Orchard Care has opened a second Reconnect service, aimed at supporting individuals with complex dementia needs, at its Archers Court care home.
Building on the successes of Orchard’s existing Reconnect service at Ashlea Lodge in Millfield, the new service at Archers Court, Farringdon, will, according to Orchard, ‘seek to entirely re-frame dementia care, focusing on what people can meaningfully achieve in their lives instead of focusing on their diagnosis and difficulties’.
The 18 bed service will provide nursing care for people living with complex forms of dementia who are experiencing heightened levels of psychological distress and which often manifest themselves through distressed behaviours. Specifically, the service will seek to reduce medication dependence, replacing it with therapeutic interventions.
Hannah Miller, dementia lead at Orchard, said: “This Reconnect community will provide nurturing, holistic care that focuses on positive outcomes, improvement in people’s sense of well-being, purpose, and independence. Through focused, individualised support, the aim will always be towards reconnecting people as far as possible, to the world around them, to their identity and life. Higher staffing levels will support this, with care that is backed up with the latest evidence. It’s the positivity and joy that we bring to each of our residents that is our measure of success.”
