Nourish’s Head of Customer Experience, Daniel Hollingworth, talks about the importance of a good night’s sleep, and what can be done to improve your quality of sleep as well as the people you care for. 

What keeps you up at night? Perhaps it’s a weak bladder, or the traffic from the street outside. For me it’s more than one cup of coffee a day and a young child who doesn’t seem to need sleep at all.

While the odd bad night’s sleep is normal for many of us, regular disruption to sleep can affect our immune systems, making us more susceptible to illness. Other side effects of poor-quality sleep include sluggishness and slower brain function. This is why monitoring sleep patterns and trends is essential within a care environment, it can help us pinpoint areas for improvement and understand what it is that could be affecting sleep. But how to get better sleep?

Quality sleep is a combination of Rapid Eye Movement (REM sleep) and Non-REM (deep sleep), that allows for rest, rejuvenation and even solidifying memories. REM sleep is also essential for emotional and mental health. Sleep cycles take around 90 minutes, and you ideally want to have at least four of five cycles per night. The average person needs a recommended 7-9 hours of sleep, with the ideal amount sitting around the 8-hour mark.

In a typical care environment, night checks are the norm, and waking state is recorded, and anyone else who appears to be sleeping is recorded as asleep. Although this gives an ok understanding of how much the person has slept or remained awake, it doesn’t actually look at the quality of their sleep.

With a wealth of technology available such as wearables and monitors, we are now able to track sleep quality with great accuracy. When you think of sleep tracking, people tend to think of fitness bands for the wrist, but there are a lot of affordable trackers available, from bedside table noise sensors, under mattress sensors and even wearable rings, these devices can all assess and manage sleep with convenience and comfort.

Everything gets better with a good night’s sleep!

It has been shown that the regularity of your sleep is just as important as the amount of sleep you get at night. It is always better for your health to get regular sleep than to binge on sleep at the weekends, for example. We all feel more alert after a good night’s sleep, but when sleep deprived, the brain has a 40% reduction in capacity to learn.

Research being conducted by Jonathon Cedernaes from Uppsala University in Sweden suggests that sleepless nights can create an increase in an Alzheimer’s related protein called ‘tau’, suggesting a link between poor sleep patterns and more complicated health issues.

Good quality sleep is what boosts our immune system to help fight off disease, so when our sleep is compromised, so is our health. One of the most important factors in ensuring flu vaccines work is to ensure you’re looking after your immune system. Lack of sleep means your body may not be able to create enough antibodies to fight off the virus, therefore resulting in a higher probability of getting flu.

Fortunately, there are many ways we can improve our sleep quality. Many care environments now encourage caffeine free hot drinks, and for good reason. In one study it was found that consuming caffeine six hours prior to bedtime reduces sleep time by one hour. So whether you’re looking to boost your own sleep patterns or wanting to improve sleep in elderly residents you support,  a simple change such as switching to decaf can make a difference.

This doesn’t sound that significant until you compare it to further research which found that heart attacks increase by 24% when the clocks go forward in spring at daylight saving time. However, when they go back in autumn, heart attack cases decrease by 21%. This really shows what a difference an hour of sleep can make.

So that swap to decaffeinated drinks really could be a life saver.

Drinking enough fluid is very important and many of the people we support have fluid targets in place for this very reason. Try to drink consistently throughout the day rather than trying to hit your fluid intake in the latter half of the day. The more fluid you drink at the end of the day the more likely you are to make that bathroom trip, breaking your sleep cycle. This also correlates with falls during the night.

Finally, one of the best ways to encourage quality sleep is to increase physical activity. Not only does exercise reduce stress, it has been shown to reset sleep/wake cycles by increasing then decreasing body temperature which triggers tiredness a few hours later.

Better sleep habits and getting good quality sleep is essential in ensuring the body and mind rest, repair and prepare for the next day. Do you monitor your sleep or carry out sleep assessments on those you support to help get better quality sleep in care? Let us know by leaving a comment below

Sleep disturbances can come from many different sources but those related to illness need extra care and consideration. No matter the condition, a foundation built on healthy sleep habits can help. Sleep hygiene, the term used to describe any personal habits and behaviours that affect sleep, ranges from the conditions of the sleep environment to food choices. The Sleep Institute have put together a list of healthy sleep habits and how you can use them for you and the person for whom you care.

