Care providers Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare have appointed award winning dementia innovator Jackie Pool as UK head of memory care and programming.
Jackie will be working across both providers to boost quality and innovation in its dementia services.
Jackie has over 30 years’ specialist dementia care experience as an occupational therapist, initially practising within the NHS and then in social care. She also founded a UK-wide dementia care and training consultancy, accumulating 20 years of experience as a director of the successful consultancy.
At Sunrise and Gracewell, Jackie will lead the shaping and delivery of memory care. In addition, her post will see her take up the role of strategic lead for programming and activities across the providers’ UK care homes. Previously, Jackie was south west regional dementia care manager for Sunrise and Gracewell.
Jackie has earned international recognition as an innovator in the field of dementia care, working at the cutting edge of evidenced best practice, and regularly published in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks – including the Journal of Dementia Care, the Journal of Care Services Management, and Nursing and Residential Care.
Announcing the appointment, Joanne Balmer, senior director of care and quality at Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare, says: “We are delighted Jackie is taking up this key strategic role across all of our communities and homes, leading on the vital portfolio of memory care and programming. We are incredibly fortunate that Jackie is bringing her decades of experience – as an occupational therapist, within the NHS, in social care, and at the helm of a leading dementia care consultancy – to Sunrise and Gracewell as part of her new role.
“We are proud to lead the way in dementia care, by offering activity programmes such as Live with Purpose, and Jackie’s appointment will be invaluable to our ambition of providing the best quality care for our residents.
“We wish Jackie every success in her new role, and are excited to reach new frontiers in dementia care quality under her leadership.”
Commenting on her new role, Jackie Pool says: “I am delighted to be taking on the portfolio of Memory Care and Programming at Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare at this hugely exciting time.
“It has been apparent since I joined the business that Sunrise and Gracewell are already two of the most respected names in the care sector, and I look forward to contributing to their continuing growth.”
