It’s amazing how the Great Interactions training has helped all the staff team at No2 The Grove, and the people we support.
After doing my training with Gwenne and Jenny, I brought back all the exercises to share with the staff. We worked together as a team to improve our way of working as support workers who empower and work with people, rather than carers who do things for, or to, people.
The ‘care vs support’ exercise works wonders!!!
As a team we set aside a maximum of 30 minutes in our team meetings, which we do on Fridays, and leave that time for Great interactions. We do the training exercises from our packs and then staff reflect on all the good interactions they have seen between their colleagues and the people we support. This is really good for staff morale, as staff members are feeding back to one another, on positive interactions they have observed.
We have been going through huge redevelopments at our service and by using everything we have learnt from the training we have managed to support people in the way that they want to be supported. We went without our kitchen, bathrooms etc when the contractors were doing the work and by using all the facilitation skills and timelines, pictures, and signing we were able to let the people we support know what was going on around them. This helped them to understand that all the disturbance and inconvenience was to try and give them a better service.
The training and exercises did wonders for us and we feel we are all working better as MacIntyre Support Workers, but we will of course keep working to improve even more.
Patricia Nyirenda
Senior Support Worker, Bedfordshire
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Great Interactions comes alive for us!
I am a support worker at Cherriton, on the Wirral and I would like to tell you about my experience of Great Interactions at the MacIntyre Roadshow in Bolton.
I accompanied Barbara to the Roadshow and when we arrived we were greeted with happy smiling faces which continued throughout the day and across the venue. Barbara and I tried all the different activities. We both enjoyed making bags and we drew our favourite things on them. We took our time and enjoyed doing this activity together. It was really special and Barbara is still so proud of the bag she designed.
We then went onto the Great Interactions stand and Barbara and I looked at the laptop which when you pressed a large button it gave instructions, using pictures and speech, on how to bake a cake. Barbara took control of the button and was fascinated by the step-by-step picture recipe.
We learnt about the Great Interactions awards and had our photos taken with them and we were then up on the big screen sharing MacIntyre’s success. We were also on the MacIntyre Stories video waving to everyone.
After a lovely lunch Barbara and I attended two workshops. The first was ‘Let’s spend time together’ and was all about Great Interactions and exploring the senses. There were lots of things to try, touch, listen to and smell. We looked at fancy lights, noisy items, squeezy things, crinkly silver blankets, a sensory tent and much more. There were also cheap things like bubble wrap and bubbles – lots to do, explore and share, and all great fun! Barbara enjoyed playing ‘bouncing the huge gym ball’, but it was the light up glitter ball which she was really interested in and we spent time investigating this together. We have recently purchased one of these balls and Barbara continues to enjoy this on a daily basis, with staff.
At the end of the day we learned to sign the song ‘What a wonderful world’ and we went on the stage at the front and preformed this to everyone in the finale. Barbara was better than me at signing and later showed the rest of the staff how to do it so that they were able to join in.
Barbara was so excited when we returned home, and told everyone how good the Roadshow was. We came away with lots of information, some great ideas and some new skills.
Great Interactions is SO important and this was a fun way to learn more about it!
Michelle Simpson Adkins
Support Worker, Wirral
I accompanied Barbara to the Roadshow and when we arrived we were greeted with happy smiling faces which continued throughout the day and across the venue. Barbara and I tried all the different activities. We both enjoyed making bags and we drew our favourite things on them. We took our time and enjoyed doing this activity together. It was really special and Barbara is still so proud of the bag she designed.
We then went onto the Great Interactions stand and Barbara and I looked at the laptop which when you pressed a large button it gave instructions, using pictures and speech, on how to bake a cake. Barbara took control of the button and was fascinated by the step-by-step picture recipe.
We learnt about the Great Interactions awards and had our photos taken with them and we were then up on the big screen sharing MacIntyre’s success. We were also on the MacIntyre Stories video waving to everyone.
After a lovely lunch Barbara and I attended two workshops. The first was ‘Let’s spend time together’ and was all about Great Interactions and exploring the senses. There were lots of things to try, touch, listen to and smell. We looked at fancy lights, noisy items, squeezy things, crinkly silver blankets, a sensory tent and much more. There were also cheap things like bubble wrap and bubbles – lots to do, explore and share, and all great fun! Barbara enjoyed playing ‘bouncing the huge gym ball’, but it was the light up glitter ball which she was really interested in and we spent time investigating this together. We have recently purchased one of these balls and Barbara continues to enjoy this on a daily basis, with staff.
At the end of the day we learned to sign the song ‘What a wonderful world’ and we went on the stage at the front and preformed this to everyone in the finale. Barbara was better than me at signing and later showed the rest of the staff how to do it so that they were able to join in.
Barbara was so excited when we returned home, and told everyone how good the Roadshow was. We came away with lots of information, some great ideas and some new skills.
Great Interactions is SO important and this was a fun way to learn more about it!