There are many illnesses and conditions that can interfere with how the brain releases sleep hormones. It’s most noticeable with neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. However, conditions that limit eyesight also experience abnormal sleep cycles due to changes in how the brain receives light signals. Yet other conditions like diabetes and arthritis may face sleep problems due to chronic pain. You’ll have to consider the condition and unique circumstances as you’re deciding how to implement better sleep habits.

The human brain craves predictability as it’s designed to adjust the sleep cycle according to your preferred schedule. Keeping a consistent bedtime helps the brain recognize when to begin the release of sleep hormones. The more predictable you can be the more readily your body responds.

Routine creates familiarity and reduces disorientation. It also helps signal the brain that it’s time to start the sleep cycle. Try to complete any difficult or upsetting tasks earlier in the day so that bedtime can be relaxing for everyone involved.

Some people, especially those who suffer from chronic pain, benefit from relaxation activities like meditation in their bedtime routine. Meditation reduces the anticipation of pain and, consequently, the perception of it as well. It also reduces stress by helping the mind focus on the present moment rather than past or future stress-causing events.

A bedroom that’s familiar with each item in its place can bring the kind of comfort that reduces evening irritability. A supportive sleep environment should also be dark and quiet. Be careful with electronics that may have blinking lights. These devices, like a TV or smartphone, may have a screen that emits a bright blue light that suppresses sleep hormones. In general, they’re best left out of the bedroom. Anything that overstimulates the sense from images and colors to passing cars should also be removed or blocked out.

Illness or medications may cause hallucinations or fitful sleep, making some people prone to falling out of bed. Guardrails are a good option that will protect the person for whom you care and give you peace of mind. Guardrails can also prevent knocking over any necessary nighttime medical equipment.

Natural light regulates the sleep cycle by suppressing sleep hormones during the day. As natural light fades in the evening, those sleep hormones start to trickle out until they’re at full power come bedtime. It’s essential to get enough sunlight so the body functions as designed, which makes a walk outside a good form of exercise and a simple way to improve sleep.

If dimming eyesight or mobility that limits outdoor activity is an issue, exposure to natural light through normal means may not be adequate. Bright light therapy, which uses specially designed light bulbs to simulate sunlight, can be used to increase light exposure and regulate the sleep cycle as well.

Everyone needs and deserves a good night’s rest. As you incorporate healthy sleep habits into your life and the life of the person for whom you care, you’ll both get the rest you need. With better sleep comes the physical, mental, and emotional health that allows you to live a fulfilling life while providing high-quality care.

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As you may have already seen, we’ve developed a close working relationship with former CQC inspector Anne Weston. Anne is now part of RHW Care Consults, a specialist team designed to help care providers with their regulatory commitments, which helps to provide Nourish with critical guidance when it comes to regulatory updates and compliance. Her direct experience of how the regulatory bodies operate, along with her vast knowledge of the care industry, make her perfectly placed to help guide care providers on a range of different technical topics they may need advice on. This week, we spoke to Anne regarding one aspect of care recording that is often overlooked when working in a busy care environment – “positive person-centred care”.

Person-centred care is a way of providing care so that those receiving and giving it are on equal footing when it comes to developing, monitoring and undertaking care, ensuring it always meets a person’s individual needs. This doesn’t mean that you give people whatever they want, nor does it involve mindlessly providing information, it’s about considering a person’s individual and personal wishes, family, values and circumstances, then working with them to create the best possible solution for care that’s tailored to their individual needs.

When recording care, being positive means communicating in a manner that reflects the positive aspects of the care and support being described, and not just the negatives. It’s the difference between – “Gladys is unable to get to the toilet herself and frequently wets the bed” which is a negative way to record care. Instead you should record in a style that highlights what she is able to do, such as “Gladys is able to use the toilet when aided by one of the care team” and “This means that she needs to be helped to go to the toilet before she goes to bed and first thing in the morning”.

Here are my top areas for ensuring your care planning is both positive and person-centred:

The Nourish care management system allows you to style your recording in a way which is completely customised to the individual receiving care. With person-centred timelines at the heart of the system your care teams are helped to record care that is bespoke to the individual.

If you’d like to find out more about how Nourish’s care plan software can help you deliver person-centred care planning and management, then give us a call on 02380 002288 or email the team at caring@Nourishcare.co.uk and one of our experts will get in touch. To find out more about how Nourish can benefit your care service, book your personalised demo today.

