Approach Dementia Support Published on 09/09/2022

Approach Dementia Support are a Staffordshire based charity who offer support and services to carers and people with dementia.

Here is what Louise Eagle had to say about BESSIE: Approach Dementia Support was going through a great deal of change before Covid in 2020 and when lockdown happened and all of our staff were furloughed, it was unclear on whether we would even survive. Having only a small team of 24, it might seem like it should have been easier to manage, but, our clients were left vulnerable and without support and it was a very anxious time. We were forced to make some redundancies and this of course had an impact on the security of our team and then when restrictions started to ease, we needed more staff to accommodate the new way of working.

When we were asked to take part in Bessie, I wanted to but I was also nervous. My main concern was the staff reaction and engagement as the organisation had not done anything like this previously. I was initially concerned about the number of questions and completing it on Excel. However the questions were not too many and were answered in less than 20 minutes. The form now though is online makes it much simpler to use.

The process worked so well as Thrive and Shine managed all of the logins and emails and also picked up any queries or concerns from staff. Everything was explained beforehand during an induction meeting and the staff were happy to take part. Following the audit, a full report was produced and a meeting took place to feedback on the findings and explain them to the leadership team. This was really beneficial and identified areas of concern and risk that required attention from the business.

Bessie has given us a renewed focus and aided our thinking process to implement further wellbeing. It has formed part of our overall strategy and as we were in the process of recruitment, it has enabled us to see where we were on track and what needed adjustment.

We also have a better understanding of areas of risk and over the next 12 - 24 months, we shall continue to implement the recommendations in order that we continue to create a workplace that is supportive of wellbeing. It has also given me great insights into my own wellbeing and the need for me to maintain a better work/life balance.

Bessie is a process, one that is ongoing and is becoming embedded into our organisational culture. By the time that we remeasure next year, there will have been many changes and so it will be really interesting to see what, if anything we can or need to do at that point.