Care

We believe in the fundamental right of every adult to live a fulfilling life, and see our role as helping them to realise their potential, spiritually, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. To achieve this ideal we adopt positive approaches in all aspects of our resident’s lives.
 
At Winslow Court our residents can look forward to a rewarding life.  Our day care facilities have been modelled to develop both educational and therapeutic opportunities, focusing on self-awareness and self-esteem work, which results in increased autonomy.

The concept of normalisation is fundamental to our philosophy. Our resident’s needs are supported by trained staff who primarily respect our resident’s privacy and dignity. We offer each resident the opportunity to develop self help and life skills with an appropriate level of support in a safe environment.

 We regard individual choice as a fundamental right for all, and residents, their families, advocates, and all significant others are encouraged to express their needs at any time.  We also believe the unacceptable challenging behaviour can be reduced if not eliminated through skilled intervention, patience, understanding and sensitivity. Staff are provided with physical intervention training and strategies for diverting and coping with challenging behaviours.  All intervention plans are developed with the help of Winslow Court’s Psychologist

The utilisation of Art Therapy, Pottery, Speech & Music Therapy and general relaxation all contribute to a significant reduction in stress levels, which helps to reduce challenging behaviours.

Effective communication is crucial and our Speech & Language Therapist provides staff with assessments and guidance in Makaton, Symbol systems such as PEC’s and other appropriate communication strategies.  Winslow Court’s Activity Co-ordinator develops the use of a step by step (developed by Winslow Courts Development team) teaching system in order to assess resident’s current skill levels and helps them to achieve carefully targeted goals.

The residential units are based on small groups in a homely environment. Each resident has their own room. The rooms are furnished according to the individual requirements of the residents, and we encourage residents to personalise their rooms as desired.  This includes residents having their own furnishings, electrical items such as televisions, DVD’s, videos, computer games, and Hi Fi’s, all of which are annually PAT tested.

Residents have open access to communication with family members and significant others, by telephone, the postal service or via e mail.
Visits from families or significant others are welcomed at any time.

Each unit has its own Unit Manager, who in turn is responsible to the Residential Manager.  Care teams are organised on a unit basis and support workers hold keyworker responsibility for individual residents in order to assess, translate and refer needs of the residents.

The Keyworker role involves:

• Developing and maintaining personal contact with families and support agencies.
• Maintaining high standards of personal hygiene and clothing resources.
• Contributing to Care Plans
• Preparing reports for Reviews and Development Programmes.
• Providing for resident’s special events – Birthdays, Christmas and home visits.

Access to medical expertise is available through our on-site Nurse and local support services.  The use of medications is minimal and reviewed on a regular basis under the direction of local specialist services.  Only trained staff administer medication.

Two reviews are held each year to discuss residents’ progress and future development.  Everyone who has an involvement with the resident is invited.  The review also meets the requirement of the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate.