What matters to you – making a difference at Napier House

Fife Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) started their journey with Tommy Whitelaw, Lead for Person Centred Voices, Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, back in May 2023. Tommy’s focus on Intelligent Kindness, reminded us that what we do every day does make a difference, and that we can achieve more by simply asking ‘what matters to you?’ 

We had such a huge positive response to these messages from Tommy, that we invited him back to Fife. In fact, we took Tommy on an extended tour of Fife, delivering Intelligent Kindness sessions across all seven localities, as well as sessions with students and apprentices: our future workforce, in partnership with Fife College and to unpaid carers in partnership with STAND.

Seeing the impact the ‘what matters to you?’ approach had on our workforce, we wanted to take this further, to make a positive difference for those we support and care for.

Working alongside the Fife HSCP’s Organisational Development and Culture Team and the Manager of Napier House Care Home, Tommy did several workshops for staff and resident’s family members at Napier House. The Napier House staff worked with residents and family members on ‘what matters to you?’ (WMTY) boards, enabling staff to take person centred care to a new level.  We could not have imagined the level that everyone at Napier House would embrace the WMTY message. The inspiration gained resulted in wonderfully creative ways to share individual’s WMTY messages, particularly important for those who may struggle to voice this themself. But it wasn’t limited to looking at WMTY for residents, we also invited staff and families to share what matters to them by introducing WMTY Trees in communal areas throughout the home.

There is such a positive atmosphere in Napier House. The depth and change in the conversations have helped promote stronger relationships between staff, residents, and families. Knowing what matters to someone helps staff to engage them in meaningful conversations, it shows we care about them as a person and that they matter.

It has been an inspirational journey, and you can hear from staff, residents and family members in the video below. It shows that by simply changing a conversation focus, listening, and learning we can make lives better and that small changes can make a big difference.