My recent visit to Sweden took me to the specialist dementia home in Akarp near Malmo and Lund, not far from Copenhagen. Every time I go there is always something to celebrate. This time the manager has received a national award which was presented by none other than the Queen of Sweden.

Young students from Chanovel had been sponsored to come to a quality care home to gain inspiration to take home. This was part of a business sponsorship. They come to spend 2 weeks in the care home and take ear pieces and google translate to help them overcome the language barrier. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

It is good for the Home to know that people are coming from abroad to learn from their practice. The next step of course is the Teaching Care Home model.

The good news is that we are now trying to organise a visit to the UK, where Homes here can feel inspired by the pioneering work of one care home manager who was empowered to push through the changes she wanted to make to optimise the quality of life for the residents living in the care home and enable the staff to have the best training available. Her approach to leadership is facilitative and an example of how to get the best out of a workforce and build capacity by releasing their creativity and giving them the space to do this.

Ewa is interested to develop her knowledge and skills in providing quality residential care for young onset dementia.