Teams promote community support for older people and carers
An ageing population brings challenges to communities, particularly in rural and coastal areas where older people can feel isolated. The mental health teams at Carlton Court, near Lowestoft, are working hard to combat this with innovative and inclusive support.
Sharing experiences over a cuppa can mean a lot to people when they are caring for older people or someone with dementia.
It can be the difference between feeling isolated and lonely and feeling supported and part of a wider community.
This is the thinking behind two carer groups at Carlton Court and a team working on NSFT's dementia wards and with care homes in the community to improve service users' experience.
The Great Yarmouth and Waveney In-Reach/Out-Reach Service (IOS) has been transforming dementia care with a project to enhance care planning, improve discharge processes, smooth transitions into the community and reduce readmissions.
Clinical team Leader Sean Day said the initiative has significantly improved the inpatient experience. He added: Staff are also more confident, while feedback from carers and care homes has also been hugely positive. Thanks to their compassion and innovation, the IOS team has created a legacy of improved practice that continues to influence dementia care pathways across the service.
Alongside this, the Community Café will be hosting a new Dementia Café on the last Wednesday of the month (Starting January 28), 10am-noon, and Poppies Lounge is the venue for the Older People's Carer Group on the second Wednesday of the month, 2.30-4pm, (from January 14).
Sarah Nichols, Safer Care Practitioner and Quality Improvement Lead, said: "These groups provide a welcoming social gathering, in a safe and supportive place, for older people, those living with dementia, and the people who care for them."
The dementia café is a place to have fun together, talk to others who understand what you are going through, make friends and try something new within a range of activities.
The idea is that keeping in touch with people can help with confidence and mental wellbeing. It's the chance to meet health professionals and people in similar situations and access useful information.
The older people's group is also informal and includes guest speakers and the chance for carers to help shape services through feedback, something which Sarah believes is essential for continuing to improve services.
The dementia café will be supported by NSFT's Recovery College, Living Well with Dementia, Alzheimer's UK, Dementia UK and Suffolk Family Carers.
Sarah said: "Outreach is such an important part of the work we do at Carlton Court and these two new groups mean people who may feel isolated in caring for an older person or someone with dementia can make friends, share experiences and realise they are not alone.
"We will be working hard to make people aware, inpatient/community/outpatients and some of those isolated in our local area, particularly where there is no local provision for those living with dementia and their families and carers."
The IOS team offers in-reach support to service users on Laurel Ward at Carlton Court, as well as outreach to people in the area's 60 care homes.
The team receives referrals directly from the community and looks at psychological support and interventions that can help reduce distressed behaviours without needing to resort to using medications.
This includes an intensive 12-week service for service users who have been discharged from Laurel Ward, which sees the team visit the care home regularly and pick up any issues which may arise. The structured interventions have proved such a success that none of the service users who have received one has needed a further readmission.
IOS also works with people on the ward before discharge, where they gain a detailed understanding of the individual's needs and put together formulations and positive behaviour support plans to smooth the transition back to the care home.
Sean said: "We believe we are the only team to spend so much time in care homes working alongside their staff, role modelling and problem solving while we are there.
"We also hold education sessions and workshops for care home staff, including group supervision around difficult subjects like sexuality and dementia," he said.
Deputy CEO and Chief Patient Experience Officer Cath Byford said ongoing work by the older people's teams was having a positive effect across the Trust. "Innovative approaches like these can make a huge difference to people's lives. Carers of all ages need support too and it's great that they have regular opportunities to meet up, share experiences and just have a chance to chat. It shows them they are not alone."