Orchard Care Homes has opened a fourth Reconnect community to support people with complex dementia care needs at its Paisley Lodge Care Home in Armley.
Paisley Lodge’s Reconnect community combines cutting-edge dementia care practice and a first-class training programme for its care team.
Orchard Care Homes seeks to re-frame dementia care through its ‘Dementia Promise’ initiative, launched last month. It aims to focus on people’s strengths, abilities and what they can meaningfully achieve in their lives, instead of focusing on their diagnosis and difficulties.
With the capacity to care for 18 people, the Reconnect community will provide care for people living with complex needs arising from their experience of living with dementia, who often experience heightened levels of psychological distress.
The service will aim to reduce the dependence on psychotropic medication; through support focused on who the person is, striving for people to live life to the full.
Hannah Miller, Dementia Lead at Orchard Care Homes, said: “As we have seen from the success of our three other Reconnect Communities, the need for specialist, people-focused dementia care is essential.
“Our Dementia Promise focuses on breaking the mould of traditional dementia care which often relies upon medication without looking to reconnect them in a more holistic and nurturing way.”
Orchard Care Homes’ ‘Dementia Promise’ aims to lead change in dementia care internally and externally through its work on raising awareness of changes that are needed in approach and discourse, extensive training programme, pain management initiatives, driving down reliance on psychotropic medication, reducing anticholinergic burden and continually updating its approach with the latest evidence that contribute to people living well with dementia.