Care providers far and wide are already making the transition to digital care management; benefiting from higher quality care plans and notes, compliant and accurate audit trails and a greater degree of control across the management process.

These benefits are being felt at every level, from care managers and carers to the people they care for and their families. Here, we talk to three experienced care providers about the individual impact Nourish Care is having across the entire care service.

For carers, Nourish is empowerment at the point of care. By using well designed and easy to use applications on handheld devices, carers can record notes as they go.

Carers are thereby able to focus a lot more on the person they are working with, and encouraged to record the person-centred care notes that inspectors say distinguishes a care service. Recording notes alongside care also promotes greater clarity, adds useful context and ensures all information is recorded as soon as possible – not forgotten over the course of the day. Recording as they go, carers have the opportunity to really demonstrate the great quality of care they are giving.

Simon Francis, IT Project Manager at Silverline Care, commented: “The main thing for our carers is that the recording of notes is a lot easier. What they were doing beforehand was having to provide care and then try and hold all that information until the end of the shift. Care for residents is now much more to the point and accessible. There is better communication between staff and everyone involved in the client’s care can see what care has already been provided by others. This has made handover a lot easier. It also means input from the carers feeds directly into the care plan, meaning it’s updated within minutes of it taking place. Recording in real time means we don’t lose any important information.”

Paul Dennis-Andrews, Operations Manager at Encompass, has been working with the Nourish Care since spring 2016. He added: “The digital care management system has had a highly positive impact on the overall culture of our service – more than we ever would have thought. Staff who might have had difficulties with the written word are enthused by the ability to speak verbally into the devices to record information. It has been a refreshing and efficient change to a longstanding process of handwritten documentation.

“The large collection of paper files has been replaced with discrete modern handsets and tablets that staff can keep on their person, promoting highly person-centred support exactly how the individual would like to receive it. Documentation is recorded live and visible immediately to anyone with permission, and every aspect of the system is customisable and can be evolved to needs.”

Probably one of the biggest benefits for senior carers and care managers is that all information is in one place and accessible at any time. Care notes and assessments feed directly into the care plans and can be accessed by all who need to see them. This develops a culture of knowledge-sharing and allows for more effective care monitoring and visibility of critical information in real-time.

Digital care management also allows for instant reporting, which gives managers back their time to ‘walk the floor’ and interact with their staff and clients.

Megan Read, Care Home Manager of Grassington House emphasises how the digital system has improved her ability to manage: “Because I have a digital overview of real-time information I can easily monitor what is happening within the home. I can set up anything I want to be recorded, schedule things for the carers to be aware of and make sure that nothing is getting missed.

“For when I’m conducting care plan reviews, I can look at the logs that carers input to directly review and evidence any changes made. Beforehand, you would have had to look through endless files and pages, and you simply wouldn’t be able to go through it all. Now, I have no files in the office, everything is on the system; my office can literally move around with me anywhere.”

Simon agreed: “In leadership, the digital system is allowing managers to spot issues more quickly; alerts raised by carers come straight through to the manager, who can then respond quickly and with all the necessary information”.

Paul added: “Monitoring the quality of the support provided is much more efficient and less intrusive; utilising the Cloud to view live records. It is easier to ensure care is being given and support is provided how the individual would like to receive it. Teams are now positively communicating and sharing ideas, and where changes are required, managers can make these instantly, either across the organisation or simply for individual.”

Managers can also easily establish what information they want recorded, and monitor whether this is being followed. Megan states: “As a manager I can literally prompt what information I want recorded from carers and when. The amount of detail I can now see in recorded notes is amazing compared to what it used to be on paper.”

Simon has also experienced improved quality of care information: “During the transfer to digital care management, we’ve been able to see the quality of our care plans. It is an impossible feat to trail through reams of paper plans for every single resident, but with digital we can check care plans easily and demand the quality we want. It’s meant we can really see the overall process and make sure the right care is being delivered in line with the residents wishes.”

As Simon and Paul state, by recording care as you go, you create a more person-centred and accessible quality of care and you have more time available. Carers have the tools and information they need to provide personal and responsive care, and with extra time, can involve the resident directly and sociably in inputting the care notes.

