New report reveals that participation in My Home Life England programmes has significant impact for care leaders.
By Mr Shamim Quadir (Senior Communications Officer), Published
New data from over 200 care leaders reveals that participation in My Home Life England programmes has significant impact for care leaders, including an increase in the quality of their management and leadership, improved professional confidence and resilience, greater job satisfaction, higher retention and an improved culture of care in their setting.
My Home Life England (MHLE) undertook a thematic analysis of 19 end-of-programme reports from the MHLE programmes delivered between May 1 2022 to April 30 2023, including reports from 16 cohorts of the flagship MHLE Professional Support and Development Programme. 216 care leaders completed a My Home Life England programme in the timeframe.
Access the full report plus an executive summary
The research and evaluation data reveals that care leaders work in an incredibly important, complex, socially significant job, which is mentally, physically and emotionally demanding, and individuals are often left feeling undervalued and overburdened with a multitude of different responsibilities. By participating in My Home Life England’s programmes, care leaders were able to share their challenges, feel supported, and learn a variety of tools, skills and strategies to support them in the workplace:
- 98% of care leaders reported an increase in the quality of their management and leadership
- 99% reported improvement in understanding of how to improve the culture of care
- 91% said that, over the last 12 months, their confidence as a professional had increased
- 85% reported an increase in job satisfaction.
The impact of the programme was not only felt by the care leaders, but was also reported to have a wider impact on care teams, the people they cared for, their families and friends, relationships with wider stakeholders, and the overall culture of the care setting itself.
My Home Life England’s report reveals many of the challenges faced by care leaders across England, including relationships with internal and external individuals, supporting their teams, maintaining personal resilience, growing professional confidence, driving forward innovation, and the lasting impact of COVID-19.
The report ends with a list of recommendations, including the ever-increasing need for the wider health and social care system to recognise the expertise of the sector, and engage with care services as equal trusted partners with important perspectives to share regarding solutions to problems within the system. There is also a need for greater access to regular professional development and independent supervision for care practitioners at all levels, to help them feel valued, process the emotional content of their complex work and to support quality and emotional wellbeing.
Vic Rayner OBE, who authored the report Foreword, said:
Tom Owen, Director of My Home Life England, added:
My Home Life England has a 17-year history of working alongside care leaders to support quality of life in their services and is part of the international My Home Life initiative that aims to improve quality of life for people living in care homes and other care settings. My Home Life England is part of City, University of London.