The Caring Homes Group has recently appointed Josh Henley Adams to the position of Care Home Manager of Ascot House in Fenham, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
After stepping into his new role at Ascot House, Josh, who is passionate about caring for people with dementia, is excited about the groups plans to develop the specialist care home into a centre of excellence for dementia. He said his vision for the care home was that it should be seen as being at the leading edge of dementia care.
Josh, 52, who has 28 years’ experience in the nursing profession, has specialised in care for the elderly for the last 15 years. He said: “Ascot House is already highly respected as a care home which offers a high quality of care for people with dementia. My aim is to build on that success even further.” He continues: “As experts in dementia care, we have a role to play in helping to raise standards by setting an example for others to follow.”
Before joining Ascot House Josh worked for several of the UK’s substantial care home companies. Immediately before taking up his latest role, Josh was an operations manager in charge of nine care homes for the elderly. Prior to that, he spent nearly six years as a regional manager. He was also the manager of a 140-bed residential home for retired people in Essex in the 1990s. Throughout his career Josh has also worked in several specialist areas, including acute psychiatry, coronary care and forensic psychiatry.
Josh believes dementia care is now becoming a much more specialised area with the growing awareness that people with the condition - which causes memory problems - cannot be met easily in an ordinary care home. “Sadly, even some specialist care homes for people with dementia don’t always cater for these needs adequately,” he said.
Josh pointed out that an important part of dementia care involved stimulating residents’ memories by placing familiar objects or photographs around their environment. Chatting to them about their past or their families was also important.
“Sometimes people suffering from dementia even forget their own names and just a friendly ‘hello’ accompanied by their name can help them to remember who they are and bring a smile to their faces. Little things like this can have such a positive effect,” said Josh.
Josh concludes: “We are lucky to have staff at Ascot House of the very highest calibre who understand the importance of this type of interaction. Helping residents with dementia to remember as much as they can about their past lives and who they are, is a crucial part of prolonging their independence.”
Ascot House is a small friendly and homely care home, which supports people through all stages of dementia.
For more information on Ascot House, or dementia care, call Josh on 0191 272 1020.