Bryson: supporting older people for over 100 years

Bryson Care services have actively responded to existing and emerging social need for over 100 years and central to all our services is the commitment to building better futures for the people we support and their families.

Bryson has vast experience in developing and delivering innovative care services and in the last year has delivered over 250,000 hours of care, supporting over 4,200 vulnerable older people across Northern Ireland, in particular in the greater Belfast and the North West areas. 

At the heart of our work is listening to older people in the communities where we work  and they have clearly voiced their desire to maintain their independence and remain in their own home for as long as possible.  The key to enabling people to achieving this goal is delivering person-centred services that are tailored to meet the individual’s needs. 

Liz Leathem, Assistant Director with Bryson Care who delivers care services for the South Eastern and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust areas,  talks about the future of care provision:

“Reshaping services for older people needs to continue to be a major priority for professionals, particularly in the present economic climate where there are increasing government budgetary constraints.  We have a growing ageing population that simply cannot be ignored. This presents both challenges and opportunities and Bryson is committed to improving outcomes for older people with an emphasis on individual needs rather than one service fits all.

“Through our social enterprise model,  we offer a range of services tackling the issues that face the most vulnerable people in our society today such as loneliness, coping with dementia and loss of independence.  We are constantly monitoring what is happening at a direct practice level to identify new issues or challenges facing the people we support. This has resulted in the development of key services that we know make a real difference to people’s quality of life (both for the older person and their families and carers). 

“The recent Compton Review outlines recommendations on transforming care and focuses on how care for older people needs to change. Bryson welcomes these recommendations and is currently working collaboratively with other partners to develop a vision for re-ablement. We believe that preventing or delaying the deterioration of an individual’s well-being and promoting independence will ensure that future services will be more sustainable and resilient.
“The debate on how we value our older people ensuring we have the services that they need to support positive ageing and improve their well-being needs to continue, and we at Bryson Care are passionate about this.”

Bryson Care and Bryson CareWest are key business units within Bryson Charitable Group, Northern Ireland’s leading social enterprise.  The care services delivered by Bryson include domiciliary care, home from hospital, home-based respite, laundry services and a befriending service through volunteering and neighbourly care.

For more information and a link to our short video please see www.brysongroup.org