About RESTORE2Mini™
Since then, to share the learning more widely, we have been developing an eLearning module for RESTORE2™ Mini and STOMP, based on the 2022 training. This launched in July 2023 and is available to all Thera Group staff.
We are exploring further opportunities to share the training and/or eLearning beyond Thera Group. If you would like to express an interest in this, please contact Restore2@thera.co.uk
About RESTORE2™ Mini and STOMP
Background
RESTORE2™ is a tool that was developed by NHS West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group in collaboration with the Wessex Academic Health Science Network for the social care sector.
It was originally designed to support care homes and health professionals to:
- Recognise when someone may be deteriorating or at risk of physical deterioration
- Act appropriately according to the resident’s care plan to protect and manage the resident
- Obtain a complete set of physical observations to inform escalation and conversations with health professionals
- Speak with the most appropriate health professional in a timely way to get the right support
- Provide a concise escalation history to health professionals to support their professional decision making.
Whilst it worked well in settings that benefited from trained medical staff such as in nursing homes for elderly people, it was not as effective in promoting positive health outcomes for people with a learning disability. It was recognised that support staff often do not have medical knowledge or training, but they do have a very close relationship with and knowledge of the person.
This means they can spot the ‘soft signs’ that they are becoming unwell, such as changes in mood, behaviour, sleep or eating. These can be difficult for carers to communicate effectively to medical professionals to get the person the care they need, so they looked to adapt the tool for these situations.
Developing RESTORE2™ Mini
When West Hampshire CCG sought to expand RESTORE2™ Mini to include carers, they engaged specialist support providers, which included Thera Trust, in a pilot scheme.
RESTORE2™ Mini was developed to give support workers – and people’s wider circle of support – the confidence that soft signs of illness are valid signs of a person’s health deteriorating and becoming unwell, and the skills to speak up with health professionals. These are very important early warning signs of deterioration, particularly in people who cannot easily communicate that they feel unwell.
During the pilot in 2021 we developed three ‘RESTORE2™ Mini’ trainers who delivered 36 training sessions reaching a total of 343 members of staff in Thera.
The RESTORE2™ Mini and STOMP project at Thera
In 2022, Thera was awarded funding from NHS England to deliver RESTORE2™ Mini training to a wider audience of carers, both paid and unpaid, across the country. We paired RESTORE2™ Mini training with STOMP awareness, as they both promote good health outcomes for people with a learning disability.
STOMP is a national initiative to stop the overuse of psychotropic medicines. People with a learning disability, autism or both are more likely to be given these medicines than other people. STOMP is about helping people to stay well and have a good quality of life.
As part of the 2022 project, we trained a group of 71 Super Trainers who ran training sessions for staff to raise awareness of the STOMP pledge and to champion the RESTORE2™ Mini project around the country. 15 of these Super Trainers were people with a learning disability, using their own lived experience to advocate for people and to challenge the use of psychotropic medication. They delivered over half of the training sessions for the project, which ran from March to December 2022. In total, the project trained 675 family carers, support workers, other health and social care professionals and people with a learning disability in RESTORE2™ Mini and STOMP.
The training had a big impact on those that attended, with 98.5% saying they are quite or very confident supporting people with their health.