acquired brain injury Archives

Many of us who are fortunate to have a garden are giving it much more attention since the Coronavirus restrictions started. The gardens in our specialist care homes are no exception. Not only are the gardens benefiting from extra TLC, so are our service users.

All of our homes have large gardens and/or outdoor space that is used for a variety of activities, depending on the needs and preferences of service users.

The Mews – home for adults with acquired brain injury

One of our service users had taken ownership of some raised flowerbeds, which had been neglected, and as we’re all confined to the home and garden, he had some helpers. He trusted Ebony and Paige (two of our Admissions & Referrals Co-ordinators) along with another service user to get involved. They revamped the whole patch: dug, weeded, replanted some of the existing plants and added new ones. They planted herbs and vegetables as well as sowing some seeds.

Everyone enjoyed it, and one of the guys who suffered low mood said he had a really great day. Research, as well as anecdotal evidence, has shown that gardening activity has many well-being benefits – it’s mindful and calming, reducing stress and the symptoms of anxiety. It’s a meaningful activity, providing focus and hope – seeing plants grow and develop gives us something to look forward to in these uncertain times. In addition, neurological injury can impact on the brain’s ability to control physical movements, so weeding and planting seeds, for example, can help to improve fine motor skills.

The large garden at The Mews was perfect for our Easter treasure hunt and is also used for a wide range of games and activities.

The Coach House – home for adults with acquired brain injury

Adjacent to The Mews, service users at The Coach House have access to all of the gardens. They also have their own outside space with patios next to some of the bedrooms and a lovely sunny terrace at the front of the home. The service users have been enjoying the sunshine – having lunch outside, playing giant noughts and crosses, listening to the birds and enjoying nature.

144 Boughton Green Road – long-term home for men with acquired brain injury

The large rear garden has a big lawn, which is great for football, badminton, croquet and outdoor darts. Families have been very supportive and donated some outdoor games, including giant Snakes & Ladders and Jenga. The patio is perfect for sitting in the sun and chilling out – just being outside has benefits of engaging all the senses, Vitamin D absorption, improving sleep and general well-being. We also have some extra gazebos, so there is plenty of shade and the guys have been eating alfresco when the weather’s been good. We had a barbecue one Friday and everyone really enjoyed themselves. One of the service users was the DJ for the day, and has now nominated himself as the home’s DJ!

There’s also been plenty of gardening activity – we’ve started a vegetable and herb garden, sowing seeds, and potting up plants. We’re hoping to grow potatoes, carrots, sweetcorn, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and chillies.

23 Duston Road – home for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs

The back garden at Duston Road has a summerhouse, trampoline, tables and chairs, so can be enjoyed for a variety of activities. There was great joy recently when Martin the Music Man came to visit. He usually comes to the home every week, but had stopped coming because of social distancing rules. However, an improvement in the weather meant that he could play his guitar and sing, while maintaining a social distance. The guys and girls were really pleased to see him and he spread some musical cheer to everyone at the home.

2 & 8 Kingsthorpe Grove – homes for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs

The garden and patio provide some lovely outside space for games and other activities. However, the service users’ favourite thing at the moment is our new shop! They are all missing their trips to the local shops and cafes so we’ve converted the summerhouse. Tables and chairs are set up in the garden and they are all loving it.

We are trying to provide a sense of normality and routine, as well as some fun, during these difficult times. Outdoor space (especially when the weather is good) gives us additional opportunities to do this. A whole range of activities contribute to well-being and rehabilitation in a number of ways from enhancing mood to improving physical skills.

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We often receive lovely comments from both family members and professionals about the specialist residential care that we provide, especially after they have been to visit their loved one or client. Here is a small selection from last month:

“Thank you for managing so much. It’s hard not having him near us, but knowing he is improving is the main thing” – family member
“I cannot say how good getting him to shower has been, that in itself is a great achievement. Thank you for keeping in touch”– family member
“I had a lovely visit with [him] on Sunday.” – family member
“Thanks for the warm welcome from you and your team” – Clinical Co-ordinator
“We had a really good visit, lunch [at the home] was first class.” – Case Manager

These comments relate to service users with acquired brain injury, but we have the same focus on quality of care for everybody, whether they have learning disabilities, acquired brain injury, dual diagnosis and/or complex needs.

Person-centred care

One of the things that sets us apart from other specialist residential care providers is our ethos of putting the service user at the centre of everything we do. This combined with our emphasis on dignity, respect and community underpins all the decisions that we make.

Having six care homes means that we can provide specialist care and support for adults with acquired brain injury and separately for those with learning disabilities. This also gives us the flexibility to offer short-term rehabilitation as well as long term rehabilitation and a home for life. We always take into account the needs and personalities of the current residents when considering new admissions.

