At SweetTree, we owe a lot of our success to making our clients feel seen and heard a priority. At the end of the day, we’re working with people and our goal is to help them achieve the highest quality of life possible. Our personalised care plans revolve around the experience of a client, from their routines to personal preferences, interests and more. In other words, we provide truly person-centred care, which couldn’t be made possible without our dedicated team of specialist support workers. This dedication by all team members is also one of the main reasons why we achieved two consecutive ‘Outstanding’ ratings from the CQC. When working with someone from a place of compassion, it’s not uncommon for a bond to blossom. Client and support worker relationships, whilst professional, mean something more than work and there’s no better example of this than one of our dementia clients, Roger and his support worker, Maira.
Through our matchmaking process, Maira was introduced to Roger, who was previously looked after by his wife. “His wife needed support for Roger when she was out running errands” Maira explained. She was informed on and aligned with Roger’s daily routine. Maira was committed to helping him enhance this routine by incorporating new goals, such as, spending more time outdoors and helping him become more outgoing, so that he can engage activities like shopping with his wife – Roger was receptive and on board.
“I believe that going for a walk and talking to other people in the community is important, both because of his physical health and because he doesn’t seem to go outside or walk throughout the day” Maira added. During this time, Maira also took advantage of the flexibility SweetTree’s support work schedules offer. Whilst spending her days with Roger, Maira was able to balance her master’s studies – helping a client achieve their goals, whilst working towards her own.
Incorporating daily walks and intentional time outside, has helped Roger see a turnaround in his outlook for the better. “I don’t relate to people quite as I should, I’m a bit of a loner. But I haven’t had that so often recently, thanks to people like you [Maira]” Roger told us in 2024. Frequent visits to Roger’s local café, has even led to a friendship formed with the owner, which has had a positive impact on his mood and daily energy levels. “It’s important for his mental health as well, because he gets fresh air and he talks to people.” Maira told us. Roger also expressed his gratitude for Maira’s help, her patience and the bond they’ve created together, which goes a long way.
A big part of this is the fact that Maira and her support manager take into account Roger’s energy levels in a day and adapt the activities accordingly. For example, if Roger doesn’t have much energy, they might shorten their walk that day or take an alternate route. Similarly, if he is feeling tired or has a low mood, sitting at home and having a coffee and biscuits could be the activity for the day. It all harkens back to the pillar of person-centred care and putting compassion first. Because of this, our day-to-day care is flexible and suited to clients like Roger’s needs, which may be different today to what they may be tomorrow.
At the heart of SweetTree are the support workers who are committed to seeing a growth in their clients, sometimes over many years like in Roger and Maira’s case. It’s important to us that the stories and hard work of our team is recognised. You can learn more about Roger and Maira’s sweet story, as well as many other client-support worker stories, like Ade and Sam, on our Instagram, Facebook and blog pages. If you’d like to learn more about our award-winning care, visit our main site or contact us.