Group celebrates joint ‘Caring for People Living Away from Home’ project

Time/Date: 1.15-1.45pm, Wednesday 12 March 2008

Venue: Education and Conference Centre, Hellesdon Hospital, Drayton High Road, Norwich

Event: Celebration of first phase of ‘Caring for People Living Away from Home’ joint project between the Trust and Older people’s homes supported by Adult Social Services at Norfolk County Council.

Adult carers looking after older people in care homes are set to celebrate the success of an ongoing joint training project with the mental health trust this week.

Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Services will be marking the end of the first stage of the ‘Caring for People Living Away from Home’ project, after the last in a series of introductory workshops on the morning of 12 March.

The care home service within Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Services department approached the mental health trust about offering advice to support changes in their service provision, as they saw more places being offered in care homes for people with dementia.

The Trust proposed a package of learning based on their own experiences of change and the strategies developed to enhance the practices of care staff, and from feedback received from previous courses provided by the mental health trust.

The Trust then began delivering a series of four workshops across Norfolk in October 2007, as well as a Dementia Care Mapping course, which is internationally recognised as good practice, delivered by the Trust’s two Bradford Dementia Group licensed trainers.

Mary Aldridge, Lecturer Practitioner for Older People’s Services at the Trust, said: “The project team members firmly believe that this is a truly successful example of joint health and social care working, focusing upon supporting the care of people with dementia living in care homes, by engaging care staff in training and practice development initiatives run by staff at the Trust.

“It is important to recognise this joint project, as the wider community of Norfolk begins to learn more about the experience of dementia as the illness becomes ever more common.”

Chris Mowle, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services at Norfolk County Council, said: “With a growing number of older people suffering from dementia, it is good that we are working in partnership with the mental health trust to look at innovative ways that we can care for people living in our Care Homes.”

By working closely with Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Services, one staff member has even been seconded into the social care service to offer on-demand support instantly to council staff. The ‘Caring for People Living Away from Home’ project supports care workers within local authority homes across the county by adapting the mental health trust’s specialist dementia care practice model to related care areas such as adult social care.

website: www.nwmhp.nhs.uk