Psychology-led approach at Richardson Care

Richardson Care is a family-owned and run residential care service for adults with acquired brain injury or learning disabilities and complex needs.

It has six specialist care homes in Northampton, accommodating up 78 individuals. Established in 1989, Richardson Care has pioneered a person-centred, psychology-led approach to deliver positive, life-changing outcomes for the people in its care.

Laura Richardson-Cheater, Director at Richardson Care says: “We have always believed that effective therapy and enhanced quality of life starts with an individual’s well-being, and psychology support is a cornerstone of this.

"We have also found that a focus on psychosocial approaches, carefully balanced with drug therapies, has gradually reduced the reliance on drug therapy for some of our service users. This has helped them to exceed previous expectations and achieve much better outcomes over the longer term.”

Richardson Care’s clinical team is led by Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr Pedro Areias Grilo.

He is supported by three full-time and one part-time Assistant Psychologists, Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, Dr Seth Mensah, and a team of consultant neuro specialists across a range of disciplines, including Neuro- Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy. 

The Assistant Psychologists are assigned to specific service users according to their psycho-social needs and the homes in which they live. They offer group and individual psychology support for all service users, which can be structured sessions and/or ad hoc support, depending on the preferences and needs of each individual. 

Psychological reviews

On admission, each service user receives an initial psychological assessment, which includes neuropsychological assessments and clinical and risk formulation.

The team then works collaboratively with the person to develop psychological care and treatment plans including Positive Behaviour Support plan with recommendations for therapies and psychological interventions to help them achieve their personal goals.

This person-centred approach includes interventions to service users informed by evidence-based psychological interventions following NICE guidelines.

The Psychology team reviews on a regular basis the service users’ neuro-psychological needs to assess the effectiveness of the therapies and interventions delivered.

In addition, Richardson Care has an ‘open door’ policy so all members of the psychology team, and the Assistant Psychologists in particular, can develop close working and therapeutic relationships with the service users. Individuals are encouraged to call into the psychology office and speak with members of the psychology team at any time.

This means that their well-being can be monitored closely on an informal basis and Richardson Care has found that this helps to maintain their mental health, so any problems can be addressed early, preventing the need for crisis care.

Cognitive Rehabilitation

Richardson Care offers various cognitive rehabilitation therapies and is one of the few organisations in the UK to use RehaCom® Computer-Assisted Cognitive Rehabilitation.

One of leading systems in Europe, it is automatically adapts to the individual’s performance to enable increased engagement and effective rehabilitation. It helps service users to sustain attention for longer periods of time, improve memory and recall of verbal and visual information.

As well as the evidence provided by the RehaCom® system, individuals notice the benefits themselves:

In addition, Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is conducted in a group setting. This also aims to promote and reinforce growth in areas such as memory, concentration, attention, communication and social interaction. 

CST can encompass a range of different activities and support service users with real-life examples of daily living skills. For instance, support with weekly planning, diet, managing money and relationships.

Positive Behaviour Support

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is a key part of the psychological support provided at Richardson Care and positivity is a cornerstone of the organisation’s beliefs.

As with all therapies, PBS plans are person-centred and designed with input from the service user to promote positive behaviour. Individuals are supported to set their own goals and to achieve them.

Activity Schedule

Individuals are supported to develop their own interests and take part in a range of activities. For example, these may be interests that they had before sustaining a brain injury: one of the guys used to have a pilots’ licence and now meets up with friends to take a trip in a light aircraft.

Other service users go fishing, to football and rugby matches, to pop concerts or the theatre, or to care for horses. Some of these activities help individuals to connect with their former selves, and they all help to create a sense of self and identity. In addition, they contribute to supporting cognitive skills and improving well-being. 

Relaxation

A weekly relaxation group session is offered at each of the homes. This aims to teach relaxation methods and includes progressive muscle relaxation exercises as well as guided imagery.

Emotional Regulation and Distress Tolerance

Weekly groups are offered, following a Dialectical Behavioural informed therapy, to support the service users to develop skills to better regulate their emotional responses and to be better equipped to address situations which can cause a significant stress response.

EMDR

Richardson Care also offers weekly EMDR sessions to support service users who have experienced traumatic life events that impact on their current lives.

Drug and Alcohol Misuse Work

Many individuals with a brain injury or learning disability may also suffer with problems relating to past drug and alcohol misuse.  Richardson Care is dedicated to providing a non-judgemental and supportive environment to help individuals in all aspects of their recovery. 

The drug and alcohol misuse programme follows a Cognitive and Behavioural model that can be used in group or individual settings.

Individuals with acquired brain injury, learning disabilities and complex needs are admitted to Richardson Care from all over the UK and further afield.

The organisation has six homes in Northampton.

For more information go to www.richardsoncares.co.uk or call 01604 791266.

To arrange a visit, contact the Admissions and referrals team on 01604 435781.