Megan encourages her carers to be sociable and engage the residents when writing notes; this can mean sitting down with the resident, having a cup of tea and a real conversation about how the resident is doing. She has found that residents prefer the digital care management system once they understand it because carers are able to spend more time with them. Megan commented: “Carers can be sociable and engage with residents so they can contribute to their own notes, keeping them much more involved with their care. Beforehand, carers would have to spend time away from the residents at the end of the shift completing paperwork. The digital system is also really useful for bi-annual reviews; I can hold a meeting in the lounge and connect my laptop to the main screen so we can all see the information and have a really good chat about the care plan with the resident – it’s a lot more involved, but also efficient, and residents like to be able to see their care plans so easily.”

Care information recorded electronically is also much easier to share; not only with other medical professionals, but also with close friends and family. Innovative care providers can utilise existing resources and involve these other parties from the very beginning; you can enable a service user to design their own care plan, involve family members in the on-boarding process or allow informal carers to contribute directly to the care notes. Having a digital system opens up vast opportunities to get better connected with the whole circle of care.

By enabling better communication and ensuring information is shared with those who need to know, your care team will be more aware of the individual service user’s needs; and ultimately, informed care leads to better care.

Get in touch today to see how digital care management can work for you.

Let’s Chat! 

On the 26th & 27th March 2019 we are once again packing up and heading north to the NEC in Birmingham. On Stand D760 our team will be showcasing all we stand for here at Nourish ????

We will be giving attendees live demonstrations of how the Nourish platform saves care teams significant time, allows for the better recording & evidencing of care and ensures information is always accessible and useful to those who need it.

Also joining the team on the 26th March is our very own Founder and CEO, Nuno Almeida ????

Nuno will be taking to the stage to discuss a topic very close to our hearts:

“Digital Transformation: How is data driving better care“

All too often, we hear about ‘data’ in care but what does that really mean? What impact can collating and analysing day-to-day care information have on the quality of support care teams can provide? How do we move away from simply business analytics practice, to having a very real impact on peoples lives?

On the 26th March, Nuno will explore just that. He will explore the importance of data through real-life stories of care, showing how and why information can be so much more than compliance-led; and how, when used correctly, it can have an incredible impact on a person’s quality of life ????‍????‍????‍????

Join Nuno on the 26th March by purchasing your complimentary tickets HERE

We look forward to meeting you there!

We spoke to Anne Weston from RHW and asked her what she would say the, “Top 10 essential care planning tips care providers need to consider when considering care plans and their management” would be. This article covers the areas she feels care providers can really make positive gains and improve the care they are able to provide.

The care planning process needs to follow an organised, systematic and deliberate format, which supports and guides care delivery. This means there should be a logical and systematic flow of the information, right through from the initial assessment to the final evaluation.

More and more we are openly talking about the importance of Mental Health, and this critical change in our culture is having a wide-reaching and positive impact. This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s focus is all about stress and how we cope with it. Stress, and the resulting physical and psychological factors, can impact significantly on our mental health.

One of the most common causes of stress is work-related; that is, establishing a good work-life balance. In fact, work-related stress, depression and anxiety caused 12.5 million days sickness in 2016/17 alone.

While finding a healthy work-life balance can be difficult in almost any profession, this becomes even more challenging if your work focuses on taking care of others. Care workers, whilst also managing stress that comes from day-to-day work responsibilities, must also navigate the complex, emotional investment that comes from taking care of another person. And whilst caring is a highly rewarding role, it can also be overwhelming at times.

So to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week we wanted to remind care teams that, while you are out taking care of others every single day, it’s so important to take care of yourself too.

Below we’ve put together our five top tips for managing work-related stress:

One of our biggest tips for managing work-related stress is to try and work out exactly what it’s being caused by. Are you spending too much time working? Doing a few too many extra shifts? Are you being asked to do something you don’t feel equipped to do? Is there a specific situation or scenario that is causing you anxiety? It may not be easy to pin point the exact cause, but having an awareness of where the stress is coming from is a great first step to tackling the problem. Then communicate that problem. Talk to your line manager, your mentor or any member of staff that you feel may be able to help. Explain how you are feeling and what support you think you need. The worst thing about stress, and the resulting anxiety, is that it makes you feel isolated from others. Everyone experiences stress, and opening up and talking about the stress you’re feeling can be a great way to find the support that you need and tackle the root of the problem.

