Home Care Reimagined

Welcome to Millennium home care

We are a new and unique homecare service specialising in caring for older people in their own homes within the Wigan community with a focus on positive outcomes for each client.

Our unique model of care provides clients with a network of support, increased independence but most importantly; companionship. Our model of care can also be therapeutic and engaging while reducing client’s emotional distress and improving their sense of well-being.

Where it all started

Millennium Care has been changing the way care is delivered for nearly 30 years in the care industry, constantly pushing the boundaries and challenging the status quo in health and social care, making headlines around the Northwest of England for innovative models of care that increase independence, promote empowerment with a strong focus on community involvement.

All of the learning along the way across all 7 Millennium care homes is now being applied to our new homecare service, making it a truly pioneering step forward in the world of home care.

Following the recent pandemic, it has become clear there are a large number of elderly people within our community that are suffering from loneliness and isolation, they have become invisible in our society and many are feeling anxious about getting out again, seeing other people, being within two metres of a loved one, and are experiencing a complete loss of independence.

This sparked our passion to make a difference, to use everything we have learned in the care sector and apply it in the home environment within the Wigan community.

Our Model and Relational care

In order to implement Millennium Home care we needed to understand how current models of care work, what the problems are in the industry today and what we can do to future proof care today for our future selves.

We started by speaking to people who have received home care, families of loved ones who had received home care and people who had worked in home care and this showed concerns that were all too common: short, rushed visits, too many different carers so no-one gets to know each other. At its worst, it showed many older people were in bed by early evening with only the TV for company.

We started to see a clear picture of a rushed and very task orientated industry.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. It is possible, by having self-managed teams of companions, that don’t have a ‘boss’ but can agree between themselves how to work effectively, to ensure a much greater level of wellbeing.

Each member of the team can provide care within a small group of clients, having prime responsibility for an allocated client, but knowing they have the other team members to support them and consult with.

With a minimum of one-hour visits with a focus on relational care, they can get to know clients really well and help them to do the things they love doing, whether that’s following hobbies, getting back into a community group such as a club or church, or developing friendships.

What offering relational care does not mean, however, is a slapdash approach! It doesn’t work if people are so busy getting to know each other over tea and cake, that real problems get missed or essential tasks remain undone. Relational Care is not task-centred, in the sense of hurrying to get things ticked off a list, but it must be given in such a way that older people feel both cared for and cared about. This comes about by doing the essential jobs as part of spending quality time with the client, chatting and reassuring as you would if you were helping a friend.

Equally importantly, the carer is not just a ‘giver’ and the older person a ‘recipient’, but the client is given every opportunity to contribute to the relationship as well. This might be by sharing parts of their life story, finding out about their companion as a person, or even teaching their companion something [example of tap dancer]. All these things make the days more interesting and fulfilling, and help to build resilience to cope with life’s ups and downs. The idea of relational care is to enhance everyone’s wellbeing

At Millennium care we were all in agreement that clients should not be on a to-do list, they are Human beings and the job is not done until they feel valued and loved and even then the job is not done as it is ongoing care and companionship that is going to make the difference.

Six Golden Rules

Millennium Home care six golden rules come together to form our vision C – Challenge traditional practices to achieve positive outcomes for all

I- Invest times, care comes from consideration not speed.

R-Respect and enjoy diversity, recognise each person as a unique and valued individual.

C-Create memorable moments and relationships.

L-Listen to others, especially your client, knowledge sharing and collaboration promotes continuous learning.

E-Envisage a better future of care where humanity is not limited and always out looking.

Our neighbourhood teams, How it works

The team members are collectively responsible for the team result, meaning they have the professional freedom to make choices to enable possibilities, The team decide how they organise the work, share responsibilities and make decisions; they integrate themselves into the community building relationships, connections and important links that will help create opportunities for clients to take up new hobbies, visit new and old places, form relationships and much more.

Our care circle

Millennium care circle The Millennium Care Circle The Millennium Care circle assembles the building blocks for independence based on universal human values:

People want control over their own lives for as long as possible People strive to maintain or improve their own quality of life People seek social interaction People seek ‘warm’ relationships with others. For each client, we spend time creating a unique circle of care that means when we are not around, the interaction does not stop. The care circle is created by our neighbourhood teams who spend time creating links with a wider circle of people meaning when you become a Millennium home care client you don’t just get our services and a great companion; you get a much wider network of professionals to enable you to enjoy the best quality of life possible.

Formal Networks

At Millennium Homecare we believe in the power of people, and the wider community and the positive contributions they can make towards your health. The community around a client is often overlooked when it comes to evaluating a care plan, but as we’ve found, it can often be the most priceless resource available to us.

There are no limits to who or what we can connect in a care circle, from Occupational Therapists to local Church hall clubs we see the more connections the better.

Informal Networks

As part of the Millennium Care circle we include an informal network of people, that means family members, friends and sometimes neighbours, all the people who are already a part of your life.

Strong, friendly relationships are at the middle of everything we do as they are the key to successful care. Often, we’ll take over care from a family member, and the more we know, the smoother that transition will be but we don’t want to remove loved ones completely from caring.

By founding and maintaining strong social networks, we find the need to provide constant care lessens. We don’t want to provide any more care than needed and see it as a very positive outcome if the need for care lessens.

For more information on Millennium Home Care visit www.millennium-homecare.co.uk Call: 01257 733732 or Email: tish@millennium-care.co.uk

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