Wellbeing Teams offer a fresh, new approach to home care, that is different in two ways. Firstly, how people are supported and secondly, how the team works together. The approach is based on the Buurtzhog model pioneered in Holland. The primary belief is that most patients can be encouraged to participate together with their wellbeing team in finding solutions to their home care needs, and that many of these solutions can be found right in the community. Wellbeing Teams are small, self-managed neighbourhood teams.

The ‘wellbeing’ in Wellbeing Team stands for both people supported and for team members. You cannot do one without the other and this remains central to everything that the Wellbeing Teams experience, from recruitment through to day-to-day management.

This short film illustrates how Wellbeing Teams work with people. We’ll also soon be interviewing one of the people responsible for bringing them to light – Helen Sanderson. Helen works in social care, healthcare and education, has advised governments and has written many books. She has set up a new provider organisation and is working to become a registered manager with CQC. We’re looking forward to learning more about Wellbeing Teams from her.