22nd October 2010 – Comfort Care Services, a leading provider of supported living and domiciliary care, announced today that Frank Bruno and Ruby Wax recently joined Abdul Sattar, the founder of Comfort Care Services, in celebrating the organisation’s 25th Anniversary at a gala dinner held at Hedsor House, Buckinghamshire. In a bid to confront the stigma of mental health issues, the world boxing champion and comedian spoke about their personal experiences of dealing with the mental health issues they and others have faced.
The event helped to raise awareness of best practice in mental health. More than 150 guests attended the event, including representatives from local authorities and primary health trusts (PCTs) from across the UK.
Founded in 1985, Comfort Care Services specialises in providing supported housing and domiciliary care for vulnerable adults with a wide range of mental health illnesses, challenging behaviour, learning disabilities, and individuals recovering from substance and alcohol misuse. To date over 500 service users have benefited from Comfort Care Services’ three tier support methodology, which applies the expertise of highly trained employees, in order to help those with mental health to regain their independence.
Abdul Sattar, founder of Comfort Care Services commented: “1 in 4 British adults experience at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any one year, and one in six experiences this at any given time. These staggering statistics highlight the prevalence of mental health problems today. It is absolutely critical that effective support, including specialist staff are available to help these individuals lead a fulfilling life and eventually become self sufficient and independent.”
One of the issues raised on the night was the lack of quality homes available to people with mental health issues resulting in a large number of individuals being left in unfamiliar communities, with inefficient resources and support, and in unacceptable living conditions – prolonging and in some cases completely stunting a person’s progress. Comfort Care Services outlined how their approach tackled this long standing issue, providing their service users with a high standard of accommodation and support. In addition it highlighted its unique strategy in housing service users in small groups , which has helped service users to feel part of the community, and reduce feelings of vulnerability, loneliness and depression and has proven to accelerate their progress.
Frank Bruno and Abdul Sattar
Abdul added: “People with mental health are just like you and I, they need to feel safe and secure, have somewhere they can call home, good company and a reason to motivate them to get up every morning. Our service provides the framework that many people need and continues to ensure that people too well to be in hospital or institutional care but too ill to live independently have a service focused on their needs and are given a second chance in life.”
Over the last 25 years, Comfort Care Services has seen a sharp increase in the demand for outsourced, comprehensive supported housing services and domiciliary care. This rise has been reflected in the government’s allocation of increased funding for psychological counselling and therapeutic services to help reduce the numbers of people who suffer from anxiety or depression and other causes of mental illness.
Abdul explained: “Domiciliary care, sometimes referred to as home care, is a service which we are seeing an increasing demand for, especially from our elderly service users. This is an area that Comfort Care Services is looking to grow, in terms of expanding our services and support for service users living at home. We believe that this will have a tremendous impact on the number of people who are successfully integrated back into society as well as helping to close the gap between institutional care and independent living – ensuring that the most suitable support is provided to individuals with mental health.”
“The UK government’s efforts to build a care in the community concept has proven to increase the chances of people with mental health issues being successfully integrated back into society. Together with local councils, Comfort Care Services looks forward to building on its accomplishment for many more years to come,” concludes Abdul.
Comfort Care Services works closely with over 11 local authorities, including Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, London Borough of Merton and Surrey County Council. Providing them with small, quality units, decorated to a high standard, located near to good local amenities, to form a solid foundation from which its highly trained staff help service users to rebuild their lives.
-ENDS-
Muryum Choudhry, Ruby Wax and Abdul Sattar
About Comfort Care Services
For further information visit: www.comfortcareservices.com
Comfort Care works in partnership with Social Services, Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) and Supporting People within leading Local Authorities across London and the South of England, offering high quality supported housing and domiciliary services for vulnerable adults who are:
Aged between 18-70 with enduring mental illness and learning disabilities Individuals recovering from substance/alcohol misuse and other complex needs
Individuals ready to be discharged from psychiatric wards
Vulnerable adults living in the community in crisis
Private referrals from GPs and families
For further information, please contact:
Muryum Choudhry
Comfort Care Services
T: 01628 600412
E: choudhm@comfortcareservices.com
