Two situations this month have had similar themes: people asking to use individual Butterfly Scheme elements, but outside the standard format of the Scheme. In each case, someone’s come up with what seemed to them to be a good idea, but once we’ve had a relatively brief discussion they’ve realised that their idea simply isn’t viable. If they tried to use or amend copyrighted materials or symbols, they’d actually be breaking the law, too!
That’s why every member organisation has to agree from the outset that any suggested changes or alternative use of Butterfly Scheme materials have to be run by the Scheme for approval – and that’s because every single element of the Scheme has been fully researched and developed by collaborative groups of Butterfly Scheme Leads, alongside myself as national leader, ensuring that every element works within the whole.
So why is it important that the Scheme as a whole remains in standardised format? Well, that’s because people using the Scheme are opting into something very specific; they’re choosing the dementia care approach they want to receive in a healthcare setting. They’re certainly not simply saying that they want appropriate dementia care; they’re saying that the Butterfly Scheme is the precise approach to their dementia care that they consider to be appropriate to them.
At the heart of everything we do is the person living with dementia – and yes, that absolutely involves also supporting carers and the healthcare teams who work alongside them. In order to ensure that the person opting into the Scheme receives the care they’ve chosen, we act very quickly if we discover that someone’s trying to use the Butterfly Scheme’s symbol or any of the Scheme’s materials without approval. This isn’t a commercial decision – the Scheme has never been in any way commercial – but instead it protects the interests of the very people it was set up to support.
The Butterfly Scheme isn’t about a symbol; it’s about that symbol bringing in response a very specific form of care.