Returning the pen to you so you can take authorship of
We are Domiciliary care experts who believe in:
your story.
If you asked Derek Ruth’s 7-year-old daughter to describe him, she wouldn’t tell you that he’s the founder of Serene Care Jersey.
She’d tell you that he can’t run very fast. And he’s not very good at making pancakes. And at times he can be really funny, but usually when she doesn’t want him to (like when she’s snotting everywhere, sick in bed, and he comes in and makes a joke).
If you asked his partner or his two older daughters, they would tell you that he’s obsessively dedicated, goes out of his way for everyone else all the time, and has a bit of a thing for buying trainers.
Those are some of the things that make Derek *Derek*.
As the founder and Registered Manager of Serene Care Jersey, and a domiciliary care expert, Derek is hellbent on helping.
Although he could give you a long list of his specialised qualifications focused on chronic and complex illnesses (like Motor Neurone Disease), end-of-life care, and more. Or tell you how he was the first male to work in any care home in Jersey and has experience with everything from hospitals to hospices. Or explain how his plethora of care jobs and training revealed how horrifically standardised the approach to home care and end-of-life care really is…
When care forgets who a person is, it doesn’t just fail them, it erases their humanity.
Since the age of 14, Paul had gotten up at 5 am and spent his day at sea, helping his father provide for their family. Yet in hospice, Paul’s days were long stretches with nothing to feed his hard-working and adventurous spirit.
Every day, after Paul’s shower and shave, Paul would shrug his shoulders and ask, “Is that it?” As the time passed, Derek witnessed Paul withdraw from life.
This led Derek to consider how home care can meet a person’s physical “needs” while completely failing to recognize who they are; reducing their life to a program of scheduled meals, clock watching, and a lack of meaningful interactions.
When care forgets who a person is, it doesn’t just fail them, it erases their humanity.
The real reason Derek started Serene Care Jersey was because of people like Paul.
She is someone who has spent most of her life studying embodiment and somatics, is always available for a laugh, and is known for wearing all black, even in the height of summer.
She believes that illness, death, and care should be talked about in the way we teach and talk about love, because it is a universal experience that becomes us all. And, like her father, she despises the way that standardised care dehumanises those it serves through templated approaches and sugarcoating the brutality that is a part of the vulnerable, and at times, hard experience of giving and receiving care.
Different in backgrounds, but aligned in vision, Derek and Serena lead Serene Care Jersey together.
Serena
Derek
(His eldest daughter, not his 7-year-old daughter, just to be clear.)
Derek runs Serene Care Jersey with his daughter—Serena.
At Serene Care Jersey, our mission is to change the way people live through delivering care that never loses sight of what makes you you.
We do that as home care service providers by asking who you are, how you want to live, and what independence looks like to you.
No matter the challenges your responses to those questions present, we rise every day and do everything within our power to do right by your answers.
If cold hands are mentioned, we will have 50 hand towels on rotation in the dryer, replacing your cloth every half hour to keep your hands warm.
We pay attention to what’s going on and do everything we can to deliver exceptional care.
We tell you that your diagnosis might mean moving your bed downstairs, or explain to family members that adjusting a pillow many times over is part of the comfort care process.
We respect you by telling you the truth.
We don’t fry, season, and plate your eggs if you just need help cracking them for breakfast.
We honour independence, never limit it.
We see Paul, the fisherman, who doesn’t like walking in the garden, never “patient 415 with dementia.”
What makes you *you* matters to us.
In Practice
In Theory
Our Domiciliary Care Values
And we’re selective about the carers we hire and the way we train them because, for us to live up to our promises, we have to be.