Quality of the home environment

The quality of physical environment is also crucial to service users’ well-being. Experience has shown us that the right environment helps people with acquired brain injuries to better engage with their rehabilitation. It can also reduce anxiety and stress.

Of course, our homes are clean and safe, and we also try to make them as homely as possible, without being cluttered. This includes encouraging service users to bring their own belongings and we can decorate their room to their taste. It also means being innovative in our choice of furniture and furnishings, so that they are practical but look like something that you would have at home or find in a hotel instead of in a residential care setting. A good example of this is the new purpose-built wet-rooms that we have in The Coach House. They are accessible, single-level, fully-tiled rooms and the showers have a grab rail incorporated into their design. The style is ‘sleek and modern’ rather than ‘institutional’.

In addition, our specialist care homes are designed with plenty of communal space: separate dining rooms, a couple of lounge areas, tables and chairs in the garden. This means that service users can feel at home with the benefits of social contact and community, along with the space and opportunity to have some quiet time without being confined to their room.

By providing the right physical environment, along with experienced, caring staff, we can support all of our service users to live happy and fulfilling lives.

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As our service is expanding, we need to recruit more care support workers so we decided to create a video to show that working in care can be truly rewarding.

The video shows care support workers and managers talking candidly about why they love working for Richardson Care, and the satisfaction that they get from supporting the service users. For example, Tracey, an Activity Support Worker says: “I’ve worked in care for over 20 years and this [home] is just perfect!”

Other staff talk about the support they are given by managers and team leaders and that they are empowered to provide the best care to meet each individual’s needs. They give plenty of examples of the variety in their role and the activities they take part in with the service users.

We’re very proud of our team and are fortunate to have a relatively low turnover of staff. Not only do we offer a range of employment benefits, but we strive to create a happy working and living environment. We know that the demand for care workers is high so we thought we’d try a different approach of creating a video to encourage more people to come and join us.

Please watch and share our video.

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Congratulations to all the service users at Richardson Care who were awarded ASDAN certificates throughout 2018/19. ASDAN stands for the Awards Scheme Development Accreditation Network: it provides courses in a wide range of subjects at various skill levels to enable people to achieve accredited qualifications. ASDAN programmes are flexible and adapted to different needs, so they are ideal for our service users who have an acquired brain injury or learning difficulties. All qualifications are independently verified to ensure that the correct standards are met.

Service users were awarded with a total of 63 certificates in 2018/19 – some of the more in-depth courses took two years to complete, which meant others could be worked on at the same time. These courses included Independent Living (introduction and progression levels), Personal Care Routines (sensory), Baking (introduction), Engaging with the World Around Me (Events), and Myself & Others. The awards are graded according to level of support required to complete the course, with 38 people achieving certificates with ‘No Help’, 21 with ‘Spoken Help’ and 4 by having their experience recorded.

As well as supporting service users to gain daily living skills, the ASDAN courses enhance their confidence, self-esteem and well-being. The programme also provides important benchmarks in their progress and a sense of achievement, which can increase motivation and encourage further learning.

Sallie Maris is our ASDAN training co-ordinator at Richardson Care, as well as being our Arts & Crafts specialist. She works with service users on a one-one basis to develop skills which can improve memory, co-ordination, communication and self-confidence.

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Welcome to 2020! We are starting the year with a new brand identity and will now be known as Richardson Care.

We realised that over the years, ‘Richardson’ has become the name of our extended family and represents all the service users and staff within the organisation. It is also a brand encompassing the values that we stand for: high quality care, professionalism and placing the service user at the centre of everything we do. It made sense to become ‘Richardson Care’ to take us forward in the future.

Caring is in our DNA

Richardson Care is one of very few independent specialist care providers in the country and is now owned and run by the second generation of the family. So, truly caring about the people we look after really is in our DNA, and it’s at the core of what we do. We remain true to our founding principles and the belief that social inclusion, community participation, dignity and respect, combined with tailored therapeutic input are key to enabling service users to fulfil their potential.

We are proud of our reputation for providing excellent rehabilitation and residential care for adults with acquired brain injury and separately for those with learning disabilities. And we continue to innovate in our approach to supporting all of our service users, delivering positive outcomes for the people in our care.

Our contact details remain the same, although we do have new email addresses, which now end in richardsoncares.co.uk

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As you can imagine, December is a busy month in our specialist residential care homes. Where possible, we support service users to stay with their families, or visit for the day, over the Christmas period. Alternatively, family members and friends are welcome to visit their loved ones in our homes. We always try to make the festive period as fun and enjoyable as possible, and this is what’s happening this year.

We’ve been making decorations and putting them up along with Christmas trees in all the homes – special thanks to our Arts & Crafts lady, Sallie Maris, for her creative skills! There’s also carol singing, Karaoke, disco evening and games planned.

