What is Extra Care?
Extra Care is retirement living in a community where there is vision to add “life to years” for residents via the provision of quality individual homes with a diverse range of flexibly-delivered, high quality activities, services and support including domiciliary care for those who need it.
It is aimed at the over 55 year olds and seeks to be an intergenerational supportive community.
Extra Care Housing is designed specifically with the needs of older people in mind with varying levels of care and support available on site. People who live in Extra Care developments have their own self-contained homes, their own front doors and a legal right to occupy the property.
The ‘extra’ in extra care housing is generally recognised to be access to care services that can:
- Respond quickly to residents changing needs
- Provide unplanned care as and when required in addition to planned care
- Provide an emergency response.
It is a popular choice among older people because it aims to be “home” for the rest of a person’s life and hopefully provide an alternative to a care home at a later stage.
In addition there are communal facilities including residents’ lounge, guest suite, laundry, a restaurant or dining room, hobby rooms, gardens and even computer rooms.
Properties can be rented, owned or part owned/part rented. There is a limited (though increasing) amount of Extra Care Housing in most areas and most providers set eligibility criteria which prospective residents have to meet
Gilbert Court
Bromsgrove & District Housing Trust (bdht), Bromsgrove’s largest provider of affordable housing, opened its doors to Gilbert Court in 1999. The development of 90+ apartments and bungalows, just off Gilbert Road, has been designed to give the over 55 year olds the care and support they need to live independently, but have the use of extra facilities, should they want or need to use them.
The scheme allows residents to have the use of an on-site restaurant, a community room and kitchen, a hobbies room, a hairdressing salon and beauty room, two assisted bathing rooms, a laundry and two guest rooms.
Eclipse HomeCare’s ‘Award Winning’ team provide the Extra Care at Gilbert Court and have developed a broad range of services.
Everything from a simple daily Health Check for all clients to a 24 hour on-site care team for residents. Services are tailored to every resident’s needs by working directly with family, GP’s and Social Services.
Eclipse Homecare’s vision is for a service focused around local community interaction through the development of a range of low cost ‘Lifetime Activities’.
Activities such as film nights, double top darts, knit & natter and a ‘just for men’ social group, all available to the local community and Gilbert Court residents.
It is a popular choice among older people because it aims to be “home” for the rest of a person’s life and hopefully provide an alternative to a care home at a later stage.
In addition there are communal facilities including residents’ lounge, guest suite, laundry, a restaurant or dining room, hobby rooms, gardens and even computer rooms.
Properties can be rented, owned or part owned/part rented. There is a limited (though increasing) amount of Extra Care Housing in most areas and most providers set eligibility criteria which prospective residents have to meet
Terryspring Court
Terryspring Court opened its doors in 2000. The block of 58 flats on West Avenue in Redditch has been designed to give the over 55 year olds the care and support they need to live independently, but have the use of extra facilities, should they want or need to use them.
The scheme allows residents to have the use of a range of facilities including Lounge, Dining Room, Laundry, Guest Facilities, Garden, Community Centre, Hobby Room, Activities Room, Shop, Hairdressing Salon, Jacuzzi, Bar, Library and Assisted Bathing Facility.
Eclipse HomeCare’s ‘Award Winning’ team provide the Extra Care at Terryspring Court and have developed a broad range of services, with the entire site wheelchair accessible.
Everything from a simple daily Health Check for all clients to a 24-hour on-site care team for residents and Careline alarm service. Services are tailored to every resident’s needs by working directly with family, GP’s and Social Services.
Eclipse Homecare’s vision is for a service focused on local community interaction through the development of a range of low cost ‘Lifetime Activities’.
Regular social activities such as entertainers, social clubs, group activities and a ‘just for men’ social group take place and are all available to both the local community and Terryspring Court residents.
Aging Redefined with ADL Smartcare
Over the course of the last 12 months we have also been developing a highly innovative service the objectives of which are to improve the quality of life for clients through proactive reablement supported by use of The ADL LifeCurve.
This is a tool, developed by ADL Research and Newcastle University’s Institute for Aging, is used to map age related functional decline.
It provides a framework for understanding the most appropriate stage to intervene and which interventions are most effective.
As ADL Products are continually updated with this emerging understanding we have the ability to match individuals with the right products, services and advice that can help them slow the rate of age related decline. The LifeCurve gives older adults the independence to live better for longer.
This programme is backed by thousands of real-time assessments which show impressive improvements in independence and quality of life.
In almost every scenario the investment of just 15-30 minutes a day with one of our trained caregivers is all that is required. To learn more about our Ageing Redefined pilot study and case studies with client video interviews, please click here.
Research shows that early intervention and prevention is most effective with those who are in the early stages of age-related functional decline.
By using the LifeCurve, we can meet the requirements of the Care Act with supported assessments that enable us to provide better outcomes and best practice guidance.