To us it is Personal - In the Heart of the Community
Memory Cafe's can help slow down the progression of dementia by staying active, having fun, socialising and keeping the brain active.
As one of the top 20 rated Home Care providers in the whole of Wales it is extremely important to us to be at the heart of the community and to be leading the way in improving Home Care and its provisions throughout our local communities.
But what does it mean to us when we say it is personal…? It means we really do care and in addition to our award-winning care we work tirelessly in the community supporting others with our charitable initiatives and collaborations. Take a journey with us and experience why we are different and why we strive to be the best in our field.
There is no other Home Care organisation that I am aware of who believes it is their duty to provide philanthropy in the community alongside its award-winning care. As the Community Engagement Office for Home Instead and a Key Player in the organisation I know how much ‘Home Instead’ care and that goes for every single member of our team. One of the main concerns that we share at ‘Home Instead’ is knowing that our loved ones are being supported by someone that really does care. This is why we make our care personal and through our recruitment processes we carefully select individuals that share the same values. Our recruitment Officer Katrianna Devlin said, “I would only happily recruit someone if I felt they would provide the right care and support for my own mum and dad”.
We are currently actively recruiting for Gwent and Monmouthshire, and we would welcome applications from new and experienced Care Professionals who share the same care and compassion and want to make a real difference. If you would like to apply to join our team, please click the following link:
Join our Team and become a Care Professional Today – Make a Real Difference
One of our community provisions are ‘Memory Café’s which we run and can help those living with memory challenges and their families live more fulfilling lives, keep active, engaged, and socialised which is proven to keep the brain active and slow down the progression of dementia. Activities we offer at these sessions are seated sports, quizzes, music, and song which can help with the release of happy chemicals into the brain, and a greater sense of wellbeing. We currently run 3 Memory Café’s and companionship cafés across Gwent and Monmouthshire and want to make these more available in other areas.
In the wider Health and Social Care world it is extremely important for us to work in partnership with the network of services that support older individuals to ensure that we play a key role in revolutionising older care and by being part of the team to continually raise the standards and commitments of home care and older care across Wales. We work to build strong working partnerships with the NHS, Social Work Teams, Wellbeing Teams, Occupational Therapists, Alzheimer’s Society, Parkinson’s UK, Age Connects, Local Authorities and at grass roots with Councillors and Churches where we can integrate within the community to help with our end goal of identifying vulnerable and older individuals that may need support and advice. We are then able to sign post and guide individuals through the process of accessing initial home care support and the minefield of information that may bring.
Home Instead are the only home care provider I know who regularly attend regional care and support network groups; I often wonder why this is the case, but it is what makes us different and because we really do care and not just about our service provisions. We care about our local community, and being part of the wider network of amazing individuals and organisations that work tirelessly to support older individuals. It is our strategy to always be leading the way in changing the way we work for the better and learning and growing from others. In early 2024 we will be completing our training to be part of the team of Dementia Advocates, and we look forward to the future in growing more dementia friendly communities in Wales. As an organisation we take great lengths and pride in our work and are committed to our staff, clients and working in partnership to support the care of others.
Caring is a Partnership
Whilst our community engagement is at grassroots level our team of dedicated professionals ensure that they are constantly abreast of when a client’s needs change by collaborating closely with Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Doctors, and Nurses. Not one individual is the same and their needs can change so it is vital that our care changes to support an individual. One of our clients with Parkinson’s disease was assisted to feed as part of their care plan however taking the time to learn about our client’s needs is extremely important to the care that we offer and we grew to know how much pride they took in themselves and learning how independent they used to be we wanted to enable them to regain that independence and pride. In partnership with his medical team, we enquired how we may better support and on advice adaptive cutlery was used. This may seem a small change, but we made the relevant adaptations and with the support of his care professional they were over time able to feed themselves independently, this was a massive achievement for our client, and was only possible by having a close and caring working partnership with our client and thinking how we could work together to help; small things really do matter and this is why our care is personal and why it is important to us to support all of our clients to live well, their way.
The strong partnerships we have with our clients and family are vital to ensure that we maintain an individual’s dignity and respect. One of our clients who we provide companionship care for needed someone for a little company as in the later stages of life people can go through an enormous amount of loss and grief and can find themselves separated from a world that was once complete into a resonating deep despair that can take away the love of their lives and living, and some can even go through suicidal thoughts. We quite often come to meet individuals who have lost their husbands, wives and family, or their family can live hundreds of miles away and have no direct support. They have lost their sense of joy or feel like they should no longer experience joy or happiness in their lives and have an intense guilt that they are still here. When we care for individuals, it is a partnership and I was shared a story by one of our Client Care Professionals Christina Farmer who explained “In these circumstances it can quite often be a lengthy process where we help to rebuild an individual’s life; we start by rebuilding their emotions and confidence. We want them to feel and understand that life is still worth living and whilst there is nothing wrong with grief and sadness, they can still experience joy and happiness”. Sharing company with others brings a new lease of life and it is one of our greatest joys to help an individual regain the belief that there is still more to life after the death of a loved one or helping someone overcome the feelings of loneliness. Those four walls can sometime become a prison when someone is going through a difficult period in their lives, and we do all that we can to rebuild that new life and take our lovely ladies and gentlemen out of those four walls to support them experiencing the world again. It can be as little as going out for Tea and Cake or supporting them whilst shopping or helping them engage in a new social group. These little things really matter as when the world you know is different from what it was it can have a massive impact and a withdrawal into oneself. Our amazing team make a massive impact in our clients lives and the support given can really mean the difference from someone wanting to get by to really living and enjoying life once more.
We know when it is time to find help for yourself, mum or dad or a loved one it can be particularly stressful and there are so many aspects of care and support that often become a blur and not knowing where to turn or who to ask for support can be frightening and you can feel overwhelmed with an enormous sense of guilt.. At Home Instead we want you to know that we are only one call away and we are here to help… We are not salespeople, and we provide unbiased support and advice because we really do care about helping you find the right care for you or your loved ones. We can guide you through the initial process of accessing home care and to help you understand what really matters when you need that extra support. Our team of dedicated professionals are never far from reach and we will put you in touch with one of our ‘Client Care Coordinators ‘ who can come out to meet you in person at home. Home really is best for us all and it is where we feel more comfortable so no rushing around or adding to your stress levels; the worry is shared. Meeting you and your loved ones is all about getting to know all about you and your needs as no one person is the same, and is why we provide extra care and attention to ensure we address every concern.
If you are your loved ones need any advice all you need do is call our main office in Newport where we can direct your call to one of lovely team who can help you get all the advice and support you need in Gwent and Monmouthshire.
Click here to find the help to ‘Live well, your way…
Remember we really do care so when looking for those answers to your questions do not be afraid to pick up that telephone as we are here to help all you need do is call us on 01633 740028.
