Meaningful Activities in a Care Home

[Rayreadynow]

I get the distinct feeling that the care home offers the bare minimum in relation to meaningful activities. Spoke to a BIA today who is renewing my mothers DoLS, she was praising the activity of my mother having a table cloth to fold with her hands and is now in the care plan..I could barely hold my dismay at seeing this as a major meaningful activity. Any other thought on what they should be?

 

[Jessbow]

I think , by the time most people with dementia get to a care home, they are past 'meaningful activity'


What would you think would be happening?

Perhaps suggest things she could do

 

[Rayreadynow]

Regular trips out into the community rather than being stuck on the second floor of a care home with little natural light and instead being fed anti-depressants.

 

[sdmhred]

Meaningful activity is so person centred and dementia stage dependent. Certainly trips out are offered most weeks at mums home but she is largely beyond taking part.

perhaps try some things with her yourself - if you find something that works perhaps suggest it to the activity co-ordinator?

 

[SeaSwallow]

Have you discussed your concerns with the care home manager. The other thing to consider is whether or not your mother would enjoy any activities outside the care home. There comes a time when people with dementia are content to stay within the confines of the care home.

 

[Rayreadynow]

Have you discussed your concerns with the care home manager. The other thing to consider is whether or not your mother would enjoy any activities outside the care home. There comes a time when people with dementia are content to stay within the confines of the care home.

Actually I don't believe that. Being in the fresh air in a different environment is 100 times better than being on anti-depressants.....its purely to make life easy for the care home and the staff. Care homes rely on institutionalising there residents to make it easy.

 

[try again]

Actually I don't believe that. Being in the fresh air in a different environment is 100 times better than being on anti-depressants.....its purely to make life easy for the care home and the staff. Care homes rely on institutionalising there residents to make it easy.

Lol we are at loggerheads again. People with dementia can be overwhelmed by too much stimulus, just read some of the threads that tell of days out and holidays being a disaster

 

[Carmenjane]

I hadn’t taken my OH out from the care home for ages because the weather’s been so bad. Then we had a sunny day so I took him out for a drive and a cup of tea and he was bewildered and said he felt frightened and “mangled”. That shocked me but at least I think it means he feels safe in the Home.
Also, before he was prescribed antidepressants he was terribly anxious, worrying about every little thing.
It’s very hard to see the progression of this disease. He used to be so strong and confident.

 

[canary]

Actually I don't believe that. Being in the fresh air in a different environment is 100 times better than being on anti-depressants.....its purely to make life easy for the care home and the staff. Care homes rely on institutionalising there residents to make it easy.

While mum was living in her care home I used to take her out for little trips and at first she was very enthusiastic and say eagerly "where are we going today?" and I would take her to the local garden centre, or push her in her wheelchair along the sea front, or round the park and we would have lunch out before going back to the care home. She found shops overwhelming with all the people and noise, so we avoided them.

As time went on though, I noticed that she couldnt cope with long car journeys and I took her to places that were closer and she also started saying that she wanted to go back to the home so the trips out got progressively shorter and shorter until, eventually she couldnt even cope with going to the cafe literally next door to the care home for a cup of coffee.

It wasnt that she was being prevented from going out, nor that because she was content I didnt even try - it was because she got to the point where going out at all frightened her.

she was praising the activity of my mother having a table cloth to fold with her hands and is now in the care plan..I could barely hold my dismay at seeing this as a major meaningful activity.

Folding tablecloths and tea towels is a recognised activity for people with advanced dementia. The reasoning behind it being a meaningful activity is because your mother would have folded laundry over many years and it may well trigger memories.

 

[Jale]

The last time Mum was taken out into the home's garden she got so distressed we had to take her back inside. She was not happy at all. What we would like our loved ones to do and what our loved ones are actually capable of doing or enjoying are very often so different. Mum used to sit for hours sorting through a box full of odd buttons. Mum refused to join in many of the activities that were arranged, at the time she would have been fairly capable of joining in but she didn't want to be with others as she said they were being nosy. Sometimes we have to try and see the world through their eyes rather than ours.

