Service User Ambassador Alex helps shape colleague inductions
11 April 2024
Who better to help new colleagues understand what it's like to live in a care home than someone with first-hand experience?
Alex, who lives at Maypole Grove care home and is one of our Service User Ambassadors, is helping new colleagues understand what matters most to the people we support.
As part of her Ambassador role, Alex co-delivers induction sessions for colleagues joining our new care homes, sharing her personal experiences, answering questions, and helping them see care from the perspective of someone who receives it.
She’s delivered sessions across the country, including at our new homes in Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, and Manchester.
Learning from the people we support
During the sessions, Alex talks about her experience of moving into Havenmere, what life in a care home is like, and the difference colleagues can make to someone’s everyday life.
She also leads questions and answers about how people want to be treated, and takes part in group activities with new colleagues.
By hearing directly from Alex, colleagues gain a better understanding of how their actions, attitudes, and approach to care can affect the people they support.
Alex shares:
Helping out with inductions makes me feel useful and like I’m making a difference.
It gives care staff an insight into what service users feel like when they move into a new home and make them more aware of the right steps to take.”
Making a difference to new colleagues
Alex’s involvement has been warmly received by colleagues attending the sessions.
One colleague shared:
Having Alex is a great learning curve. It provides perspective from a service user and how we can support them to live the best possible life.”
For Alex, being an Ambassador is also an opportunity to build confidence, develop new skills, and make a meaningful contribution to the organisation.
And she’s certainly making the most of it!
Better care, shaped together
At Exemplar Health Care, we believe the people who live in our homes should have a say in how they’re run, including how we welcome and train new colleagues.
Our Service User Ambassadors play an important role in this, sharing their experiences, representing the views of others, and helping shape decisions across the organisation.
Alex’s involvement in colleague inductions is just one example of how we’re putting co-production into practice, making sure the voices of the people we support influence how we deliver care.
Better care, shaped together
Discover how co-production, our Service User Ambassadors, and Service User Council help the people we support shape life and care at Exemplar Health Care.
