A model of proactive care by an older people’s mental health care home team during Covid-19

In 2020, reports of a novel coronavirus, Covid-19, started to be reported by the global media. When the virus reached Northern Europe it became increasingly apparent that healthcare workers in acute and community facilities were at risk of becoming ill, with staff shortages negatively impacting patient care. In the UK concerns mounted about hospitals becoming overwhelmed, and care homes placed at increased risk due to hospitals discharging into the care home sector. UK Health Trusts were considering how to redeploy staff to best manage the rapidly changing situation. A specialist mental health care home liaison team in the North of England rapidly rolled out a model of proactive support to local residential and nursing care homes, whilst prioritising team cohesion and utilising specialist skills. A tier system was devised to ensure extra support was offered to care homes that had been high users of secondary mental health services, and offered a range of resources to 88 care homes across Kingston-Upon-Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Care homes who received resources rated the resources that were provided to them, including telephone support, clinics, and written handouts, and feedback was positive. Ensuring that services can adapt rapidly to support care homes during a pandemic which disproportionately affected older people with dementia has been important to ensure that carers, as well as healthcare professionals, have access to a range of support structures to enable them to keep providing good quality care.