Our training

Taking the best care of you, as well as how we do that, is our primary focus.

Our dedicated staff are passionate about what they do and the difference they make to you, our residents. To help them, we train them to an exceptional standard, so the care you receive will be bespoke and tailored to your specific needs and preferences.

Whether you need dementia care, specialist care, or palliative care, your wellbeing is our focus, and we look to see how we can fit into your routine – not expect you to fit into ours.

A new style of training
When it comes to training our staff, we are always researching new systems that work well with our residents, and we’re not afraid to try new things.
Our progressive approach led us to explore the Maybo training, a way of working positively with people to reduce risk and conflict in a care setting. It’s a specialised system of outcome focused training programmes.
Since implementing this new approach, we’ve had really encouraging feedback from both our residents and our staff, and it’s benefitting everyone.
Training for us is an ongoing process of learning and growing as an organisation and as a team – not simply a mandatory tick-box exercise.

Respecting your uniqueness
Our main aim is to support you as a unique individual to live life as you’ve always lived it, feeling calm, confident, and content within your chosen care home.

What’s important to you is important to us, and so we consider your previous life patterns and structures and consider those. This helps to reduce feelings of loss or confusion.

Sarah Devine, Training Manager at Swallowcourt says: “It’s important to us too, that our staff feel confident and happy in all they do. Through the support and special training we give them, they are empowered to be the best they can be.

“Maybo is now benefiting everyone – staff and residents alike and reassures families their loved ones are getting the best possible care at all times.”

Using the Maybo approach
This training teaches our staff how to work positively with residents to reduce conflict and risk, especially if they feel agitated during the delivery of care and behave in a challenging manner.

We understand that human behaviour can be complex and sometimes unpredictable, especially with people living with dementia, mental illness, or severe learning difficulties.

Therefore, the Maybo approach help us care for you, our resident, in the kindest, most respectful way possible, so reducing conflict and misunderstanding.

Sarah continues: “It’s all about looking at a new way of approaching certain situations and communicating positively with our residents to promote mutual trust and calmness, helping them feel confident with our employees and the task they are doing.

“Just as important, the Maybo approach teaches our staff to have greater awareness of their resident’s frame of mind, and their own behaviours which may inadvertently trigger anxiety or anger in another.”

We understand how our staff’s presence may cause you to feel threatened or imposed upon. So, we change our approach to help you feel calm and comfortable with us, ensuring the task is completed with the minimum of stress, and so reducing the rise of strong emotions and unwanted conflict.

By adapting how we deal with a given situation, you will feel safe and unflustered when we must carry out tasks you may not want at that moment but are necessary for your health and wellbeing.

And if you have days when you don’t feel like being interrupted, we’ll work gently and quietly with you to achieve what you need, with as little intervention as possible, helping to lower those feelings of anger or panic.
Quite simply, the Maybo approach to managing conflict is helping our dedicated staff to do a brilliant job even better.

When we say life at Swallowcourt is geared towards you living your best life, it really is, because it’s important to us you feel free to live life your way and enjoy every day.