Refurbishments


we can then collectively provide appropriate, flexible and future-proofed solutions. The result of this work is the newly launched guide by The Housing Forum, The Older and Wiser Report. It offers a new approach with a practical


toolkit describing a methodology for the development of bespoke strategies by any organisation irrespective of size, location and ownership. This unique approach tackles the key issues relating to people, homes, money, design and delivery and challenges every organisation to consider and respond to the most important questions such that sustainable solutions can be provided.


Re-inventing solutions Just as there are not enough homes to house this ‘silver tsunami’, there may not be enough specialists to design, build, maintain and adapt the homes we do have. Unlike other housing related shortages that have been under the spotlight previously, key worker homes, an ageing population brings with it very specific demands, especially around the physical challenges associated with being older. So, we are grappling with how best to


integrate and use technology to maximise in-home safety and wellbeing, especially for people with dementia; how we can use decor and colour to support independent living and mobility for people with visual impairment; how we can integrate a sense of community to help combat the one thing that many older people fear: loneliness.


A people-first, not fixtures-first approach Over many decades of working in the retirement living sector, Ian Williams has learned that for happy clients and safe and happy end-users, we have to take a people-first approach. We have the expertise to design, specify and install age-appropriate solutions but these mean little without the pride and passion of the teams delivering them sensitively. Ian Williams has a strategy of directly


delivering all its services. Our operatives wear uniforms, ID badges, arrive in branded vehicles, attend toolbox talks and specialist training and we also appoint Dementia Champions. They really become part of the team in many care and retirement living schemes where


we work. They get to know the home managers, staff, residents, activity co-ordinators and their families. Another point of difference – we normally deal with the residents themselves when we are working in their homes but in this environment, especially where dementia is a factor, families are really important. All of this, combined with the employment of multi-skilled operatives that limits the number of different faces showing up, is done to build confidence and peace of mind. Working sensitively in older people’s


homes is just as important to us as making residential care homes, assisted living and managed facilities and individual properties fit-for-purpose by providing physical adaptations. Our strategy of direct delivery means all our operatives are trained to provide high levels of customer service in sensitive environments. By working with Erosh, the national network for older people’s housing and support services, we have developed a guide: Sensitive Contractors, which we hope will soon become a sector- wide best practice guide in preparing contractors for sensitive working in a market which is only set to get significantly more important. Our business model also enables us


Just as there are not enough homes to house this ‘silver tsunami’, there may not be enough specialists to design, build, maintain and adapt the homes we do have


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to flex our services and a test of this flexibility was proven during the first lockdown. Working in partnership with clients like Care UK, The Disabilities Trust, Audley, Shaw Healthcare, Anchor Hanover and Inspired Villages, through fast and effective implementation of social distancing, we have been able to continue our compliance, emergency and response works.


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • March 2021


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