Support for adults with complex care needs

What are complex needs in adults?

The term ‘complex care’ encompasses a range of needs requiring ongoing essential specialist support. Adults with complex needs usually live with one or more conditions, which means they require specialised complex care support to manage their symptoms and daily tasks. Examples of such conditions include neurological disorders, disabilities, and complex health needs.

Usually, a person will have a primary diagnosis such as a learning disability, acquired brain injury or mental health condition, and in addition have several associated conditions or diseases alongside that such as a heart condition, epilepsy, or diabetes.

Supported living and residential care for adults with complex needs 

Enabling people with complex care needs to live the kind of life they want requires careful planning before they move in. Specialist tTraining plays a vital role in this, ensuring we have highly skilled, competent, and knowledgeable team members colleagues to who provide a high level of care in both our residential settings and supported living services.

At Lifeways, we have developed a number of bespoke learning modules which equip team members colleagues to support people with designated health care tasks. This can include things like diabetes management, catheter care, and PEG/PEJ care, amongst other things.

This approach allows care to be provided by familiar people, rather than waiting for NHS or external health professionals, with complex care support centred on an individual’s routine, ensuring a more person-centred approach and better outcomes.

Team members feel confident and equipped to respond to complex care needs, knowing when to seek medical advice so issues are quickly identified, leading to early interventions and preventing unnecessary hospital admissions.

Complex care supported living 

This proactive approach enables preventive medical care, allowing people to remain at home rather than in a hospital. If they are admitted and they require medical care, they can be discharged home earlier, knowing their support team has the skills to care for them.

Quality of life through Positive Behaviour Support

In addition to complex health needs, complex care can also include people who display behaviours that may be challenging. Our highly trained support workers and specialist teams employ a variety of trusted methods, including Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), which uses person-centred approaches to ensure a positive impact on each person's quality of life - supporting people effectively with their needs and understanding the impact that a person’s condition or disease has on their life.

Specialist Complex Care Support Team

Each Lifeways service has access to our in-house Specialist Support Team made up of Specialist Practitioners and Trainers, led by Lead Specialists and headed up by the Specialist Support Manager. They support team members by offering tailor-made training and completing robust behavioural assessments.

Promoting choice and control in everyday life for those with complex care needs

The team focuses on meaningful engagement for the people we support, understanding the reasons behind behaviours that may challenge, to then provide person-centred proactive strategies to help reduce them without putting the person or others at risk. The aim of PBS is to increase quality of life, build skills and promote meaningful engagement, choice and control in everyday life.

 

 

Elliot's complex support needs pathway

Elliot*, who has a diagnosis of autism, learning disabilities, Tourette’s syndrome and mental health conditions, moved to Lifeways in 2017 from another service provider. Elliot was displaying high levels of self-injurious behaviour and would also show verbal and physical aggression towards his complex care support team, with incidents lasting for two to four hours at a time.

A functional behavioural assessment and personalised PBS plan were implemented. Coaching was provided to Elliot’s support team on his diagnosis, particularly around how his autism and his Tourette’s presented in his day-to-day life.

Behaviour support strategies carried out by our caring team

A routine was developed and implemented alongside behaviour support strategies, which allowed his support team to be more consistent in their complex care support and build confidence to take Elliot out into the community to expand his interests. He was able to go feed the ducks, bowling and out for meals, which he was previously unable to do.

As trust developed, incidents of physical aggression and self-injurious behaviour reduced, and when they did occur, they were for significantly shorter periods of time. As a result, Elliot’s relationship with his complex care support team improved, and he is able to enjoy a vastly improved quality of life.

(*name changed to protect individual’s privacy.)

Complex care support with Lifeways 

At Lifeways, we support thousands of people with complex needs every day, incorporating best practice and continually developing training programmes to help people learn new skills, communicate more effectively and enjoy greater choice and control in their everyday lives. Get in touch today and find out how we can help.