We all know we should take care of ourselves. Eat well, drink plenty of water, do exercise; we know the score. The reality is these things really do matter when it comes to tackling stress. Taking care of yourself means living healthily and when you are healthy and energised, you are much more equipped to deal with day-to-day pressures. Eating a balance diet keeps us healthy; doing exercise releases endorphins or ‘happy chemicals’ which reduce our perception of pain and triggers a positive feeling in the body; and it is well documented that good hydration helps balance cortisol (stress hormone) levels. It’s a simple tip, but it’s important. Eat well, drink your water and get yourself moving regularly. If you’re not feeling your healthiest self, managing stress becomes that much more difficult.

This falls under taking care of yourself but we think it’s so important it needs its own section. Sleep is one of the most underrated health habits, which is surprising considering it is an essential function of our daily recovery. Sleep and stress have a two-way relationship; sleep can help to reduce stress levels, whilst high stress levels can make sleeping difficult. It is believed that most adults need 7-8 hours sleep, and without it we are more agitated, have less patience and are less able to deal with pressured and stressful situations. To make the most of the benefits of sleep, you need a good sleep routine. Set a clear bedtime and wake-up time and stick to it; allocate time before going to sleep for winding down and relaxing (keep away from screens where possible!); and avoid caffeine and other stimulants. Establishing a healthy sleep routine takes time to develop but the benefits are definitely worth the investment; just think how about how much better you feel after a good nights sleep.

Stress can make you feel isolated. It gives us the impression that we are dealing with pressures that we must tackle by ourselves; which couldn’t be less true. You know the old adage “a problem shared is a problem halved”? Well research by Age UK really has found this to be true. Above, we suggested talking to people at work about your concerns, but you can also talk your close friends and family. Don’t let stress cut you off from other people, talk to those you trust about what you’re experiencing and you’ll be surprised by how much it helps. Not only that, you just might find they have the solution you’re looking for.

Our final tip is our favourite; make time to do something just for you. This could be once a day or once a week, whichever works. As a carer, you spend most of your time taking care of others and supporting others to do what they want. This is the time when you get to do whatever you want, without interruption. This could be absolutely anything. Maybe you enjoy going to a yoga class, maybe it’s putting on your favourite TV programme or maybe it’s simply going for a walk on your own. What you do is not important. What’s important is that you understand this is purely for you, it’s the time when you get to think only of yourself and recharge your batteries.

Providing care for another person is immensely rewarding, but it does take an emotional toll. Remember that it’s perfectly normal – essential even – to take time to look after yourself. Your mental and physical wellbeing is just as important as the people you support; after all, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

We hope you’re celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week too and we’d love to hear all of the top tips you have for managing work-related stress.

Embracing digital technology in the social care sector has many obvious benefits; not least time saving, more accurate note taking, simple reporting capabilities and a significant reduction in paper storage.

However, we are now also seeing that once care providers have fully integrated Nourish Care into their service, they are constantly finding innovative ways to utilise the technology.

Soon after the digital recording of care notes and updating care plans has become second nature, care teams become excited by the flexibility of the system and endless opportunities it encompasses.

The more time we spend with our care providers, the more we are impressed with the how forward thinking they are. Here are just a couple of examples of how our clients have been thinking outside the box when it comes to flexing the capability muscles of Nourish.

One home we recently revisited has started to record an interaction each day of wishing every resident a ‘good morning’. They also record their responses and any conversations that followed. It’s such a simple addition to their list of daily tasks, but encourages care staff to interact with the residents that little bit more, and on an emotional level. It also gives great insight into how the resident is feeling that day and can be a helpful indicator of their mental health.

Many of our clients provide care to pet owners, some of whom live in the home with them. Whether it’s cats, dogs, guinea pigs or chickens, carers have started to create daily records, and even care plans, for the animals. This is a fun and engaging way to use the system and ensures our fluffy and feathery companions are also fed on time, given any care they require and taken for those all-important walks.

Pets are often an integral part of a residents’ or service users’ life and happiness, and it’s just common sense to keep them healthy and happy too. Having care plans for the service’s pets also provides a great talking point when engaging with residents and their families, and we love how our care partners are using the system to encourage communication.

The flexibility of the Nourish system means that anything you want to personalise or remind staff of can be built into the daily records. Maybe Frank is trying a gluten-free diet; maybe Margaret likes a cup of tea while she reads in the afternoon; or perhaps Victor is going to start chair exercises once a week. Whatever the preference, goal or need, the daily records can reflect this, helping to keep the care team up-to-date of any changes.

