CareMalta’s well-being strategy is ‘most important investment this year’, says CEO

In a recent interview featured on CareNet, CareMalta CEO Natalie Briffa Farrugia described the Group’s recently established well-being strategy and policy, as “our first and most important investment this year.”

“The truth is that the pandemic has felt longer than it actually was. Thanks to the vaccine, the road ahead is more optimistic, although not an easy one. While it is important to stick to precautionary measures in place, we must also have the confidence to let go of what has happened, appreciate the present moment and believe in the future,” she affirmed, adding that while the pandemic has undoubtedly taken a heavy toll on all, we must not let it dampen the human spirit.

“Our well-being policy reflects the group’s future long-term vision – making a difference in people’s lives through our core values of compassion, engagement and professionalism,” Natalie explained, emphasising that CareMalta’s mental healthcare model centres on the needs of their vulnerable clients – from older people to individuals with a disability or mental health issues, de-institutionalising them and doing away with stigma.

“The focus of our care plan is to treat persons living with mental health issues with dignity, welcoming them back into the community with open arms and helping them recreate special connections with their families,” she said, noting that “as a group, we have looked at several care models specifically tailor-made for persons facing mental health problems.”

“Whereas in the past, it was generally up to a mental hospital’s multidisciplinary team to decide on what is the best way forward, our novel approach looks at every single player on the same level. The family, together with the psychiatric team will be working together in the best interest of the person,” she continued.

The approach, the CEO maintains, requires a mindset shift, through which one needs to consider the problems faced by persons with mental health issues as one’s own.

“All our care facilities – whether it’s a CareMalta elderly home or a respite or mental health facility operated by HILA – are deep in the heart of the community and this is the way it should be,” she added.

Looking toward the future of the sector in the same interview, the CEO went on to highlight that “the elderly care sector will be faced with several challenges in the years to come, one of which is a 2,000-bed surplus, which our group had predicted in its 2019 management plan.”

On the bright side, however, Natalie is pleased with the fact that during the pandemic, local care home operators came together in a bid to take the sector to a higher level.