Sharing with SoGlos the different types of care available at Lilian Faithfull Care homes, director of care & development, Suzanne Booker, talks through the bespoke care plans, resident day trips and even family afternoon teas in this expert insight.
About the expert – Lilian Faithfull Care
Lilian Faithfull Care is a Gloucestershire-based support charity, providing care homes filled with ‘life, fun and laughter’ for its elderly residents.
Established in 1946, the charity stands by its ethos to put care before profit, ensure dignity and respect to each resident, and prides itself on providing nutritious, high-quality food. The charity cares for people with a range of conditions, and specialises in dementia and end of life care.
What are the different types of care available?
Anyone can join us in a meeting centre, this is really for people who’ve had an early diagnosis of dementia or a younger person in their 40s or 50s. The meeting centre is there to provide advice and support meetings on Wednesdays each week.
We then have our Community Hub which is a day centre for people who live at home but need a bit more support, they can come just for an hour or to spend the day making friends. They may be physically struggling, have dementia, or are just lonely and the Community Hub provides somewhere where they can come even just for lunch.
We also offer independent living with care. There are 24-hour care and support, food and domestic staff can be provided. It allows residents to enjoy life and just have some company and support.
Residential care is the next step and that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t stay in the independent care service. In residential care, we can provide some personal care like help with bathing – essentially, we want everyone to have independence and a great life.
Nursing is the last type of care we offer. We can give a range of care including palliative care and our staff are really thoroughly trained to be able to support all of our residents.
How do families know what type of care is best for their relative?
Every type of care we offer is personal to each person. We get to know them and consider things like do they like to have company or be on their own, as well as their likes and dislikes.
We do a very comprehensive assessment for everyone person we look after. We meet with each person and talk through what they’d like and also what their expectations are. From that, we can make a decision on which of our homes would be best for them.
Can couples move in together?
Yes, they can! We have many couples in our homes. In many cases where couples do come in, often there’s one that needs more care or is more unwell than the other – but we try to give everyone independence. If one partner is well, we encourage them to enjoy life while we take great care of their other half.
How does Lilian Faithfull Care differ from other care homes?
We are a family. I think people choose a home by the feel of the environment and I think all of our homes are welcoming. We’ve also got the option of our homes being in the countryside, whilst others are in the heart of a town.
Our staff are also extremely well trained and we also really prioritise wellbeing and health of everybody that works here. We don’t just look after the residents; we look after our staff too!
What’s more, we also organise holidays for our residents, as well as a weekly bus service to let everybody have the opportunity to get out and about.
How do you help new residents settle into life at Lilian Faithfull homes?
We create a plan of care and get to know the person really well. We can do small things like choosing a place for them to sit at in the dining room where we know there are people who are like minded. We have little coffee mornings to introduce new residents and provide lots of social activities.
How are families included in the process?
Right from the word go! Families are key to the process because they are very much included. We include families in the parties, lunch, afternoon tea and even our cycling scheme where residents are taken out on bike rides.
