00:00Now, in a world where we feel like we're more connected than ever, seemingly, with our phones,
00:06social media, even the way we're speaking now, virtually, we can feel like we are more
00:11connected. But for some people, that's just not the case.
00:15Yeah, absolutely. And particularly for older people, but it affects all ages, there is
00:21a real issue where people feel aligned. And it's an issue for hundreds of thousands of
00:31people across the country and in Kent. And that is because we don't necessarily have the
00:38social connections. And this particularly affects older people as they age. And many of us will
00:44know older people who are perhaps living at home, they don't get out so much, they're not
00:49so connected with their friends, maybe their partner isn't around anymore. And that loneliness
00:56becomes very real for people in their own homes.
01:00And I suppose a key thing here is that we don't know if somebody's lonely or not, because
01:05the point is that they're not able and they're not seeking out that help or support from other
01:10people around them. So it is very easy, I suppose, for people to just slip under the radar.
01:15Yeah, completely. And services don't necessarily know about it. You know, people just aren't
01:21seen so much. And often people's friendship groups are also ageing at the same time. People
01:28perhaps develop dementia or other long term conditions in older age, and we just don't
01:34necessarily connect to know about them.
01:36And at Thrive Home Care, you sort of specialise in giving people one on one support and provide
01:44companionship and wellbeing care as well. But you sort of said that it's beyond just the
01:50check ins and the tea rounds as well, there needs to be some deeper connections, I suppose.
01:55Yeah, completely. And this is really at the heart of our approach to this, about long term
02:02trusting relationships, and that it's in those day to day, regular connections with the same
02:09person that is focused on them as an individual and understanding what's important to them, that
02:18people get to be seen, and they cease to kind of withdraw into themselves, but rather start coming
02:26out of their shell, because they feel important, again, fundamentally. And to give an example of
02:33that, there's a lady, Sheila, that we support, she's losing her sight and living at home more and more
02:41on her own, not getting out. And we put in place one to one companionship for her. And one of the first
02:46things she wanted to do was go to the peony farm, which was kind of a few miles away, and she hadn't been
02:52there for years. And so our companion arranged that, of course, we've got all the insurances and
02:58all the risk assessments to do that sort of thing. And she went to the farm, had a lovely afternoon,
03:05and they were having tea and cake afterwards. And she mentioned, because they're getting to know
03:11each other and building that relationship, that she had a dear friend around the corner that she
03:16hadn't seen. And our companion encouraged her to give that call, which is, and it's often the
03:24confidence thing that starts to go, people become kind of more withdrawn, their confidence kind of
03:30starts to fall away. But she got the confidence back up, put in a phone call, and 10 minutes later,
03:36she's there, reconnected with a dear old friend. And she wrote to us, to the companion next week,
03:43to just say how incredibly meaningful that day was for her. Not only has she been able to reconnect
03:49with nature, but also with friendships. And it's really that reconnection that's at the core,
03:56reconnecting people with life, with the things that are important, with them.
04:01That's such a lovely story, and how you were able to sort of help Sheila and give that,
04:06but it just reflects how much sort of resources needed to be able to get that connection going as well.
04:12It sort of begs the question, is there enough support for people like Sheila and her friend
04:16in Kent? Is it accessible?
04:20No, there isn't enough support for everybody. I think there's a much longer conversation we
04:27could have about the challenges in the care system. But what I would say is that there are
04:34services out there that we can really reframe how we think about loneliness, how we think about older
04:42people's experiences. And like all of us, we all become withdrawn and apathetic if we don't think
04:50people care about us. And that is at the heart of it is putting in place the things that are going to
04:57make people feel really cared about and important and meaningful deep relationships are the heart of
05:04what is going to cause that to happen. Not just meeting care needs, going in, dealing with the physical.
05:12It really does need to be about their relationships, their well-being, the things that give them meaning
05:19and purpose in the day to day.
05:21And sorry, Chris, just before we go, is there any advice you can give to people out there,
05:26to loved ones? We can see your website up on the screen now, but is there any targeted advice
05:31you can give just very quickly before we go?
05:33Of course, yeah. And the main thing is when you are there to try and be fully present with the
05:40person. Talk about what's happened in the past, perhaps when they were kind of performing at their
05:49best, kind of really validate people and makes a massive difference. And the other thing I really
05:53would say is get in contact with care services that really do focus on relationship and companionship
06:01and start putting that in place early because it makes a massive difference and can really help
06:07people not slide into such lonely, isolated state.
06:12Chris Cage from Thrive Home Care, thank you so much for your time today. Some really important messages
06:17and advice that you've given to our viewers. Thank you so much for your time.
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