Headline

Biography

Andy Bradley's belief is that we must elevate the status of care giving and therefore he created Frameworks 4 Change in 2004. Andy was inspired by his upbringing in which he spent time living with older people with a range of needs, including dementia, in the care home his parents set up and ran. The care home was a warm, family oriented environment in which there was a sense of adventure, curiosity, optimism and compassion. After leaving home, Andy went onto to care for people with a range of needs and observed a common culture and practice very different to the home he grew up in. The gap between what Andy knew was possible and the way much residential care was being provided led him to establish Frameworks 4 Change with a vision to recreate the world he grew up in. Andy and the team at Frameworks 4 Change work hard every day to 'create and sustain consistently compassionate care' in a range of environments including residential care, domiciliary care and hospitals. The habit-building programmes that Andy now facilitates are seeing dramatic results with continuous improvements to care and staff teams feeling valued and appreciated. Andy is currently working with the NHS and a range of care provider organisations.

Impact

Our programmes directly impact the culture in a range of health and social care settings by embedding compassion as a core focus and habit. The health and social care staff who take part in our compassion into practice programmes consistently report increases in confidence, empowerment and happiness. Staff are encouraged to take care of themselves and each other so that they can offer consistently compassionate care to their residents \ patients and their families Managers and leaders report increased innovation and improved team working - continuous improvements in care giving practices are made as a result. Our programmes are impacting hospitals, care and nursing homes and domiciliary care. Older people, including those who are living with dementia, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health issues are all given more consistently compassionate care and support as a result of our programmes. Our programmes are now being commissioned by local authorities, NHS trusts and independent sector care providers. We are putting compassion on the map in health and social care and have ambitious plans for now accelerating the impact and reach of our work.

Need

How to create cultures in hospitals and care homes in which everyone knows that they matter is of great importance to us. The challenge of giving every resident / patient a sense that they matter is significant. In busy institutions with a complex set of needs and every day pressures individual needs and differences can easily be overlooked. The pervasive culture in busy care homes and hospitals can leave older people feeling lonely, bored and unsafe, families feeling anxious and worried, care and nursing staff feeling undervalued and unappreciated and managers feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Success for us means every resident / patient is known and respected, being given consistently compassionate care and support by people they can trust in vibrant, positive environments. For this shift to be achieved we have learnt that:- o  There must be a relentless focus on cultivating the qualities that we all wish to see in the care given to older people o  The habits which create and sustain a consistently compassionate approach must be embedded in the culture and practice of the care provider.  o  Patients / residents and their families are seen as partners  o  Care giving teams must develop the capacity for routinely reflecting on compassion and well being.  o  Leaders in care environments must create the conditions for a compassionate approach to flourish through listening to and empowering patients / relatives and their families and care giving teams.