How to improve carehomes for dementia residents

[Elizabeth25]

Hello a relative of mine with dementia has been I a good care home for a long time . I want to make the quality of life for my relative and the other residents more fun , interesting and meaningful.
I wondered if anyone here had any ideas or experiences to help other than the obvious 1:1 chats , sing songs , outings ?
Really hope you can help life is a bit dull at the moment.

 

[nae sporran]

Welcome to TP, Elizabeth. Sometimes with Dementia the obvious simple things do seem to work. My partner will listen to the same 3 Andre Rieu DVDs and the one Boccelli DVD regularly and never get bored with either. When you mention sing songs though, the extra care housing we live in has regular singers coming in to entertain us and that always gets everyone excited. They accompany the evening with a quiz or next week we're having Chinese takeaway to celebrate the Chinese new year. That may not work for everyone's tastes, but the singers always do.
I hope you will get better ideas as more people with care home experience reply.

 

[kindred]

Hello a relative of mine with dementia has been I a good care home for a long time . I want to make the quality of life for my relative and the other residents more fun , interesting and meaningful.
I wondered if anyone here had any ideas or experiences to help other than the obvious 1:1 chats , sing songs , outings ?
Really hope you can help life is a bit dull at the moment.

This is a lovely venture, Elizabeth. Please read my thread on I have a partner with dementia: please don't throw me away
My husband is in a nursing home and the activities are simple, basic and just fantastic. The home is a miracle of love and invention. We go far beyond the obvious!
welcome and please keep in touch.

 

[Norfolk Cherry]

My mum's care home is great. The manager was very supportive when I suggested setting up a carers support group. We put up a poster and eight people came. We talked about how to get more involved in activities, fundraising and how to access refreshments independently of staff. Lots of things came up like mentoring new residents' carers, and a newsletter, and I think we can support each other a bit more now.

 

[Elizabeth25]

Welcome to TP, Elizabeth. Sometimes with Dementia the obvious simple things do seem to work. My partner will listen to the same 3 Andre Rieu DVDs and the one Boccelli DVD regularly and never get bored with either. When you mention sing songs though, the extra care housing we live in has regular singers coming in to entertain us and that always gets everyone excited. They accompany the evening with a quiz or next week we're having Chinese takeaway to celebrate the Chinese new year. That may not work for everyone's tastes, but the singers always do.
I hope you will get better ideas as more people with care home experience reply.

This is a lovely venture, Elizabeth. Please read my thread on I have a partner with dementia: please don't throw me away
My husband is in a nursing home and the activities are simple, basic and just fantastic. The home is a miracle of love and invention. We go far beyond the obvious!
welcome and please keep in touch.

Thank you

 

[Elizabeth25]

This is a lovely venture, Elizabeth. Please read my thread on I have a partner with dementia: please don't throw me away
My husband is in a nursing home and the activities are simple, basic and just fantastic. The home is a miracle of love and invention. We go far beyond the obvious!
welcome and please keep in touch.

Thank you

 

[Elizabeth25]

Welcome to TP, Elizabeth. Sometimes with Dementia the obvious simple things do seem to work. My partner will listen to the same 3 Andre Rieu DVDs and the one Boccelli DVD regularly and never get bored with either. When you mention sing songs though, the extra care housing we live in has regular singers coming in to entertain us and that always gets everyone excited. They accompany the evening with a quiz or next week we're having Chinese takeaway to celebrate the Chinese new year. That may not work for everyone's tastes, but the singers always do.
I hope you will get better ideas as more people with care home experience reply.

Thank you

 

[Elizabeth25]

This is a lovely venture, Elizabeth. Please read my thread on I have a partner with dementia: please don't throw me away
My husband is in a nursing home and the activities are simple, basic and just fantastic. The home is a miracle of love and invention. We go far beyond the obvious!
welcome and please keep in touch.

Thank you

Hi kindred I’ve read your lovely post but what is it that the home do that’s so creative and innovative??

 

[Amy in the US]

My mother's care home partners with a local school and brings in the pupils once a month for reading, arts and crafts, and so on. My mother remembers being a teacher and so loves those visits.

She is also very fond of animals and so the therapy dog visits cannot happen too often to suit her!

 

[Elizabeth25]

My mother's care home partners with a local school and brings in the pupils once a month for reading, arts and crafts, and so on. My mother remembers being a teacher and so loves those visits.

She is also very fond of animals and so the therapy dog visits cannot happen too often to suit her!

