertise and experience that sits on our very doorstep.
Making Our Residents Champions
We have an amazing range of talent living with us at the estate; from artists to interior designers and nurses, that hold a lifetime of expertise and knowledge in their field.
Many care homes across the country have ‘champions’ amongst their staff; such as champions of infection control and champions of dignity. At the estate, we want to make champions amongst our residents, too.
Some of our talented residents have already made a positive impact in our home; our resident artist, for example, who has created visual displays in the lounge areas with their beautiful work. We have a resident interior designer, too, who has helped us create mood boards for our home.
Giving our residents the opportunity to provide input to the upkeep of our home has provided them with a real sense of purpose.
On days gone by where it was, in some cases, a struggle to encourage our residents to take part in activities, it seems that giving them the opportunity to use their expertise in a creative way has acted as a real source of inspiration and motivation for them.
Sharing Experiences Between Staff and Residents
At the estate, we have staff celebrating significant life events – from getting married, to having children. And of course, many of our residents themselves have experienced these at some point in their lives. We’d love to see more instances of our staff and residents sharing their experiences with each other, further encouraging closer family connections.
Family centred care
The term ‘person-centred care’, certainly throughout the past few years, has become a term that we all know and use. Whilst it’s nevertheless an incredibly important approach when it comes to designing care plans, there is often the danger of focusing too much on the individual, when in fact, more focus could be placed on the people closest to them.
However, ‘family-oriented care’ refers not only to immediate family; it also refers to connections with the people around us in our wider community, and taking the time to appreciate and integrate their passions and expertise into our home.
If you’d like to find out more about us, or you’d like to share your views on the concept of family-oriented care, please feel free to have a chat with a member of our team, or share your views on our social channels.