The interaction was between Ossie, a Senior Support Worker and Stephen, during an evening meal. Stephen was the only person at home in the flat this day, as his flat mate was away on holiday.
As I entered the flat I could hear laughing and chatting coming from the dining room. This was unusual as Stephen has a tendency to be quiet in the dining room, tending to listen and watch what’s going on around him rather than engage. As I went in, I saw Stephen sitting in his usual chair and Ossie sitting opposite him. Both were eating their evening meal and talking about their day. Ossie asked Stephen about his day’s activities, he was giving good eye contact, had a friendly facial expression and gave Stephen lots of time to respond.
Stephen was responding to Ossie’s questions and talking about his day, which was really positive as often Stephen doesn’t communicate much around meal times. But the really big difference was that Stephen did not ‘rush’ back to his room as soon as he had finished his meal, which he normally does. Ossie must have been getting the small things right for Stephen for this to happen and it appeared that Stephen was really enjoying his dinner time chat. We will share and reflect on this as a team, so that we can try to get it right for Stephen every day.
Hannah Crampton
Head of Service, London