The Disabilities Trust, a leading UK charity is working in partnership with Hertfordshire and West Essex integrated care board to open a new care home in the region.
The multi-million pound project will transform a former Nightingale Nursing Home into a new 15-bed care home with an aim to provide residents with a new form of independence.
The new service, which will take over from a former nightingale care home in Ware, will provide brain rehabilitation for adults with complex needs after suffering a brain injury. The aim is to enable residents to participate in life as much as possible by enjoying as much independence as they can.
Set to open in late 2024, the 15-bed residence will be comprised of self-contained living spaces to provide cost-effective rehabilitation and care, reducing pressures on the NHS.
Aimed to feel like a home, rather than a hospital/care facility, West Waddy Archadia Architects (WWA) have been commissioned to ensure fixtures, fittings and design elements that would normally have a clinical aesthetic are reimagined, to place the emotional and psychological needs of residents first.
In addition to the residents, staff and visitors wellbeing has also been taken into consideration with break-out spaces being constructed.
Mark Slater, Design Director for WWA, said: ‘We are delighted to be part of the team delivering this state-of-the-art residence for The Disabilities Trust.
‘We are looking forward to creating person-centred homes to aid rehabilitation and recovery whilst making the most of the character of the current site.’
Irene Sobowale, Chief Executive at The Disabilities Trust, has also said: ‘As part of this development, The Disabilities Trust will carry out further specific research into psychologically informed environments for people with a brain injury which considers the psychological and emotional, as well as physical, needs of an individual.
‘We are delighted to be working with pioneers of this concept, accessible design specialists, WWA and Motionspot, to develop a space that will influence the wellbeing and progress of the residents, whilst supporting the Government’s agenda for increased independent living that decreases reliance on the NHS.’
Image by: The Disabilities Trust