Relationship Centred Care™

Our approach to care provision

We have adopted “relationship centred care” as our principal approach to care provision. We seek to integrate this into all aspects of our operations, with the aim of building stronger relationships between residents, staff, relatives, friends, etc.

The concept of Relationship Centred Care takes the well established concept of Person Centred Care one step further with the recognition that to enable residents to be happy and fulfilled, we need to understand their past and present relationships with others. It is not just their relationships with staff that are important but also their relationships with family members and other care professionals.

In short, Relationship Centred Care reflects the importance of interactions among people and recognises that these provide the foundation of any therapeutic care activity.

For residents in a social care environment, relationship centred care can be illustrated by a “relationship triangle”. This illustrates “the third dimension” in which care staff and family/friends develop relationships directly with each other, in addition to their traditional relationships with residents.

In order to develop this third dimension, some of our recent initiatives are as follows:

Residents’ Life Histories

These are an excellent way to get to know the residents better.They empower residents to talk about their memories and give them a chance to contribute and feel involved.They are also beneficial
to staff by helping them to understand the residents’ care needs from a much wider perspective.Where possible, the histories are compiled by friends and families and they ideally include testimonials
by significant people in residents’ earlier lives.

Contact with wider family & friends

When residents move into care, it is often difficult for relationships with their wider family and friends to be maintained.In order to help them to keep in touch, our aim is to maintain contact details for all residents’ children and grand-children. These can then be used for party invitations, newsletters and updates on residents’ social programmes.We are placing particular emphasis on building relationships with residents’ grand-children (usually in their 20’s/30’s), as residents really value contact with them and this age group is often reluctant to visit care facilities.

Secure on-line access to Care Plans and Daily Reports to relatives and friends (subject to the necessary consents)

Residents’ care plans and daily reports are fully computerised and we have developed a facility for relatives and friends to view all the residents’ records at any time (and from anywhere!) using a secure on-line link.This is strictly subject to the resident’s consent or to a “best interest decision” on their behalf.Relatives are finding that having on-line access really helps them to maintain on-going contact and to maintain much stronger relationships with both the residents and staff.

Regular e-Newsletters

Having built a wide contact base of residents’ relatives and friends, the use of email provides efficient distribution of regular news updates and allows it to be read much more widely (particularly by grand children and outside professionals).

Our Aims

Our fundamental aim is to offer an excellent quality of care in our homes providing not only the physical support which may be required but also spiritual and emotional support. In order to achieve maximum efficiency the homes are run on sound business principles but we seek to offer a soft family atmosphere.

Graham Care has grown progressively since 1996. As the homes are entirely family owned there are no short term financial pressures from external investors, thus making Graham Care a more secure and viable business.

It is the objective of our homes that those residents who live in the homes should do so with dignity, have the respect of those who support them and be entitled to live a full and active life, given the fundamental right to self-determination and individuality and to achieve their full potential. This is best achieved by sensitive recognition and nurturing of that potential in each individual and understanding that this may change with time. In order to ensure that this happens each resident’s care is planned individually.

The care in the homes will not be institutionalised by the requirements of the staff. These basic rights are accorded to all residents in our care without discrimination between one resident group and another. Programmes of activities will be provided to encourage mental alertness, self-esteem, and social interaction with other residents.

Management Structure

We have a devolved management structure with the Home Manager at the centre. The Managers are empowered to run the homes on a day to day basis with complete responsibility for budgetary control. Ernie, as Owner/Director offers a personal support and coaching role, visiting the homes on a weekly basis and attending the monthly management meetings. Dr Karen Graham works alongside Ernie in an advisory role and assists in the interior design of each home. The Grahams and their children attend key events at the homes.

To assist the Managers in their role support is offered in key areas. A design and project management team work on new developments whilst building maintenance is provided by in-house maintenance personnel. Each home employs a Financial Administrator who sees the manager every day and who is turn is supported by the central Management Accountant. External training resources are provided to each home for staff training and development.

Internal Quality Consultants offer support for quality initiatives such as facilitating the achievement of quality standards and carrying out regular internal audits. We recognise that Increasing regulatory and statutory requirements mean that Managers can be under quite intense pressure to deliver an efficient service on all fronts and they are therefore free to call upon the services of the Consultants whenever support and assistance are required.