Michelle Simpson Adkins
Support Worker, Wirral
Thursday, 12 January 2012
We were told - It’s the way that we did it!
The Willows has recently been inspected by CQC, which I am proud to say went well, but what I feel stood out from our report was how the inspector felt the staff interacted during the inspection, and the ways we communicate with the people we support. While she was observing the staff and their interactions, the inspector noticed how people were always encouraged to join conversations and that staff stopped what they were doing to listen and respond to people.
In addition, she observed how people were encouraged and supported to achieve certain tasks, however small, during the evening, for instance setting the tables for tea. She saw how the consistent use of Makaton is fundamental to the inclusion, participation and well-being of one person.
The inspector felt that we had done well making our documents and information accessible and meaningful and could see how this made a difference to how involved people are, for example:· Service agreements
· My health
· How I like to be supported if I become ill or die
· House meeting agendas and minutes
· Rotas
As a team, we reflected on the report. We know the way forward is to work with people to further develop their skills and to find different ways to motivate people to take more control of their lives, no matter how big or small that is. We try to do this, working with MacIntyre’s DNA in mind, by identifying opportunities to experience and try different things, which may result in a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
MacIntyre’s DNA breaks it all down. If you put this into your working practise, we believe you cannot go wrong......because it is true
“It aint what you do it is the way that you do it”
Sandra Hughes, Head of ServiceWednesday, 4 January 2012
A new year of Great Interactions!
As we move into 2012 it’s the perfect opportunity to stop and reflect on the journey of Great Interactions during the last year. The highlights have doubtlessly included the launch of the Great Interactions book, the Great Interactions film and the development of training materials and a new course. We have heard accounts from all over the country of how our Senior Practitioners are sharing their learning and the ensuing positive outcomes for people.
On numerous occasions in MacIntyre, following Great Interactions training, I’ve heard the words ‘you wouldn’t believe it but...’, and I was thrilled to hear it again at the end of last year, but this was a little different. For the first time MacIntyre took it’s Great Interactions training external. We delivered the course to staff who had never heard of Great Interactions, but were enthusiastic to learn and desperate to achieve the best outcomes for the people they support. When this group returned to us for day 3 of the course, after having a 6 week period to try out what they had learned, they were bubbling over with enthusiasm and stories. We heard how people had been empowered to do things they had not previously done, had surprised staff with hidden knowledge and skills, and been less anxious when staff had worked in a facilitative way.
This should have come as no surprise to us, as we know that working in a facilitative way results in Great Interactions, but it’s reassuring to know that we can share our learning and that Great Interactions can spread beyond MacIntyre.
We have learnt, from talking to other providers and taking our work external, that other organisations face the same difficulty as us. They too want the best outcomes for people, they know about person centred thinking and planning, but need the missing link – good facilitation. This is our unique selling point: it’s what sets us apart.
So, as we begin 2012, I’m hoping that we continue to develop our facilitative way of working, reflect on our skills and strive to further improve them. There is still much to do and a lot to learn but sharing our journeys both internally and externally will enhance our knowledge.
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Great Interactions blog over the last year. You have shared a wide variety of reflections, ideas and stories, which are clearly of interest as we have had over 3,500 hits to the blog. I hope you continue to follow, and maybe even contribute to, MacIntyre’s Great Interactions blog in 2012.
Here’s to another year of Great Interactions!
Gwenne McFadzean
Facilitation Advisor
On numerous occasions in MacIntyre, following Great Interactions training, I’ve heard the words ‘you wouldn’t believe it but...’, and I was thrilled to hear it again at the end of last year, but this was a little different. For the first time MacIntyre took it’s Great Interactions training external. We delivered the course to staff who had never heard of Great Interactions, but were enthusiastic to learn and desperate to achieve the best outcomes for the people they support. When this group returned to us for day 3 of the course, after having a 6 week period to try out what they had learned, they were bubbling over with enthusiasm and stories. We heard how people had been empowered to do things they had not previously done, had surprised staff with hidden knowledge and skills, and been less anxious when staff had worked in a facilitative way.
This should have come as no surprise to us, as we know that working in a facilitative way results in Great Interactions, but it’s reassuring to know that we can share our learning and that Great Interactions can spread beyond MacIntyre.
We have learnt, from talking to other providers and taking our work external, that other organisations face the same difficulty as us. They too want the best outcomes for people, they know about person centred thinking and planning, but need the missing link – good facilitation. This is our unique selling point: it’s what sets us apart.
So, as we begin 2012, I’m hoping that we continue to develop our facilitative way of working, reflect on our skills and strive to further improve them. There is still much to do and a lot to learn but sharing our journeys both internally and externally will enhance our knowledge.
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Great Interactions blog over the last year. You have shared a wide variety of reflections, ideas and stories, which are clearly of interest as we have had over 3,500 hits to the blog. I hope you continue to follow, and maybe even contribute to, MacIntyre’s Great Interactions blog in 2012.
Here’s to another year of Great Interactions!
Gwenne McFadzean
Facilitation Advisor
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