GoodOaks partner with Bournemouth University on dementia study
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GoodOaks Homecare scoop two wins at the Dorset Care Awards
One again, we are thrilled to share that we have won two awards at the Dorset Care Awards following a fantastic ceremony evening last Friday. The awards, a first for the Dorset Care Association, set out to showcase the best in care in the county and celebrate the extraordinary achievements within the sector. As our HQ is based in Dorset, we had to enter and we are delighted with our achievements.
As well as being nominated as finalists in three other categories including Nutrition & Hydration, Innovation in Social Care and Support Worker of the Year, we went on to win the Excellence in Social Care Training and the Sustainability & Environmental award.
The Excellence in Social Care Training was awarded to us for proving to the judges how we place value on the importance of training and development of our teams. It reflects how our training makes a difference to our clients and how we upskill our staff, in turn raising the standard across the care sector.
The Sustainability & Environmental award highlights how GoodOaks are the only Carbon Neutral Homecare provider in the UK and how passionate we are about it. We believe that we all need to do as much as we can for our future generations. In terms of our impact – We have offset over 453 tonnes of CO2 since we started, and another 200 tonnes due to be offset this year.
We have taken huge strides over the past year, offering quality training and development to our people by launching the online GoodOaks Academy. The Academy provides over 30 free courses for both paid and unpaid carers. Our aim is to deliver targeted learning to help people who may be caring for a loved one at home, but have no previous experience in care.
During the last year our innovations have focused on:
- Launch of a pilot of Urban Mobility Objects as a way to reduce air pollution in our community, providing health benefits for our clients, carers and community at large. These Citroen AMI’s are not cars but quads, for use as pool cars for our office teams to travel to client assessments, to reviews, visits and more. We are installing electric charging points at our offices and aim to prove the concept in our office in Dorset before rolling it out across our network.
- We have been collaborating with Bournemouth University to undertake a study of an intervention to provide nutritional care for people living with dementia at home.
This project, named TOMATO – nuTritiOn and deMentia AT hOme, has involved our team being upskilled by researchers and supporting clients and their families to make nutritional improvements and measuring the impact across various metrics. The project will create learning resources to support clients with nutrition and managing their Dementia; a lasting benefit for many clients across the UK.
- We have recently launched an all-new, ultra-immersive dementia training and experience developed in-house at GoodOaks. During this session, carers, paid and unpaid, are dressed in a suit that simulates ageing, and asked to undertake tasks while experiencing many of the symptoms our clients are living with day-in, day-out, such as visual and auditory hallucinations, hearing and sight issues, and mobility and dexterity problems.
People and Development Manager at GoodOaks Lorraine Hunt said: “We are honoured to receive this award for excellence in social care training. It’s a testament to the dedication and passion of our team who work hard to empower and uplift those in our care. This recognition inspires us to continue our mission of nurturing a culture of learning and growth, ensuring that every individual receives the highest standard of care.”
Co-Founder of GoodOaks Ben Ashton commented: “Winning these awards is a testament to our unwavering commitment to new approaches that revolutionise the way we support and care for our planet. This recognition fuels our passion to continue pushing boundaries, breaking barriers, and together, we will continue to shape a brighter future for our sector and planet.”
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