Care Home Development
Recognising that managers and staff struggle to change cultures of care through training alone, this area of our work was established in 2009. Care homes can contract with Dementia Care Matters for a one to two year culture change programme known as a Butterfly Project. Dementia Care Matters has pioneered a 'household model' where 3 elements - Leadership Consultancy, Team leader/Nurse Modelling and Coaching and the "Being a Star®" learning programme for staff are led by a Dementia Care Matters Project Consultant. This is a published model in 'Achieving: real outcomes in dementia care homes.'
Currently 56 Care Homes, spread across the corporate, local authority, charitable and idependent organisations have adopted this model. This leads to achieving Dementia Care Matters Quality of Life kitemark and being recognised as a Butterfly Service Care Home. The first care home in the UK to adopt Dementia Care Matters approach - Merevale House - did so from a collaboration between the owner/manager and David Sheard acting as an on site 'Learning and Development Consultant and Coach.’
Dementia Care Matters has sufficient evidence, through many years of delivering Learning and Development programmes, that without project management care homes are limited in achieving the implementation and quality of life outcomes promoted by person centred and relationship focused dementia care.
Increasingly organisations have come to see that this model of dementia care is transferable, with some appropriate adjustments, to all care homes supporting people with or without a dementia. Dementia Care Matters has experience of taking this model into traditional nursing home environments and in developing later stage dementia care.