Sarah’s* history

Sarah, who has a diagnosis of autism and a learning disability, has spent most of her adult life moving between different supported living services. Her challenging behaviours put other residents and staff at risk. There were cases of assault and frequent damage to property, some of these incidents resulted in other residents moving out.

The supported living service felt that her behaviours could no longer be managed safely, which led to Sarah’s move to Cygnet.

Sarah was initially admitted to one of our high dependency complex care services for a period of stability before stepping down to our residential service with nursing, Ellen Mhor.

When Sarah came to Ellen Mhor

Upon Sarah’s admission, she initially struggled to settle, there were cases of self-injurious behaviour and destruction of property. Due to this, she had a very basic bedroom with minimal furnishings.

Sarah struggled with her speech, making it difficult for her to communicate her needs, this led to her often feeling frustrated. Her communication with her family was not always regular, but the family were involved with her care throughout.

She was incontinent and would often urinate in public, when she did go into the community she had to be very closely monitored due to reports of inappropriate behaviour. She relied on staff for all elements of her personal care.

Sarah’s care

At Ellen Mhor, we feel that it’s important to support those in our care to have individual activity plans. This enables them to structure their time, build relationships and establish a balance between therapy, self-care, work and leisure, as appropriate to their individual needs.

The team at Ellen Mhor used a consistent approach from the start of Sarah’s admission. They spent time getting to know her likes and dislikes and included her in making decisions as much as possible. They also spent time building upon the core skills that Sarah already had, but was struggling to use.

After several weeks, Sarah started to feel more settled and her communication with the team was improving. They were able to start working with Sarah to choose different items to go into her bedroom to make it a more personal space. Staff kept the boundaries clear and started to build a relationship of trust.

The staff worked with Sarah to produce a schedule to give some routine and consistency and where possible, she was supported to find independence doing her day to day tasks. The team at Ellen Mhor helped Sarah learn to perform her morning routine with minimal support, by giving lots of encouragement and building confidence over time.

As Sarah’s confidence grew, she became determined to be more independent and learn new skills.

Today

Sarah is settled and happy at Ellen Mhor, she has a good relationship with the staff team and enjoys helping out with the housework each day. Over the past year there have been no incidents of violence or aggression and her mood is much more stable.

Sarah now manages all aspects of her personal care independently including showering herself in the mornings and drying her own hair. She no longer suffers with incontinence and she often enjoys accessing the community incident free.

Her sensory lit bedroom is now furnished with items chosen by her, and she has her own television to watch. She continues to enjoy her increasing independence.

Sarah is now being supported by the team to explore the option of starting video calls with her family.

*Name has been changed to protect her identity