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The Consortium

ACTIVITY PROVISION MOVING UP THE CARE HOME AGENDA, SAYS NEW STUDY

 Time, Money and “Thinking Outside the Box” Remain Key to Quality Provision, Reveals Research from NAPA and The Consortium Care

Organised and spontaneous activities are fast becoming an indispensable part of life in the UK‘s care homes – with almost a third having provided a greater range of activities for residents in the past two years.

According to a major new study, 27 per cent of care homes have either employed an activity organiser, or increased the allocation of hours dedicated to organised activities.

These are among the findings of a new survey of 400 care homes carried out by the charity NAPA - the National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People – in conjunction with The Consortium Care, a leading national provider of care supplies and services.

It follows a survey of homes last year, which found that while the vast majority of care home managers saw the benefit of providing innovative activities for residents, for most, “traditional” pastimes such as bingo and listening to music continue to dominate.

The surveys form part of a pioneering research project which has received £2,000 in sponsorship from The Consortium Care, called “Activity and Wellbeing in Care Settings.” This will help in the evaluation of a NAPA project which is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund, the findings of which will be shared with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

Brian Potter, Marketing and Sales Director at The Consortium, commented: “We have supported NAPA‘s research because it was obvious that much more work needed to be done in establishing what activities are currently being provided for care home residents, and what more they would like to see provided.

“As a business we are also fully committed to this area, having doubled the number of pages devoted to activity products in our last care catalogue.”

In the latest research, the two major barriers to progress in terms of developing activities cited by care home managers were lack of time (30 per cent) and budgets/resources (25 per cent). One manager said activities in their home had “a cosmetically high profile but actually a low profile from a financial point of view.”

Motivating staff was also highlighted as a problem while another manager commented: “At the moment, when people get trained, they‘ll get trained in manual handling, in care planning and all the mandatory aspects…. It encourages people to think narrowly so you don‘t get encouraged to think outside the box.”

Nonetheless, one activity organiser commented that, “you can provide almost anything with the right attitude”, while another said their home had purchased a Nintendo Wii for residents‘ use, which was proving very popular.

 Meanwhile, three-quarters of care homes surveyed felt they had improved links with the local community. Nearly half of respondents had built contacts with local schools, college and youth groups and visits to the local town centre, pub and church were also popular.

“We are grateful to The Consortium Care for its sponsorship of this important research, which will help us continue to speak with authority and knowledge of the realities at the ‘sharp end‘ of care delivery,” said Sally Knocker, Director of Communications at NAPA.

“Our ultimate aim is to influence policy makers, purchasers and practitioners to significantly improve activity provision for older people nationally. There is no doubt that dedicated, robust research had been completely lacking in this area, and this is an excellent start.

“While there is still some way to go, and time and financial constraints continue to hamper progress, our research shows that we have come a long way in a relatively short space of time.

 “Care homes are not merely paying lip service to activities – they are increasingly understanding that activity can be built into all aspects of the daily routine and providing a greater range of options for people to enjoy. In many cases, organisations are now investing in a dedicated member of staff, and all the while making a conscious effort to become more integrated with their local communities.”

 More information on The Consortium Care can be found at www.theconsortiumcare.co.uk 

 For further information on NAPA, call 020 7078 9375 or visit

www.napa-activities.co.uk

 ENDS             6th May 2008

 For further information please contact Neil Fraser, Sturgess Van Damme on 01275 349011 or email neil@sturgessvandamme.co.uk

 Notes to Editors

The Consortium is a national procurement and fulfilment business focused on meeting the needs of its many customers in the education, training and social care sectors. It also provides free tailored e-procurement solutions, which give its customers central control over non-core supplies purchasing and radically reduces the time and cost associated with paper-based purchasing.

The company has a fast-growing multi-million pound web business. Its product range of over 30,000 products covers four key areas:

  •  janitorial products
  • furniture
  • office and business equipment
  • educational supplies

 Our supplies business is combined with a growing services business, which focuses on fleet management and food contracting. Many organisations find they save time and money by outsourcing these arrangements to The Consortium.

 Key dimensions:

  •  annual sales turnover of over £40 million
  • services 25,000 customers per annum
  • supplies over 30,000 products per annum
  • 250 employees
  • 100,000 sq ft warehouse and office complex in Trowbridge, Wiltshire   

 The Consortium offers all its customers:

  •  Prompt delivery – next day in UK if required
  • One-stop convenience
  • A low-price guarantee (thanks to our £100 million plus buying power)
  • Thousands of branded and own-brand quality-assured products
  • No quibble return and refund
  • Easy ordering by post, fax, telephone or online