Another innovative way we’ve seen care providers using the system is to also report maintenance issues. This could include task reminders, so that maintenance checks are completed, and even to ‘flag up’ maintenance concerns. For example, if a carer notices that a light bulb has blown, the carer can take a photo and note its location from a drop-down list of rooms on the Nourish system. They can then set a warning for the maintenance team who will see to the maintenance issue and turn off the warning when it has been resolved. It’s great to hear how the system is being used, not just to support care teams providing care, but also to support the smooth running of the overall service.

A final example of where our care partners have taken a unique approach to using our system is with regards to checking fire doors. We currently offer NFC tag technology, which many of our care and nursing homes use for night checks. These small tags are placed in the residents’ rooms so that when a carer completes a night check, they can tap their Nourish device onto the tag and it will record accurate information for when the check was completed.

Some of our care providers also use this technology to ensure fire doors are secure. The tag has been placed on the fire door, and when the relevant staff member taps their device onto the tag, a form appears which asks the staff member to check the fire door and record the task as complete or if action is required.

Our system was created to empower carers and support care teams to provide the best quality of care possible. However, we are so pleased that the flexibility of the system is encouraging care teams to think creatively and find new ways of making the most of the technology to support their care provision.

Last week, we attended yet another fantastic Dorset Care Conference, hosted by Care Management Matters at the Lighthouse in Poole. This time, we were invited to present on the role of digital in modern care delivery.

The fact that so many people joined us in the discussion was testament to the event organisers, but also showed that more and more care providers are considering how technology can help them improve the way they plan, record and report care.

Our care consultant, Luis Rela, shared some useful tips on how to approach the digital transformation process and how change management is key; while Juliana Jeffery from Luxury Care Group talked about her experience of using the Nourish system in her care home and how to overcome challenges.

The floor was obviously open for questions at the end, of which there were many. Here, we’ve shared a few of them.

Understandably, a banker in the audience wanted to know about the return on investment of going digital in care. Luis explained that there are both tangible and intangible benefits, and that care providers should think about the bigger picture when considering investing in a digital care management system:

“The tangible benefits are easier to define, of course. You only need to think about the paper you will no longer need to print, store, archive and shred to understand how those costs can be reduced over time.

“There are then intangible benefits such as time saved by recording notes digitally. Many of our care providers say they save at least one hour per carer each day because they don’t have to spend that time at the end of a shift writing notes and instead, record as they go. For some care organisations, this leads to a cut in the number of staff needed on each shift. However, what we find is that care providers instead maintain staff levels to increase the available one-on-one care for residents.

“In fact, one provider said that this decision led to them achieving an outstanding rating with CQC across three of the homes in the group.”

Juliana added: “There is also less time needed to get new or agency staff up to date with individual care plans and they have the time to get to know and spend time with that resident instead.”

So digital transformation is not primarily about driving costs down but improving the amount and quality of care that can be provided.

We were joined in the room by care providers of varying sizes, and many of them wanted to know how much time it takes to go from paper notes and care plans to digital ones.

Luis said: “Typically, it takes two months and we break down the transfer into stages; starting with daily notes and then care plans. However, this really depends on the size of the care home and whether it’s part of a group. If you take Luxury Care for example, they are still going through the process but that’s because they are doing one care home at a time. It also depends on whether we are developing unique features that work with their service. In one instance, a provider wanted to amend the digital care plan template to mirror that of the paper one, so we would do that first.”

Another member of the audience, who is already using Nourish in their care service, commented: “You could argue that there is never an end date once you are using an electronic care management system because you are always evolving and innovating. Every day we are learning something new and get more confident with the system, so every time we have a new idea, we integrate that into our process.”

Going digital obviously involves the use of physical handsets and electronic devices and some members of the audience were concerned that the responsibility of purchasing such equipment would be left to them.

As part of the Nourish service, we provide tablets for managers; handheld devices similar to Smart Phones for carers; and secure log-ins to our cloud-based system which can also be accessed from desktop. The number of devices needed will usually be the same amount of people you will have on each shift. The user will keep the device for the full duration of a shift, log out and handover to the carer taking over the next shift. Each member of the care team has their own log in with set permissions that have been pre-agreed and there are also log ins for agency workers.