Christmas is often about tradition, and we like to create our own traditions in our homes. At 144 Boughton Green Road, our home for long-term rehabilitation for men with acquired brain injury, one of our service users always dresses up as Father Christmas on Christmas Day. It’s great fun for all the guys and the staff!

We have lots of trips organised to see the pantomime “Cinderella” at The Royal & Derngate in Northampton, as well as a trip with Mencap to see Jack & The Beanstalk at the Deco in Northampton.

The service users from all six homes, along with the staff, come together for a big Christmas party. There’s good food, music, dancing, and a wonderful atmosphere for everyone to enjoy. In addition, we have:

Headway Christmas lunch
Rock Club Christmas lunch at the Marriott Hotel
Christmas lights switch-on in Northampton town centre
Christmas shopping
Festive afternoon at Headway with coffee and mince pies
Visits to Duston, Wellesbourne and Stoke Bruerne Christmas food and gift markets
Workbridge craft fair with crafts, music, tombola and festive fun
Christmas fair at Kings Park Tennis Centre
Christmas parties at Brookside, Mencap
Bowls continues at The Richardson Mews hall on Monday afternoons

New kitchen at The Richardson Mews

To celebrate the completion of the new kitchen at The Richardson Mews, we had a joint early Christmas lunch for service users at The Mews and The Coach House. Thank you to Caroline, Mandy and Teresa who cooked an amazing Christmas dinner (and to Dexter and his team for our lovely new kitchen). We were joined by the Admissions team, Maintenance guys and some of the MDT. During the meal Northampton Ukulele Band played and sang carols – we had a great time!

Christmas tree at Richardson Mews People at the early Christmas party at Richardson Mews Food cooking in the kitchen at Richardson Mews

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We recently celebrated our 30^th anniversary with a garden party for service users, their families, staff and guests. Everyone was invited to take part in traditional games and activities such as tombola, bean bag throwing and ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, while enjoying entertainment from the Northampton Ukulele group and Martin the Music Man. A celebration cake was cut by service user, Denise, who has learning disabilities, along with Dawn Briggs, an Administrator, who has been with Richardson Care for 24 years. The cake was then cut again by Emil, who has an acquired brain injury, and Managing Partner, Greg Richardson-Cheater.

We have a fantastic team at Richardson Care, and this was an opportunity to celebrate this amazing achievement and say thank you. It was a fabulous day with a happy, relaxed atmosphere, which is indicative of the family environment that we aim to create in our homes.

As a family business and one of the few independently owned and run specialist care providers in the country, we’re very proud to reach this milestone. I’m sure our longevity and success are due to remaining true to the values that my parents established back in 1989. We believe that social inclusion, community participation, dignity and respect, combined with tailored therapeutic input are key to enabling service users to fulfil their potential. We never forget that we’re all here because of the service users and we deliver truly person-centred care.

Thirty years is a long time in the care sector, and we have achieved this by not standing still. We are continually looking to the future and are innovative in our approach to supporting adults with complex needs and behaviours that challenge, delivering positive outcomes for the people in our care. This year has also seen the opening of our sixth residential care home: We now have three homes for adults with acquired brain injuries and three for adults with learning disabilities, all providing specialist care. Thank you to everyone who is part of the Richardson Care family.

The Northampton Ukulele Group Denise & Dawn cut the cake Linda presents a bouquet of flowers to Laura Linda (on the left) presents a bouquet of flowers to Laura Catch a fish Garden party at The Richardson Mews Tony the bubble man! Denise (on the left) & Dawn cut the cake Pin the tail on the donkey! 30 years! 30th anniversary cake

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Fatigue is one of the most common effects of brain injury, but it’s experienced differently by everyone. People may feel exhausted, lacking in energy and motivation, and feel weak or sleepy. Fatigue may also worsen existing difficulties associated with brain injury, such as memory problems, speech and language difficulties, frustration, irritability or low mood.

Pathological fatigue may be present most of the time and this excessive tiredness may not necessarily be alleviated by rest. As fatigue is different for everyone, and caused by a range of factors, there is no single cure or treatment. However, it can be managed and gradually alleviated by focusing on each individual’s specific needs.

