A Service in Crisis.
Turning Things
Around.
How Studio 3 helped an older adults organisation move out of Special Measures, reducing restrictive practices, rebuilding staff confidence and embedding lasting change in twelve months.
Key outcomes at a glance
12
months to exit Special Measures
~ 0
Restraint use -
reduced to virtually none
Staff turnover reduced significantly
The situation
An older adults residential care organisation had been placed in Special Measures following a challenging inspection.
Two areas were identified as critical, reducing restrictive practices and rebuilding staff confidence in managing crises with clients.
Leadership also needed clinical support around complex, traumatised individuals and a full audit of the organisation's safety systems.
Our role
Direct coaching and training to staff and team leaders
Individual assessments and support plan development
Clinical support for complex and traumatised individuals
Audit of the organisation's safety systems
Our approach
We worked with the organisation to build staff skills in Low Arousal and Trauma-informed approaches, not as a one-off training event but as embedded practice.
A select group of staff were trained as Studio 3 Low Arousal Trainers, becoming internal Practice Leaders who supported their teams to apply the learning day to day.
​
-
Low Arousal and Trauma-informed training for all staff
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Practice Leaders trained as internal Studio 3 Low Arousal Trainers
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Learning embedded into everyday team practice — not just training rooms
The impact
Organisation exited Special measures within twelve months
Staff confidence in Low Arousal approaches grew measurably across teams
Restraint use reduced to virtually none for most individuals
Staff turnover reduced significantly across the organisation
Why this matters
This wasn't a training programme bolted onto a failing service.
It was a sustained, collaborative effort to change how an entire organisation understood and responded to distress.
When Low Arousal practice is embedded not just delivered, staff feel more confident, clients feel safer and the need for restrictive intervention drops dramatically.
That is what genuine culture change looks like.