Over the past few months, I have been facilitating sessions on the following topics- both within my business Living 4 Moments and for another provider Taye.
- Mental Capacity Act
- Empowering Choices
- Deaf Awareness
- Dementia Awareness
- Sensory Loss
In addition I had an observed session by colleagues and mentors on a tailored MCA course I wrote for Taye.
Why am I passionate about these topics?
I have personal and professional reasons for encouraging professionals to change their practices. My experiences and expertise have been powerful ingredients for creating engaging and impactful training sessions for delegates. As a profoundly deaf person, I understand and know what it feels like to be discriminated against, ignored and overlooked. Hence why my training feels real to delegates with plenty of examples that they can relate to in different ways. I share my experiences in different formats to cater for different learning styles. I listen to delegate experiences and connect them to the legislation. The results are meaningful conversations that change professionals’ day to day practice.
Professionally, I have worked with individuals living with dementia, who have shared with me their highs and lows. I have observed and interacted with individuals in whatever way works for them. I have read many different articles and books. One of the most moving books I have read on Dementia was Wendy Mitchell’s book on “Someone I Used to Know”. I could relate to Wendy’s frustrations and the discrimination she experienced since the diagnosis of her early onset dementia. Wendy impressed me with her practical and down to earth solutions that she used to overcome her day to day challenges. They worked for her. Some of the solutions will help others and there will be some that do not. However, what was important for us to learn was the need to be creative with people we support. Wendy reminded us all that we must work with not for people living with disabilities/health conditions. This is an important distinction because otherwise we undermine that individual’s ability to do things for themselves. We must listen, trust and be guided by the individual as much as possible.
Two years ago, I would never have envisaged facilitating a four-day course on Dementia for professionals and unpaid carers. The feedback has been encouraging with moving testimonials. But most importantly the participants found the sessions informative and motivating enough to change their practices.
We have a growing prevalence of dementia around the world. Therefore, it is crucial that we are equipped to empower individuals to live their lives as fully as possible. Out of a group of 10 delegates at least half had experiences of relatives living with dementia. Therefore, not only were they interested from a professional point of view but also on a personal basis.
Throughout the 4 days we learned a lot from each other and recognised everyone for individuals we all are, even when living with advanced stages of illness. The positive vibes from the four days were fantastic. However, we need more conversations like these to change practices in social care.
Recently we had a new report commissioned by the Church of England, Care and Support Reimagined, a National Care Covenant for England, which highlighted the interdependence we all have with each other. The report shared the importance of values in social care and that we all have a responsibility to enable everyone to live their lives as best they can. Currently this is often failing because of society’s pervasive attitudes towards anyone drawing on care and support.
We need a much wider conversation about changing attitudes. Training is crucial but we must also learn to listen better. There are many individuals who live with health conditions and/or disabilities whose voices are still not being heard. We need to trust and listen to them on what is needed. They should be directing the care assessments, not the professionals.
There is already enough legislation to enable us to provide the sort of care and support we want. But we fail because too many professionals do not apply this underlying legislation consistently. Which is why I train professionals on the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). It is one of the best pieces of legislation we have, but it is often neglected or misinterpreted.
Last week I was observed and assessed for an MCA course that I tailored for another provider, Taye. Their training is very good but to my mind the MCA course previously written did not bring the legislation to life. I had a number of professionals speak to me afterwards who said that it was the first MCA course that had inspired them to follow the first two principles (1. Assumption of capacity and 2. Enable to understand/communicate ) more closely. Within this session we had delegates who do not work in health and social care. They confirmed that this legislation needs to be understood by all of us. This is because we need to be able to challenge assumptions and need to get our voices and those of loved ones heard.
Understanding and applying the legislation is crucial for the social care debate. There is other legislation from the Care Act and Human Rights which should enable us to be responsive to individuals aspirations and abilities. But we also need to address funding. This is such a big need that I will turn to this in my next blog.
Leave a Reply