HC-One’s Specialist Dementia Care Communities
By Professor Graham Stokes
HC-One, Britain’s largest provider of dementia care to the public sector, has been responding to the increasing complexity of dementia by developing their Specialist Dementia Care Communities (SDCC).
This model has been developed in the context of an anticipated increase in the prevalence of dementia. The number of people living with dementia in England is expected to rise by 108% to 1,351,000 between 2015-2040 and the number of people living with severe dementia is expected to rise by 199% to 909,000 2015-2040.
Traditional dementia care categories often act as ‘catch-alls’. HC-One has developed a more focused approach, with the SDCC service sitting above the traditional categories, focused on supporting those displaying distressed behaviours as a result of their dementia, and who might otherwise be inappropriately placed or prescribed anti-psychotic medication.
Opening of Meadow Bank’s SDCC:
HC-One unveiled its inaugural SSDCC in Meadow Bank Care Home, Lancashire, in 2022. This was the first of its kind and aimed to reshape dementia care for individuals with complex needs by understanding their behaviour and focusing on their emotional well-being.
The SDCC model incorporates specialist leadership, bespoke staffing, enhanced skills and competence among staff, and a thoughtfully designed physical environment. It is a therapeutic care setting with key elements like lower occupancy, enhanced lighting, low arousal interior design, and dedicated therapy rooms.
The SDCC model adopts ground-breaking methods of care, including employing Assistant Psychologists as part of the core care team for each resident to analyse behaviour to understand the reasons for a person’s distress. This is completely unique to the SDCC model, and it means that every resident’s care plan is evidence-based. The team also includes Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioners who engage with residents and support them to have meaningful and enjoyable lives.
Colleagues in the SDCC enhance their skills through bespoke and advanced learning & development and the SDCC also benefits from bespoke pre-admission assessment and re-assessment tools, as well as on-going wrap around clinical support and advice from the Dementia Care Team.
Promising results one year after the opening of Meadow Bank’s SDCC:
The pioneering approach to specialist dementia care at Meadow Bank has yielded promising results. Recent data showed:
- 90% decrease in distress-related incidents
- 60% of residents showing improvement in ‘Primary Behaviours of Concern’
- 88% of residents improved their ‘Total Complexity of Need Profile’
Opening of HC-One Scotland’s first SDCC:
Following the success at Meadow Bank, HC-One has opened its second SDCC, and its first one in Scotland, against the backdrop of an estimated 104% increase in the number of people living with severe dementia in Scotland between 2019 – 2040. The SDCC opened at Darnley Court care home in Glasgow in July, and we look forward to using our unique model to provide therapeutic support to residents who live in our SDCC.
For more information about SDCCs, visit the HC-One website here.
