Het Gastenhuis has been rated above average on almost all aspects for the care home sector for people with dementia. This is the result from the fourth ‘Monitor Woonvormen Dementie’ (monitoring dementia care in care homes) that was published by the Trimbos Institute. Important cornerstones for Het Gastenhuis include personal attention, the individual maintaining control and a live-in care couple in each Gastenhuis. The monitor was conducted at the end of 2019 at the Vleuten location and will be repeated regularly at multiple locations.
One of the report’s conclusions is that Het Gastenhuis administers almost 30% less psychiatric medicines to residents. This is realised even though the rate of psycho-geriatric issues among residents is slightly higher than average for the sector. The monitor also shows that Gastenhuis residents function more effectively and enjoy a better quality of life (social relationships, feeling at home, plenty of activities, positive impact, relaxed attitude, not feeling isolated). Furthermore, the NPM Capital portfolio company is rated highly in terms of the person-focused approach, quality of care, involving residents in activities, and staffing per resident.
The working pressure experienced by Gastenhuis employees is lower, they suffer less emotional overload and enjoy greater autonomy. The appreciation of the leadership style is higher than across the sector as a whole and employees feel more involved in the organisation. The learning climate is also excellent compared to the rest of the sector, and Het Gastenhuis is rated highly in terms of satisfaction by families and caring staff.
Clasien Schakenraad, director of Het Gastenhuis: “We are delighted that Trimbos has used this monitor to realise a thorough scientific study of dementia care. This offers robust pointers for providers of this type of care who wish to improve quality. This sector constantly focuses on quality of care but we need to find out what that really is and how to measure it. The validated instruments used by Trimbos give us a greater understanding of these issues.”
About Trimbos Monitor Woonvormen Dementie
The monitor examines the quality of care in care homes looking after people with dementia in the Netherlands. The Trimbos Institute, an independent centre of expertise for mental health care, addiction care and social care, conducted this study on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sport. Respondents included residents and their families as well as employees and external care professionals. The results provide information for the purposes of internal quality improvements and offer an insight into developments regarding significant topics within dementia care over time. These topics are closely related to themes in the Quality Framework for Nursing Home Care (personalised care, safety, learning and improving quality).
Also read ‘Dementia care must accommodate the needs of clients and their loved ones’