Donna works for the Reablement Service in Oldham, she recently attended Empowered Conversations : Professional.

 

How would you describe the course to colleagues?

“It was very interesting.  Staff with a lot of experience can become a little bit robotic, you do things a certain way because that’s what you were taught and that’s the way you’ve always done it.  The course gave me the time to reflect, to think about how I approach things, how I deal with situations. 

While I was on the course a situation escalated at work, and I was called in to support.  As a reablement service we have people staying a maximum of 6 weeks with us while we work with them on their next steps. 

We had a gent who was re-admitted, not our normal practice but for safeguarding reasons it was the right step for him.  His mental health had declined while in hospital, he had Parkinsons with dementia and his behaviour had become erratic.

I put into practice some of the techniques from the course and was able to de-escalate the situation within 3 – 4 minutes, the staff had been trying everything for a couple of hours.  The Invitation to Respond technique worked well.  The other day I was able to support him to get up, dressed and having his breakfast in 15 minutes.  It’s happened a couple of times now, when I show up now, he says ‘oh here’s my friend again’.” 

Have you noticed any changes since you attended the course?

“When I was called in to de-escalate, I really spent time to look at the full situation, look behind the agitation and think about what was important for him before I went in.  I think before I would have gone straight in, telling him that his behaviour was not acceptable.  It made a difference for this gent. 

I’ve been observing staff and how they communication more, I’ve noticed that some staff do it naturally.  Another gent lost his wife while he was staying with us, the activity co-ordinator put on an afternoon tea for him and his family to come back to after the funeral.  She kept words to a minimal but offered him time to think about his wife”. 

What did the course offer you?

“Time to reflect on myself and my own practice.  Taking a breath and slowing down at the start of each session.  In our world we often don’t have time to stop to think.  After the sessions I sat and de-briefed with my manager, talking about it meant the course sat with me more”.