Provide care excellence whilst ensuring dignity and choice

Our primary responsibility towards our patients, residents and customers is to contribute to each person’s freedom of choice and to strengthening or maintaining autonomy. In order to guarantee this choice as fully as possible, Korian is committed to gradually developing a diversified range of services and support solutions for fragile individuals and their families in certain regions, and also to:

• supporting patients’ and residents’ autonomy and thus their ability to make decisions through its Positive Care approach;
• guaranteeing uncompromising quality on all its sites;
• deploying mediators and charters of commitments.

We fulfil this responsibility by building on our 3 commitments:

Commitment 1 - Positive Care rolled out in 100% of our facilities by 2023

Didier Armaingaud, Group Medical, Ethics & Quality of Service Director, responsible for the deployment of Positive Care

It’s our responsibility to make every effort to guarantee safety and  improve the quality of life of the people we support and care for, as well as the quality of life at work for the professionals.

We were guided by the principle that everyone, whatever their need for help or care, must retain the ability to make independent choices and be able to express their wishes and expectations in terms of help and support at any time. This is why, by listening to seniors, their families and our teams, we’ve built a philosophy of care, which we call Positive Care, that reflects our commitment to put the individual at the centre of their care and support plan.

Positive Care means putting attention and meaning into our gestures and actions. It means listening to the desires and expectations of the individual, and assessing their needs and abilities before reaching a position to offer support or care. It does not mean imposing rules, but rather doing everything in our power to enable an individual to express themselves and be involved in their choices. It also means being able to guide them and explain the expected benefits or potential risks. In plain terms, it  means thinking of them as a person and not as an object of care that only needs our attention.

Giving a person freedom of choice means respecting a fundamental right and a person’s individuality. Viewing the individual's family and friends as our partner is also key to our support of seniors. With Positive Care, we seek to make life fun every day.

In concrete terms, deploying "Positive Care” means disseminating both expertise and life skills. As well as preparing and implementing individual care plans, this involves running numerous training courses in non-drug therapy (NDT) and providing tools such as the flash activity trolley, which enables caregivers to respond to a behavioural crisis. We now have a common base which is adapted in each country in accordance with its own situation and culture.

Our ambition is to train all our facilities in NDT and as in France, where these therapies were initiated 15 years ago, to anchor this dynamic in everyday support. “Positive Care" has made caregivers in complex situations feel useful again because they have concrete solutions to reduce the stress, aggression or suffering of residents for the benefit of all. 

Commitment 2: 100% of facilities ISO 9001 certified by 2023

Giliola Avisani, Corporate Director, Korian Italy, responsible for deploying ISO certification
"ISO 9001 quality certification provides a guarantee of uncompromising quality at all sites, in line with our ambition of operational excellence".

ISO certification is an aid to organising our activity properly in our facilities to ensure that our support is of the highest quality, in line with our ambition of operational excellence.

In conjunction with all countries, we have defined the "standards" that must be complied with in all our nursing homes and post-acute and rehabilitation care clinics in Europe. Each country incorporates them into its quality processes, adapting them to their specific regulatory and cultural characteristics and to the types of facilities. Certification is then only obtained if an independent external body regularly ascertains and verifies that the principles we want to respect are being implemented operationally.

Guaranteed freedom of choice for those we care for and for their carers is central to our fundamental standards. Every patient must have access to the necessary care without discrimination, and to any information on their treatment, and their informed consent must be obtained. Similarly, every resident must be offered a personalised therapeutic plan; their dignity, wishes, and freedom of expression and thoughts must be respected.

Through this commitment, the Group aims to define a uniform quality standard and have 100% of its sites certified in three years’ time. 100% of our sites in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands are already ISO certified. For France, Germany and Belgium, we expect to have 15% of facilities certified by 2021, 50% by 2022 and 100% by 2023. This will represent significant progress.

Commitment 3: One mediator per country with a charter of reciprocal commitments in all facilities by 2023

Thomas Pretot, Head of Family Relations in France. The Korian mediator is neutral.
"Our objective is to constantly improve the way we take feedback from families and residents into consideration within our offer, and to be able to settle conflicts between Korian and residents’ families amicably".

We exist to look after the residents entrusted to us. This is our primary mission and our priority. Freedom of choice for fragile individuals and their families depends on the provision of local services and support solutions that suit them, and on the existence of charters and means of recourse.

This year, Korian started working on introducing a mediator in France. The mediator's mission, in accordance with the rules of independence, impartiality, neutrality and confidentiality, is to re-establish dialogue between two parties in order to maintain confidence. By 2023, this approach will be replicated wherever the Group operates, in line with the specific characteristics of each country.

Over and above care and services, we are morally committed to seniors, fragile individuals and their relatives and we strive for their well-being. Anyone entering our facilities must be confident that all Korian teams have the appropriate expertise and have been trained to support residents and families in fragile situations. This is why Korian is working on a charter of reciprocal commitments in order to guarantee a conscious and informed choice prior to admission to all its facilities.