At Francis House Homecare, we take pride in our ability to provide personalised home care to adults experiencing mental health conditions, physical and learning disabilities and the elderly. Our compassionate and highly trained domiciliary staff have the versatility and expertise to successfully deliver home care and support to people with a variety of conditions.
We are recognised as providers of a consistently good service, as outlined in our current and historic Care Quality Commission report. We take our responsibilities as home care givers seriously, and place our service users at the centre of all we do.
The main aims of Francis House Homecare
We aim to support individuals to live their lives how they choose. We provide tailored support and care, scheduled in collaboration with the people who use our service.
This support includes personal care, preparing meals, accompanying to appointments or social engagements and befriending, medication management, symptom management, therapeutic engagement, and developing steps to recovery.
Kindness and compassion are essential in our care delivery. We are committed to the professional development of our staff to enable us to deliver excellent care.
We believe that relationships built over time, based on trust and mutual respect, underpin the quality of care and support that we provide. Therefore, consistency of support staff is vital to the quality of care we provide. Wherever possible we will aim to provide the same worker to the people that access our service.
Who do we support?
Anyone from the age of 18, including the elderly. Francis House Homecare supports people who have physical disabilities or physical health needs, learning disabilities and mental health needs, including dementia. We are specialists in the care of people with challenging behaviour. We provide mainstream support from as little as an hour a week. For more complex needs that may require 1:1 support, we offer 24-hour care at home.
Stigma, uniforms and mental health
There is still a stigma associated with mental health. This can make people reticent about home care because they don’t want to be seen as someone with a mental health problem. For this reason, our staff who support service users with mental health issues do not wear a uniform, but dress in smart everyday clothes. We find that this is especially important to our younger clients who prefer their care to be discreet. All home care staff are expected to carry their work ID badges at all times.
Dementia Care
Dementia is a devastating condition, but it is possible for people to live with its symptoms and remain in their own home with the right level of support. Dementia is a term used to describe various brain disorders which have in common a ‘loss of brain function’. Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. How fast dementia progresses will differ from one person to another. Each individual is unique and will experience dementia in their own way. The symptoms of dementia vary widely, however, the most common are:
Loss of memory
Increased anxiety
Problems with remembering, concentrating, or making simple decisions
A loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed
Feelings of low self-esteem, worthlessness or undue guilt
Feelings of isolation and of being cut off from other people
Sleep disturbance, such as early waking.
A sad, hopeless or irritable mood
Mood changes
Communication problems
One of the most painful challenges for those with dementia, and for their families, is accepting that support and care is needed when previously they have lived independently. Francis House Homecare staff strive to offer sensitive support packages to alleviate the anxieties caused to service users and their families at this difficult time. We create a profile of the service user, gaining valuable information from them and their loved ones about their lives, likes, dislikes, hobbies, profession, hopes and dreams. This enables our dedicated domiciliary staff to take time to engage with those in their care through conversations and activities that are meaningful to them.
We offer sit-in services to provide respite to families; the challenges of caring for someone affected by dementia can be draining and demanding. We provide welfare checks, support to attend appointments, shopping visits and social inclusion, right through to live-in services. Francis House Homecare staff are trained to look beyond challenging behaviour, ensuring that service users feel valued, respected, supported and cared about.
The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, followed by vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. The term mixed dementia is used when more than one type of dementia is diagnosed, such as Alzheimer’s disease with Lewy bodies dementia.
End of Life Care and Palliative Care
The aim of end of life care is always to fulfil the wishes of the person being cared for. This often includes the choice to die at home. We support individuals to have the best quality of life until the very end. In collaboration with other services, such as the continuing healthcare team, district nurses and Partnership for Excellence in Palliative Support (PEPS), we ensure that the person remains at home and is kept as comfortable as possible.
Personal care
Our staff are trained to provide personal care to individuals who need total assistance with washing, dressing and feeding (including PEG feeding). They are also trained in the management of medication, including risk assessment of the level of support required, assisting with taking medication, ordering medication, collecting prescriptions and managing repeat orders, liaising with GP surgeries and arranging blister packs.
Care planning
Your care plan is exclusive to you and will reflect your needs and wishes. When we visit you, we will complete an assessment to establish what your needs are and the service you require in order to meet your needs. Everything is done with your agreement. We will also identify any risk issues; for example, risk of falls, and together we will develop a plan about how to reduce that risk.
The elderly and frail
Our trained support staff offer tailored care to the elderly and frail who may just need a little support at home. This could include shopping services, sitting service, prompting and reminders to do important everyday activities such as getting adequate nutrition and fluids. No job is considered too small; if it is important to our service user, it is important to us too. Our competent and professional staff are supported by our knowledgeable and experienced managers 24 hours a day. We provide round the clock support to staff and service users alike, 365 days of the year.