How We Personalise Care Plans for Every Resident

When someone you love moves into a care home, you must be guaranteed that they will be treated like an individual person. At Mulberry Care Homes, we can make that promise. A care home should provide medical support while respecting who that person is, what matters to them, and how they want to spend their time. We take the time to get to know each person and create a care plan that reflects them.

Every resident has their own experiences, relationships, preferences, routines, and care needs. What works well for one person may not work for another. A personalised care plan brings these different aspects of someone’s life together. It records the support they need, but also the information that helps staff understand the person behind those needs.

Person-centred care is more than a preference within care homes. CQC Regulation 9 requires care and treatment to be appropriate, meet people’s needs and reflect their preferences.

Getting To Know the Whole Person

The way we make care special for each person starts before they even move in. We talk to future residents, and to their family and friends, to build a comprehensive profile of them. This helps us understand what is important to them and how we can tailor their care plan successfully, including:

• Their usual morning and evening routines.
• Foods and drinks they enjoy.
• Foods they dislike or need to avoid.
• Their hobbies and interests.
• Important relationships.
• Their cultural, religious or personal beliefs.
• How they prefer to communicate.
• What helps them feel comfortable or reassured.
• Activities they enjoy.
• How much time they prefer to spend socialising.
• The things they have always done independently.

We can then use this information alongside assessments of their health and care needs to build a more complete picture of the person. These details can also give staff natural opportunities to start conversations and build relationships.

A Care Plan That Develops

A care plan is not something we write and then live by. It’s a living record that we review and update regularly as a resident’s needs, preferences, and well-being change over time.

At Mulberry, care plans are reviewed so that the support provided continues to reflect each resident’s current needs and preferences. Information from day-to-day observations, conversations with residents and families, assessments, and healthcare professionals can all help identify when the care plan needs to change.

For residents living with dementia, this ongoing approach is especially important. We understand that dementia affects every person differently, and our specialist dementia care teams are skilled at adapting to a resident’s changing needs with patience.

Respecting Choices and Independence

Personalised care is about giving people the freedom to make their own decisions. A resident should be able to decide:

• If they want to have company or quiet time.
• What they would like to wear.
• What they want to eat and drink.
• When they would like to get up or stay in bed.
• Whether they want to join an activity.
• Where they would like to spend their afternoon.
• Who they would like to spend time with.

These choices can look very ordinary, but having control over ordinary parts of the day can help people maintain their independence and identity.

Our activity programmes are thoughtfully varied, offering everything from creative arts and crafts to social events and outings. This way every resident can engage with something that resonates with them. We never pressure anyone to participate.

However, personalisation does not mean that every preference can be accommodated. Health, safety and other care needs have to be considered alongside what someone would like. Where decisions need to be made on someone’s behalf, the Mental Capacity Act provides a framework for supporting decision-making and considering the person’s wishes, feelings, values and beliefs.

The Important Role of Families

We know that families play a central role in a resident’s well-being and often know things about a resident that cannot be discovered through an assessment. That’s why we prioritise open communication.

We keep families informed and involved in care planning, welcoming their insights and feedback throughout the process. The people who love and know a resident best are an invaluable part of the journey.

Our staff build lasting relationships with both residents and their families. We want every family to feel reassured that their loved one is known, valued, and cared for as an individual.

Care That Feels Like Home

Ultimately, personalised care is about making Mulberry feel like home to our residents. A care home should provide professional support, but it should also be somewhere that people can feel comfortable being themselves.

For Mulberry, personalised care means getting to know each resident beyond their care requirements. It means understanding their routines, listening to their preferences, involving them in decisions and recognising the things that make their life meaningful. No care plan can capture everything that makes someone who they are. The conversations and relationships that develop over time are just as important.

If you are considering care for yourself or someone you love, our team will be happy to answer questions, arrange a visit, or tell you more about our approach to personalised care.