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.

When we first went into a care home with Nourish, it took a couple of days to get users online. But time has moved on. We listened to feedback, we watched how users interacted with Nourish, and we adapted design and functionality for the very real world of care. Now when we go into a care home, we expect to see the entire care team up and running by lunchtime. This includes those people who say “oh I don’t like technology”, and those who say “I’ll never get to grips with a mobile device”, and the 76-year-old carer who recently told us that she would never use Facebook but she uses Nourish every day. Because we use design to make Nourish intuitive and fit into the way people care, not work against them.

The speed at which the care setting feels the effects is palpable. We recently introduced Nourish to a care setting which was fully online with over 200 records created on Nourish by the end of day one. We work with a care home that only has a small team but on average they create over 600 records a day – that’s a lot of information to capture, and could only happen with a system that is quick, efficient, and makes sense in the very real world of care with all its challenges. And because of the way Nourish is structured, that information is easily retrievable. With just a few clicks, that same care team can create a report on any category of information captured, with no need to return to the filing cabinet and sift through 600 sheets of paper.

And what about care plans? Will it take hours to change the fit of the care plans used by a team for many years, that work so well, into a new shape? Not at all, because Nourish is fully customisable. We work with care managers to make Nourish fit into the way they work already.

It is people who care that inspire us to do what we do. The best care will always come from teamwork, so talk to us and let’s see what we can do, together, to make care the best it can be.