The Needs Driven Relational and Systemic Model of Care at Heysham House
Our team at Heysham House believe in meeting the basic human needs of all young people. They have created their own needs driven model, with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs at the centre. The reason for this has been that they would like to have a simple model to enable all young people, staff and agencies to have a clear and shared understanding of the focus at Heysham. Many young people arrive feeling ‘pathologised’ and as if they need to be 'fixed’. When in fact their needs have generally not been met, and they have been required to go to exceptional lengths themselves, in order to meet their own needs independently.
There are three aspects to the model:
a) Young people must have their basic survival needs and psychological needs met in order to function well. Therefore, at the centre of the model, care at Heysham focusses on assuring young people that:
i) they will be provided with things like quality food and sleep.
ii) they will be safe.
iii) they will be valued and belong.
iv) and they will have opportunities to develop a healthy self-esteem.
b) Staff also have the same needs. A second focus at Heysham is meeting staff needs, so that staff can function well as quality caregivers.
c) The context, influence and involvement of the wider system in meeting the young person’s needs, is also paramount. The third focus of our model is to engage the wider system to understand and meet the needs of young people.
The main tool through which they can achieve this at Heysham is through using the medium of forming: Close, positive, trusting relationships between staff, young people, and their wider systems.
This nurturing approach ensures young people are supported to address their feelings and emotions in a safe and secure way with an experienced staff team. The aim is to ensure that each young person will achieve positive outcomes in their personal, social and learning lives and achieve their full potential.
Why not read in more detail about The Needs Driven Relational and Systemic Model of Care at Heysham House. Alternatively you can contact the team to discuss the model in relation to placements and referrals on 0800 024 6985 or [email protected].