With the number of older people in the UK is set to rise and more people living longer than ever before, it is important to make sure that care homes provide excellent care and support. Currently they still do not offer care that is focussed on an individual’s needs.
NICE produced a quality standard on the mental wellbeing of older people in care homes in December 2013. It describes how services should be configured to make sure people in care homes received excellent care and support which addresses loneliness, depression and low self-esteem in older people.
To support the NICE quality standard, the NICE collaborating centre for social care commissioned a film with contributions from organisations across the health and social care sector, older people resident at the Royal Chelsea Hospital infirmary and members of TLAP’s National Coproduction Advisory Group.
The film features a roundtable discussion which took place in March at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where six of the quality statements were discussed. The quality standard has recommendations that include offering older people help to maintain and develop their personal identity, and offering meaningful activities to promote health and mental wellbeing.
There are interviews with Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector for Social Care at the Care Quality Commission and Finbarr Martin, a Non-Executive Director at NICE. The interviews highlight the importance of the quality standard and how it is used to inform the Care Quality Commission’s Inspection framework.
