WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT
WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT
The NewDirection Care Difference
We encourage our residents to enjoy a good life by offering an entirely different kind of residential and nursing care. Bellmere is a place where residents can enjoy fulfilling and happy lives beyond diagnosis; socialising, staying active, pursuing hobbies and continuing to play a role in the community. Instead of building large non-descript institutional buildings filled with dozens of patients we have created a microtown™ of 17 domestic-style homes that each house seven residents who live together.
We Focus on the Individual
The traditional institutional model of care is task focused where regimented eating times, shower times, dressing times and visitor times are the norm. This does not reflect an individual's preferences and can threaten their personal autonomy. At NewDirection Care at Bellmere the focus is on the individual, recognising their unique needs, preferences, values and aspirations. Residents are placed in houses according to their lifestyle and who they are as individuals and not according to their cognitive diagnosis. They live an independent a life as they want and their condition allows, which lets them flourish.
Hobbies and Pursuits
People with dementia are not defined by their condition and shouldn’t stop doing what they want to do in life. While it affects a persons abilities as it develops, there are many things you can still enjoy doing either your own or with others. At Bellmere, residents continue their hobbies and pursuits as far as possible, taking an active interest in life in an environment that bears a close resemblance to what they were used to before diagnosis.
Freedom and Empowerment
Residents are empowered in the way they are cared for but they also enjoy autonomy and freedom in this safe and supportive environment. They are free to wander around, socialise, enjoy a range of activities and participate in the community. We are thinking differently about aged care, allowing us to better meet the needs of individuals and helping them to control their own lives.
Respect for Residents
In traditional care residents usually have to adhere to regimented wake-up times and being told when to go to bed, which is more about suiting care home staff rotas and the institution they work for than it is for the comfort and benefit of those in their care. This is not the case at NewDirection Care at Bellmere where we respect the right of individuals to make their own decisions such as the time they get up in the morning and when they want to retire for the evening and go to bed.