Louise Blezzard, Founder and CEO of Vivant, a luxury home care service shares her thoughts on the future of at-home care and its convergence with luxury services.
Most people, wherever possible, would prefer to stay in their own homes as they age. It is seen as a ‘safe space’, being filled with loved possessions and precious memories. As people start to get into their later years, however, it can become even more important to them as the outside world, for many, will become a little daunting.
Unfortunately, the decision to stay in their own homes can become challenging for multiple reasons, especially if they are living with complex health conditions such as dementia. Therefore, home care that balances safety, comfort and luxury will allow them to remain living in the place they love and give them the confidence and support to live a life that is meaningful to them.
The key is consistency. Having someone in your home can feel intrusive, and this is particularly heightened for people who feel vulnerable. Holding on to a safe space is comforting at a time when uncertainty with aspects such as health and lifestyle are in play.
Assigning a small team to the person requiring care will enable them to relax, get to know the people supporting them on a personal and meaningful level, and reduce the ambiguity on who will be knocking on their door and entering their personal space. This alone makes such a difference to the individual’s experience and allows for a more natural way of living.
Providing consistent care also supports homecare providers in ensuring safe care. By consistently and effectively monitoring quality, through the use of technology and robust quality monitoring systems, homecare staff can ensure they have detailed oversight of how people are being supported.
At Vivant, for example, we pay particular attention to what happens in our clients’ lives when we are not there supporting them. This allows us to map out a picture of how our clients are from a physical and well-being point of view, and enables us to adapt our services and interactions accordingly.
Luxury can mean different things to different people and varies depending on how we feel. For instance, sometimes luxury is just being left in peace and quiet or having a hot bath and not talking to anyone. Other times, luxury can be found somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean, plunging into the turquoise waters after a morning of laughing on the beach with people you love.
We purposefully find out what luxury means to each client and adapt our services to ensure they are being provided with a home care experience that matches that perception. To do this, we empower our team with the skills and the means to provide a luxury service to the client. This could be buying them their favourite flowers on the way to visit them in the morning, or accompanying them on a trip to New York that we have helped to plan so they can visit their grandchildren they’ve been desperate to see.
At Vivant, we have been very intentional about every step of our clients’ journey. They will first have an initial consultation with myself and our Director of Care Operations, and from there we will build a team of staff around them. We encourage our clients to choose their team members and we will also work with them to create their unique lifestyle plan, which may see them attending our exclusive swimming club or taking part in our weekly outings to places such as the Saatchi Gallery or The Ritz for afternoon tea.
Ultimately, by firstly providing safety and comfort through tailored, meaningful home care, providers can supplement it with an offering that the person perceives as luxury, resulting in a balance of care that offers the best quality of life in later life.
@Vivant_life
vivantlife.co.uk
