The COVID-19 Recovery and Rehabilitation project was kindly funded by The Rayne Foundation to help care homes share with each other what they are doing to help individuals living, dying, visiting and working in care homes for older people to move on from COVID-19.  This story relates to Facilitating transitions, which is an important part of Developing best practice together.

If you have a story to share, please email us on mhlcharity@outlook.com.

As one care home shared…

Having a loved one move into a care home can be a tough and painful experience for everyone. This is clearly a major transition. For many, the pandemic made this even harder. Completely placing a loved one in the care of others, and not being able to visit at all, was an experience never before envisioned by many.

 

As staff in the home, the pandemic has helped us to better appreciate the experience of relatives. You do your work to the best of your ability, and you care for your residents in the best loving way you can, but relatives do not always fully appreciate this and relationships with them can vary. Before COVID, visiting regularly and having a sense of control or involvement in the experience of their loved ones was probably comforting and reassuring for relatives. With the lockdown, this assurance was suddenly taken away, with no prior notice or room for negotiation. We needed to be there more for them too.

 

During the lockdown, we spoke with relatives more than before. A major focus was to ensure that there was transparency. We relayed information about new and relevant guidance as soon as it was available. We had more online meetings and made sure we were very accessible to answer questions and allay their fears as best as we could. During this period, we engaged so much more with relatives in a way that we hadn’t previously done. Email subscription to our newsletter increased, and so did our social media following!

 

This investment in the relationship with relatives has been one positive thing which has emerged from such a difficult time. Since the restrictions were lifted, we have noticed a difference in our relationship with relatives, generally. Also, staff better understand that families do care about them and this has helped staff to be more empathetic. The trust has indeed improved, perceptions have changed, and there seems to be more understanding both ways between staff and families.

What new things have you learnt about facilitating transitions, as a result of COVID? (we’d love to hear from you)