Thank you

 

[kindred]

Hi kindred I’ve read your lovely post but what is it that the home do that’s so creative and innovative??

You would need to read the thread itself, every day I post what activities we have been up to.
Such as an elvis presley birthday party
an all resident focus on elephants
what's this strange object? (objects from the past for cooking etc)
a men's group, looking at tools
sensory, doing a focus on perfume and aftershave
throw the beanbag on a huge map, talk about the country
things like that. And keep in mind most residents have severe dementia. You would be amazed at the reactions to the activities.
warmest, Geraldine.

 

[Elizabeth25]

You would need to read the thread itself, every day I post what activities we have been up to.
Such as an elvis presley birthday party
an all resident focus on elephants
what's this strange object? (objects from the past for cooking etc)
a men's group, looking at tools
sensory, doing a focus on perfume and aftershave
throw the beanbag on a huge map, talk about the country
things like that. And keep in mind most residents have severe dementia. You would be amazed at the reactions to the activities.
warmest, Geraldine.

Thanks again I’ll look at your posts

 

[Louise7]

Here's a link to the thread:

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/please-dont-throw-me-away-breaking-my-promise.108788/

In my Mum's home they have an 'Alexa' and last weekend they were playing music that meant something to each of the residents - Harry Secombe for a Welsh resident, some Italian music for my Mum etc. Quite a few people got tearful but in a good way I think, remembering something nice from their past. As Kindred has shown, sometimes the simple things are the most effective.

 

[Baggybreeks]

My husband always enjoyed the live music . Film afternoons with lights down a bit like a cinema. Residents were taken to the large lounge, on a different floor so change of venue set up like a concert.
Residents who were more able went on trips on a barge run by a local charity, trips in the care home bus to see the Christmas lights, or dementia friendly performances at the theatre. The two lovely activities ladies worked hard to assist residents , lots going on. Slipper soccer, jigsaw afternoon,quizzes, the list goes on.
My husband died this week hence the past tense.
I left his activity box I put together for him, fiddle ball, small bird book,toy cars ,soft toys he would grip when his hands couldn’t open.
I was saddened to see how little some residents were visited, I was in every day, and I think some residents thought I was a member of staff. They wanted someone to stop and just talk, staff generally too busy as half the residents needed two people to move them or attend to personal care.
Variety is the spice of life.

 

[Shedrech]

hi @Elizabeth25
may I just add a request that whatever you think to do, please speak with the manager, activities co-ordinator and staff and consider carefully the wishes of family - my dad needed a very careful approach and often simply wanted and needed to be left quietly to himself as he became agitated at too much stimulation - I would not have welcomed visitors to other residents trying to interact with him

 

[Louise7]

Yes, that's a really important point Shedrech, you do need to be careful when interacting with other residents. I'm happy for other visitors/relatives to say hello to my Mum and wave - I do the same with the other residents - but I'd be less comfortable with them interacting with Mum in other ways without checking with me first.

 

[Elizabeth25]

hi @Elizabeth25
may I just add a request that whatever you think to do, please speak with the manager, activities co-ordinator and staff and consider carefully the wishes of family - my dad needed a very careful approach and often simply wanted and needed to be left quietly to himself as he became agitated at too much stimulation - I would not have welcomed visitors to other residents trying to interact with him

If course my relative has been in a care home for over 7 years and very similar to your father .

 

[Elizabeth25]

Here's a link to the

In my Mum's home they have an 'Alexa' and last weekend they were playing music that meant something to each of the residents - Harry Secombe for a Welsh resident, some Italian music for my Mum etc. Quite a few people got tearful but in a good way I think, remembering something nice from their past. As Kindred has shown, sometimes the simple things are the most effective.

Good idea thank you

 

[love.dad.but..]

Your interest and desire to add value to residents care home living through thinking of different activities they may try is clearly from the heart. However thinking about Dad and some other residents ...similar to Shedrech's observations...when he was in his NH I think you may have to be very careful as many have hidden triggers to becoming upset or agitated which even a regular visitor may not have observed or been aware of. I would in the first instance speak to the manager and Activity Coordinator to run your idea through. Volunteers and students who all certainly enhanced the lives of many of the residents were all carefully vetted and any potential safeguarding risks for volunteers and residents were properly assessed. However I wish you well in your quest.

 

[Elizabeth25]

My mother's care home partners with a local school and brings in the pupils once a month for reading, arts and crafts, and so on. My mother remembers being a teacher and so loves those visits.

She is also very fond of animals and so the therapy dog visits cannot happen too often to suit her!

Many Thanks