Luis explained why this is the best way forward for everyone: “Care providers do not need the added pressure of having to find and purchase their own compatible devices and set them up. Because our software is completely adaptable to the care you provide, we get these ready for you prior to your training. We also have a dedicated technical support team on hand to help you with any queries.”

During her part of the presentation, Juliana explained how having a digital care management system in place had made communication between members of the care teams much easier and members of the audience wanted her to expand on that.

“Because it’s as easy as using Facebook and the device is with them all the time, it’s great for communicating important messages between members of the care team,” said Juliana. “Everyone can see and send messages through Nourish and handovers are now seamless. It’s been brilliant for ensuring everyone is informed immediately. For example, we also use this system to make sure we notify everyone of quality assurance audit results, which would otherwise have been left for meetings. Now everyone feels involved.”

Juliana also highlighted the added benefits of using these devices when recording notes: “We have carers who are not confident in writing notes or perhaps English isn’t their first language, so they love the speech dictation feature. As you speak, it records what you say.”

If you have any questions about the role of digital in modern care delivery and would like to find out how your care service can benefit, please give our team a call on 02380 002288.

As a whole, the care sector is yet to fully embrace the power of Digital Transformation and all of the benefits that can offer.

Working with Care Management Matters magazine, we shared our views on how to make the most of current digital technology within the care environment; to enhance the depth of notes and care plans, to allow a greater degree of control across the management process and ultimately support care providers and care teams to provide the best possible quality of care.

Gaining knowledge and insight from three care providers who have embraced Digital Transformation, the article answers some important questions. How does the digital system impact at the individual level? What impact will the digital system have on staff? And how will that impact the quality of care you provide?

The full article can be found here:

Below, however, we discuss our Five Top Tips for how you, as a care provider, can make the most of Digital Transformation.

Firstly, for a smooth, quick and efficient transition there will need to be strong board-level support to align all stakeholders. One key tip would be to develop an in-house ‘centre of excellence’ team of skilled staff that can focus on digitising and integration.

“To make the most out of electronic management, a provider must be committed to change, with a fully equipped staff team who believe in it” – Paul Dennis-Andrews, Operations Manager (Encompass)

The most successful organisations will be those that gain feedback direct from the care team. Listen to the everyday challenges your care team face. Evaluate and assess how these challenges can be tackled and overcome before you start the move to digital.

“Ensure the staff that will be using the system are also involved in the decision-making and transition. These are the people who will directly use the system and will raise queries or concerns. It has to be inclusive or it just doesn’t work properly” – Simon Francis, IT Project Manager (Silverline)

The transition to digital can be a lengthy process, but it is also an excellent opportunity to review your paperwork templates and quality of care plans. To allow for a smooth transition, it is crucial that you have your current records in order.

“Ensure that before making the transition to digital, your paper records are in good order. This will make the transition a lot smoother and a lot less stressful for your staff. If you are trying to get your paperwork in order at the same time as transition, you will create extra work for your team. You should also identify any differences between your paperwork and how that translates onto a system. If you can make that as close as possible, the transition will be streamlined and much easier for staff” – Simon Francis, IT Project Manager (Silverline)

The best digital care management system needs to be flexible and enhance your care team. It will support the great work your teams are currently doing, rather than forcing them to work in a different way, and it will offer more than simply a digital representation of your current records. Do your research, understand what it is you want from a system, and find a system that matches your needs.

“I work with a system that is responsive, adaptable, instant, consistent, person-centred and surprisingly cost efficient” – Paul Dennis-Andrews, Operations Manager (Encompass)

“We have been able to work directly with our system providers to give feedback and make direct changes; we very much feel like stakeholders in the system” – Simon Francis, IT Project Manager (Silverline)

Finally, if you’re going to transition to digital care management, you need to commit fully. Having some records digital and other paper causes confusion and extra work for staff members. It also undermines all of the benefits of full integration.

“It’s about having all your information in one place, which you simply can’t do on paper. If you’re going to use an electronic system, maximise it to its full potential and move everything over; certificates, audits, training. I have been able to stop writing my endless to-do lists because my system does that for me” – Megan Read

Have you embraced digital transformation? What did your experience teach you and what top tips would you share?

To find out more about how we can support you to make the most of Digital Transformation, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 023 80 002288.