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Pioneering approach

Pioneering approach

Pioneering approach

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Revolutionising dementia care

Belong was launched to offer a new and revolutionary setting designed around the needs of people living with dementia, on the premise that care settings should enable those people to live with the same opportunities, quality of life and outcomes. In that sense, Belong villages were developed to be truly inclusive settings with vibrant communities supporting people to live the lives they choose.

We use building design, award-winning facilities and person-centred approaches to training to ensure that we maximise choice and independence for every customer and offer a range of services to support people as their needs change.

Innovation is very much what sets us apart as it drives our pursuit of excellence and improvement, leading to the development of services with genuine differentiators. This is enabled by our not-for-profit status, which ensures we reinvest any surplus into improving our services.

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Sector leaders

Our most recent villages include features which are UK-firsts. For example, Belong Chester integrates a children’s nursery, operated by our partner, Ready Generations, to provide daily opportunities for intergenerational experiences.

Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme features a heritage gallery, enabled by Heritage Lottery funding, to create a centre for dementia excellence in an iconic listed building, connecting the past and present through shared memories.

Other examples include our specialist exercise service, which offers all residents a personalised exercise programme and 121 sessions with a qualified exercise specialist in state-of-the-art gyms. This achieves excellent outcomes for mobility, falls prevention and wellbeing.

Award-winning

The success of Belong’s pioneering approach has repeatedly been recognised in a range of prestigious national, international and regional awards, including the LaingBuisson Awards, the Dementia Care Awards and the Great British Care Awards.

Browse our awards
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Household model

Our villages are based on the household model, pioneered by Belong after we trialled the concept on a small scale by converting areas within traditional care homes.

The success of these pilots, backed by international research into settings producing the best outcomes for people with dementia, informed the blueprint we created for Belong villages. Our experience is that this setting and the opportunities within the wider village promote wellbeing for customers, helping to eliminate the need for psychotics and creating a peaceful environment.

We remain passionate about advocating for the wider adoption of small household models, and in June 2023 formed a global aged care alliance with The Green House Project in the US and Australia’s HammondCare, with the goal of advancing this cause.