Below are some of the factors that affect fatigue and some of the ways that we help our service users with acquired brain injury to manage their fatigue.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) – Regular CBT sessions with members of our psychology team help our service users to increase their understanding of their brain injury, including the fatigue that they experience, what the triggers are and how they can respond.
Relaxation Therapy – weekly group relaxation sessions aim to teach relaxation methods, including progressive muscle relaxation exercises and guided imagery, which can help to reduce fatigue. In addition, our service users enjoy regular hand and foot massages from our massage therapist, which helps to reduce tension and aid relaxation.
Mental well-being – low mood, anxiety and depression are all factors that can make people with acquired brain injuries more vulnerable to experiencing fatigue. These are addressed by a combination of therapies and activities in each individual’s rehabilitation plan. For example, our Consultant Neuropsychiatrist prescribes medication and monitors how an individual is affected by it, and the psychology team help them to deal with the psychological aspects of their brain injury. Our holistic approach to medication and psychology support aims to reduce the reliance on drug therapy over time, when possible, which also reduces side effects – another potential contributory factor in fatigue. In addition, our focus on providing opportunities for social inclusion and community participation also help to improve mental well-being and motivation.
Neurological Physiotherapy – regular physiotherapy sessions help individuals to gradually increase their muscle strength and mobility, which helps them to manage their fatigue. These sessions are carefully controlled to ensure sufficient rest breaks.
Neurological Speech & Language Therapy – enabling service users with acquired brain injuries to improve their communication skills helps to reduce frustration and building strength and co-ordination in their facial and vocal muscles also contributes to alleviating fatigue.
Environment – the home environment that we provide is calm and relaxed, with a choice of social and quiet spaces so that each service user can decide when they spend time with others and when they have some time out. Also, the decoration within the homes is attractive, but not over-stimulating, and everyone has access to the garden and outdoor spaces, which is also important.
Diet – we support all service users to have a healthy diet and maintain good hydration. As well as being important for their general health and well-being, it can also help to alleviate fatigue.

As with all aspects of brain injury rehabilitation, everyone is different and there is no single solution. Neurobehavioural factors are often interlinked, so our dedicated person-centred interventions, delivered by our experienced multi-disciplinary team, work together to deliver effective rehabilitation and positive outcomes for our service users.

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The psychology team at The Richardson Partnership for Care plays a crucial role in the care and support of our service users, who have complex needs and acquired brain injuries or learning disabilities. Dr Pedro Areias Grilo, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, heads up the team and is supported by three Assistant Psychologists: Julita Frackowska, Olivia Ferrie and Joseph Szablowski. The Assistant Psychologists are assigned to specific service users according to their needs and the homes in which they live.

Person-centred care
The ethos of the psychology team is the one that runs through the organisation as a whole: the service user is at the centre of everything we do. We are committed to providing individualised care to effectively support the nuanced needs of each service user. We take a person-centred approach and offer interventions to service users based on cognitive behavioural models, dialectical behaviour skills and operant conditioning. All of the interventions offered are evidence-based and follow NICE guidelines.

Psychological reviews
All service users receive an initial psychological review, which includes neuropsychological assessments, a review of clinical presentation, assessment of stability of mood and suggestions for future interventions. This review is then repeated on a regular basis to assess the effectiveness of the therapies and interventions delivered. In addition, we have an ‘open door’ policy at The Richardson Partnership for Care, so all members of the psychology team, and the Assistant Psychologists in particular, can develop close working relationships with the service users. This means that their well-being can be monitored closely on an informal basis and we have found that this helps to maintain their mental health, so any problems can be addressed early, preventing the need for crisis care.

Positive Behaviour Support
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is a key part of the psychological support that we provide and an emphasis on positivity is one of our main philosophies. PBS Plans are person-centred and designed with input from the service user to promote positive behaviour. They are supported to set their own goals and to achieve them.

In addition, Pedro and the team are working on an innovative Positive Behaviour Tool to more effectively monitor and encourage positive behaviour. This runs alongside the traditional techniques of reducing negative behaviour.

Multi-Disciplinary Team
The psychology team works closely with the other members of the multi-disciplinary team. (This comprises a consultant neuropsychiatrist, homes managers, service manager, physiotherapist, speech & language therapist and occupational therapist.) Pedro and Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, Dr Seth Mensah, work closely together to balance the use of drug therapies and psychosocial therapies. Where possible, we aim to focus on psychosocial approaches and gradually reduce the reliance on drug therapy to achieve better outcomes for service users over the longer term.

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Older Posts

Outdoor Activities at our Specialist Care Homes

The Mews – home for adults with acquired brain injury

The Coach House – home for adults with acquired brain injury

144 Boughton Green Road – long-term home for men with acquired brain injury

23 Duston Road – home for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs

2 & 8 Kingsthorpe Grove – homes for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs

Specialist Residential Care – the Right Home Environment

Person-centred care

Quality of the home environment

Recruiting Care Support Workers

ASDAN certificates awarded for daily living skills

New year, new name!

Caring is in our DNA

Christmas Activities in our Care Homes

New kitchen at The Richardson Mews

Celebrating 30 Years!

Managing fatigue and brain injury

Psychology services for adults with complex needs

Community participation and well-being