Evolve Care Group Explores Creative Ways to Create Connection in Dementia Care

Evolve Care Group recently welcomed team members from across its homes and Central Support office to their Evolve Care Academy in Bristol for training sessions exploring how meaningful connections can be built with people living with a Dementia and other cognitive conditions.

The sessions, titled Seen, Heard, Valued, form part of Evolve’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their role, develops an understanding of the people living within their homes and the approaches used to support them.

Team members working across care, kitchen, domestic, maintenance, administration and Central Support regularly attend training at the Evolve Care Academy, recognising that everyone contributes to the environment that family members (residents) call home.

Communications Assistant Ayla Melville attended one of the recent sessions to gain a deeper understanding of the principles that underpin Evolve’s approach to care.

Throughout the day, attendees took part in practical exercises designed to encourage them to think differently about communication and connection, particularly when supporting people who may find it difficult to express themselves.

The session also explored how cognitive conditions and Dementias can affect communication, memory, decision making and emotional regulation.

Clinical Head Eve Carder explained that asking multiple direct questions to some people can sometimes leave them feeling confused or overwhelmed, making it more difficult for them to engage. Instead, the training encouraged attendees to find creative ways to "change the moment", adapting their approach to build trust and meaningful connection.

Reflecting on the experience, Ayla explained that hearing real experiences shared by team members helped bring the learning to life and provided valuable context for the stories she tells through her communications role.

The Seen, Heard, Valued sessions are one of many courses delivered through the Evolve Care Academy, which provides ongoing online and in-person learning and development for team members across Evolve Care Group.

To read Ayla's full account of the training experience, visit:

Changing the Moment to Create Connection.

For more information about the learning and development delivered by Evolve Care Academy, visit https://www.evolvecareacademy.com/

Evolve Care Group Invites Over 500 Team Members to Training Academy

Evolve Care Group recently delivered their latest in-person training for team members across their homes in their Bristol-based training academy (Evolve Care Academy).

The group has care homes across Devon, Somerset and South Wales, offering a place to call home to people living with a varying range of needs, from dementia and complex care to residential and respite support.

The training sessions ran across four days so that all team members from the homes were able to take part.

The training covered a wide range of learning, including Evolve’s practice frameworks, shaped around the work of Thomas Kitwood and Carl Jung, dementia-friendly language, clinical knowledge, and ways to build connection with people living at the home who may find communication or engagement more difficult because of their cognitive journeys.

In one exercise from the day, small bags containing five random objects were placed on each table around the training room. Team members were invited to take out one item at a time and create a story inspired by it with the rest of the group.

The exercise encouraged creativity and storytelling as a way of connecting with others, using everyday objects as a jumping off point for conversation. The stories could be personal memories, stories heard from others, or completely imagined. What mattered most was the act of sharing and creating something engaging.

For people living with a Dementia or are on a cognitive journey, being asked direct questions can sometimes feel overwhelming or confusing. But if a story is being shared, it may evoke recognition or familiarity and encourage sharing of their own life experiences.

Something as simple as picking up a beach towel and talking about a sunny holiday in Spain may encourage someone else to speak about their own experiences of travelling, holidays or time spent with loved ones, bringing comfort, familiarity and positive feelings into the conversation.

Another part of the training included exploring a number of simulated environments built within the training room. Bedrooms, living rooms and dining rooms were set up as examples of inviting and colourful environments that encouraged stimulation, alongside environments which felt uninviting, dull or institutional, to show the impact and importance of creating spaces that feel positive, homely, engaging and personal.

Eve Carder, Clinical Lead of Evolve Care Group shared, ‘We are not creating institutions, we are creating homes, places of safety, of creativity and hopefully magic.’

Established in 2015, the groups care academy was born out of a realisation that outsourcing e-learning alone was not enough to upskill teams to provide the emotional support needed for individuals living in Evolve’s care homes.  Recognising the limitations of standalone digital learning, Evolve embraced a holistic approach that combines e-learning with interactive face-to-face courses and hands-on experience gained through understanding the lived experiences of people living in their homes.

To read more about training, learning and development provided by Evolve Care Group in their Evolve Care Academy, visit https://www.evolvecareacademy.com/