On the 4th March Roger Rowett facilitated an Appreciative Inquiry for care home providers in North Wales. Daisy Cole from the office of the OPC and Nick Andrews from Swansea University also spoke about the wider work being carried out in Wales and beyond. The event was the first of two seminars delivered in partnership between Swansea University, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Older Person’s Commissioner for Wales.

In her report ‘A Place to Call Home?’, the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales called for action to be taken in various areas of care home provision, to ensure that residents could enjoy the best possible quality of life. Some of the best things that happen in care homes are not the things that are written in care plans, but rather the ‘magic moments’, which include meaningful activities or relationships within care homes involving residents, families and staff.

During the seminar participants explored some of the magic moments that occur in residential homes and the ‘gold dust’ that contributes to those moments. People also shared their aspirations for the future and agreed how they could take some of the learning back to their own homes.

Apart from sharing how providers could learn from these experiences, people also agreed that other parts of the care ‘system’ (e.g. regulation and commissioning) were also critical in ensuring that the most important aspects of care were valued. Some of the points raised also matched the findings of the JRF report – ‘Is excessive paperwork in care homes undermining care for older people’.

At the end of the day participants on each of the tables committed to one thing they would take back to their home in terms of positive change. Each table also agreed one area that was outside of their control that they would like to influence.