FEATURE ARTICLES

The amount of freedom that people living with dementia have in communal care settings to define how they use their space can be a critical measure of how much the staff understand and practice person centred care and support, says Tanya Clover, Clove Care Consultancy

Health and wellbeing are constantly under review at Danish care home Plejecenter Skovhuset

Sara McKee discusses why she believes care homes should embrace a gig economy that encourages workers to be their own bosses, and explains how much could be learnt across the social care sector from the Uber business model

As a care leader it is up to you to help your staff and residents by encouraging the open exchange of views. This may be through training, but most of all it will come through building active engagement, says Jo Geraghty, co-founder of Culture Consultancy

Davina Ludlow looks back at 2016, a year of significant political turmoil in the UK, which saw a continuously changing landscape and agenda, but looks set to lead to a raft of positive developments within the social care sector

Garden designers Debbie Carroll and Mark Rendell, from Step Change Design, carried out research to answer a simple question, ‘Why aren’t care home gardens used more actively?’ The answers they received had little to do with the design of the outside spaces

The Care & Dementia Show, which was held at the NEC in Birmingham on 11-12 October, and Care in Construction, which was co-located with the main event, have been declared a success by show organiser UBM, after attracting 2,459 attendees

When choosing fabrics to adorn seating in a care home environment, you may think it’s more about style than substance, but fabrics should be functional as well as good looking, says Harriet Green, Camira’s product manager for healthcare

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) ENRICH programme aims to encourage stronger partnerships between researchers, staff and residents

Amanda Terranova and Sue Ascott, discuss ways to create an environment that helps to attract, retain and develop your workforce

The care sector is primarily a people business, but to get the best we can for service users, we must embrace new technology, says Professor Martin Green

Stuart Turner, national sales manager, Hamworthy Heating, considers the whole life costs of a commercial heating system

Palle Stevn, chief operating officer at MariCare, discusses the importance of healthcare technologies to maximise safety and comfort for care home residents and improve levels of care

Mandy Clift, product manager, Patient and Post Acute Care UKI, Getinge Group, looks at how a simple to use classification system can help you to identify the correct mix of equipment required to deliver high quality care, while protecting staff safety

Phil Mangnall, Jaga Heating Products, discusses the importance of safe, energy efficient, responsive heating in care homes

Paul Jakeway, marketing director at skin care specialist Deb, explains how strategically placed facilities, ongoing staff education and the right skin care products can help prevent the spread of infection

Karen Clayton, dementia environment specialist, Find Memory Care, explains how a government-funded project to promote custom-designed care for residents with dementia, led to overall benefits for staff, residents and their families as well as long-term cost savings

Gayle Souter-Brown, director, Greenstone Design UK, explains how to design a care home garden to make the most of the positive impact it can have on the overall environment

Andrea Harman, concept developer for healthcare at manufacturer and developer of acoustic solutions, Saint Gobain Ecophon, considers the impact of good sound design on those with dementia in healthcare buildings and the difference it can make to patients, staff and visitors

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, discusses how NICE is defining what high quality social care must look like Our vision at NICE is to see each and every individual get the support they need, whether they are in hospital or in their community, and for people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.