Care and Support within Extra Care Housing - (Loughborough)

Extra Care housing aims to meet the needs and aspirations of Service Users through the provision of services designed to accommodate changing needs, for example, allowing older people to age in one place and preventing unnecessary and/or emergency hospital or residential care admission.

Typically, Extra Care housing provides a supportive environment, offering a range of services, from social activities and low level support (wellbeing service) to individually tailored care services (individually commissioned care). This is often supported by the notion of a 'balanced community'; enabling more active Service Users to support those with a higher level of need.

Of increasing importance is the ability to support Service Users within Extra Care housing with dementia to live as independently as possible and be adaptable to meet changing needs and behaviours.

Extra Care aims to optimise Service Users' independence through taking an 'enabling', rather than 'doing for' approach to service delivery. The service will include reablement, assisting Service Users to manage, through timely intervention, periods of ill health and/or injury and avoiding unnecessary hospital admission as well as supporting timely hospital discharge following a period of ill health and/or surgery. An ongoing reablement approach will also be delivered throughout all service provision supporting Service Users to remain as independent as they can for as long as possible.