Mental Health Awareness Week took place last week and shone a welcome spotlight on various aspects of personal wellbeing and causes for poor mental health. Struggles with mental health can affect any one of us at any time. Having the right systems in place to support people when they are finding things hard at home or at work is extremely important.
In the care home industry, supporting residents and staff with their mental health is crucial. What can start as a minor worry or concern can quickly escalate if left undetected. Mental struggles can quickly affect physical health, damage confidence and go on to cause problems and distress for the wider community.
Happily, there are many ways in which you as a care home manager can help stop this happening in your care setting. Educate yourself and your colleagues about how to spot signs of any care home residents or colleagues struggling with their mental health. Be readily available for staff or residents to come to you with any problems or concerns. At the same time, learn how to how to look after your own – you can’t pour from an empty vessel.
For care home residents, providing a stimulating, loving and secure home is essential. Alongside welcoming family members and other visitors, knowing what those in your care need at any given time to thrive, and making yourself or your trusted team members available to share in their good times and bad.
As for looking after your staff’s mental wellbeing, things like scheduling in proper mealtimes and rest breaks, encouraging people to seek help when they need it, running a reliable HR and payroll and making sure everyone knows what’s happening when – and why – are all effective ways of managing team members’ mental health.
That is where a good care management software system comes in. We tend, as human beings, to feel far better about life when we feel in control about what’s happening around us and why. A comprehensive care management system like Care Vision can help people feel safe, engaged and properly listened to. The various functions built into it are designed to not only ensure the smooth running of the care home, but to provide much-needed reassurance, stability and mental health support.
Here’s how.
Visitor book
We are a social species, by and large. We enjoy seeing our loved ones and spending time in the company of likeminded friends and family. Having an effective, safe system in place to enable care home residents to receive visitors is vital for their ongoing mental health and wellbeing. Our electronic visitors book enables you and your staff to know exactly who is on the premises and how long they are there. Visitors’ personal data is kept safe and secure by the password-protected software so that your care home can remain GDPR compliant.
eMar medication system
Care home teams have a duty of care towards their residents to provide access to appropriate treatment and medication to protect physical health. Missing or mixing up tablets or medicines can not only have serious consequences on a person’s physical condition, but it can lead to heightened anxiety and adverse effects on their mental health and levels of anxiety as well. Having access to a fully comprehensive ‘eMar medication planning system all but eliminates the risk of giving anyone the wrong medication and allows staff to keep full records of who needs what, how much and when. Including treatments aimed at supporting mental health, such as medication, counselling or therapy. Knowledge is certainly power in this case.
Entertainment planning
Talking of medicine, they really do say that laughter is the best kind. Keeping spirits high in a care home can be really helped by the inclusion of regular entertainment, trips and fun activities. Again, planning such diversions is made far easier with Care Vision software. Important administrative aspects like staffing, insurance, healthcare needs, entertainment bookings and budgets can be kept up to date in an easy-to-access format. Once the admin and planning is taken care of, all that’s left is to go and have some fun!
Staff rota management
Having enough people on site at any one time so that all the jobs get done, ratios of carers to residents remain legally compliant and no-one feels overworked is a wonderful way to ensure that your staff feel comfortable and valued at work. This goes on to strengthen their confidence and keep their mental health positive. Care Vision offers a full rota planning facility, as well as real-time clocking in. It allows users to plan meticulously, even giving space for residents to specify which care staff they would like to have looking after them. As already mentioned, feeling in control of what you are expected to do, when and for how long can really help people cope with life, feel more motivated and enjoy better quality mental health.
Clocking in and payroll
Care Vision also operates a secure, reliable electronic clocking in system to help managers keep track of hours worked. This means that staff can receive their correct wages on time and won’t end up working too many hours. Worrying about money and when you are going to be paid can be a huge cause of mental health concern and anxiety. So, knowing that everything can be sorted out electronically regarding payroll and people’s earnings can take a huge weight off your care team’s shoulders.
