Personalisation and co-production in traditional services

Highlighting solutions for registered services that will help accelerate personalisation - what can Community Circles  contribute?

Community Circles help people to be happier, healthier and more connected with the support of those around them; to live in communities where we can all flourish, where we look out for each other and do what matters to us with people we care about.

Circles are proven to be valuable in familiar settings such as care homes where the traditional approach to care tends to limit opportunity for personalisation, a factor that will feature more prominently in CQC regulation of registered services. This will help fulfil related Care Act ambitions for greater choice and control, and can also be advanced by adopting TLAP’s Making it Real approach.

The purpose of Dave’s Circle is to support him to live well with dementia, enabling him to feel welcome and safe in his local community and able to join in community life and activities that are important to him.

At the first meeting with family and friends, Dave and his wife Kath shared their hopes and challenges. Kath said, “the practical solutions people came up with and committed to meant that Dave could continue to enjoy the hobbies, interests and connections he was involved in, giving me the space and opportunity to do likewise. Sharing our challenges and having this group of people backing us really felt like a weight being lifted. Though there are sources of ‘official’ help out there, nothing could compare with the experiences we enjoyed by having access to a Community Circle.”  Whilst no one would choose dementia, Circles have an important role in helping people live well with dementia strengthening our capacity as a community so that nobody is left out.

Through her Circle, Irene feels valued for the contributions she makes to her community. Sharing stories of her time in the land army with local schoolchildren. Irene not only delighted the children with her stories, but her experience became a catalyst to connect care homes across the borough with their local schools.  Contributions aren’t limited by age or disability, only by our creativity to explore where people’s gifts and passions can be shared.

Look out for the visual stories of success stories coming soon, where we discover how Pete re-discovered his zest for life whilst Jenny found purpose in helping others share the joy of baking (and the eating part too!)

Community Circles flex and adapt around the person, focussing on what matters to them and there are core themes that make up the essence of what we do:

• The person is at the centre focussing on what matters to them, a space of love and listening where we can share ideas to make a positive change, doing things with the person rather than to them.
• Circles help people to have a purpose and a valued role, exploring where they can contribute their gifts and passions.
• Circles help people feel more connected.  Relationships are at the heart of our wellbeing and we create opportunities where relationships can flourish.
• Circles use tools to gather rich information, supporting people to develop a personal plan which helps them to live well.

To find out more about our work with care homes, here’s a link to our e-resource, Embedding Community Circles with Residential and Extra Care and if you want to know more about Circles contact Cath Barton, cath@community-circles.co.uk

Watch Pete's story - How community Circles can change a life