 

[Jessbow]

Regular trips out into the community rather than being stuck on the second floor of a care home with little natural light and instead being fed anti-depressants.

Would you mum be able to do that as part of a group activity, or would it need to be a 1 on 1? Does she have a 1:1? Does the home have the means of getting a goup out? A minibus? Can you get her out? In better weather, does she have access to a garden?

 

[Sarasa]

Hi @Rayreadynow , I chose my mums first care home because it had brilliant activities, visits to exhibitions and shows, entertainers coming in, arts and crafts etc etc. Mum refused to join in most of the time unless I was there, the one time they tried to take her to a jazz club they had to bring her back straight away as she thought she was being kidnapped. The two of us did get involved in an amazing flash mob dance, but without me there to support her she couldn’t have done it. This was all pre-Covid. By the time things opened up again mum’s dementia had progressed and I’d moved. Mum didn’t get involved in any of the things in her second home as she was really beyond such things.
Maybe try and be at the home when something is on and see if you can help your mum join in, or try taking her out yourself and see if that is something she likes. As for folding things, that is something people in the later stages of dementia often enjoy. It might not have been what she would have done pre-dementia, but that was then and this is now.

 

[Angel55]

Actually I don't believe that. Being in the fresh air in a different environment is 100 times better than being on anti-depressants.....its purely to make life easy for the care home and the staff. Care homes rely on institutionalising there residents to make it easy.

Hello 💗

I am not a fan of anti depressants personally but I accept that they can be useful as illnesses progress and have a place in treatments not just dementia .

In terms of making life easy for the care home and staff I would hope with all my heart that is not the reasoning.

I have to accept though that care homes are short staffed a lot of the time, high turnover of staff and lack of adequate training plays a part, coupled with some tricky behaviours to manage.

In my perfect world there would be an outside inside for those people who do enjoy those things and everything would be person centred with every member of staff receiving support and training in dementia illnesses but that is not the reality sadly.

I doubt they could take people outside even if the weather was fit every day just would not be possible especially if someone is frail as well and has health conditions too.

Folding activities can be purposeful if you think of how many times you washed clothes and folded them in a life time. It can also be quite soothing.

In terms of visits in the community I would ask the home what they do offer as a first point of call .

You can find befriending schemes sometimes if you think Mum would like to go out or just have someone to sit with her and keep her company, does she have any friends or relatives that could take her for a coffee perhaps if she enjoyed doing that? As for natural light could she have a different room? could anything else help ? You can get lamps that do sunrise and create a more natural light.

 

[Rayreadynow]

Hello 💗

I am not a fan of anti depressants personally but I accept that they can be useful as illnesses progress and have a place in treatments not just dementia .

In terms of making life easy for the care home and staff I would hope with all my heart that is not the reasoning.

I have to accept though that care homes are short staffed a lot of the time, high turnover of staff and lack of adequate training plays a part, coupled with some tricky behaviours to manage.

In my perfect world there would be an outside inside for those people who do enjoy those things and everything would be person centred with every member of staff receiving support and training in dementia illnesses but that is not the reality sadly.

I doubt they could take people outside even if the weather was fit every day just would not be possible especially if someone is frail as well and has health conditions too.

Folding activities can be purposeful if you think of how many times you washed clothes and folded them in a life time. It can also be quite soothing.

In terms of visits in the community I would ask the home what they do offer as a first point of call .

You can find befriending schemes sometimes if you think Mum would like to go out or just have someone to sit with her and keep her company, does she have any friends or relatives that could take her for a coffee perhaps if she enjoyed doing that? As for natural light could she have a different room? could anything else help ? You can get lamps that do sunrise and create a more natural light.

They get around the trips out by saying they have offered her trips out, but they could be standing behind her whispering and offering her trips out and they would be fulfilling their contract. They have bright lights everywhere inset into the ceiling, maybe that is a substitute for natural light. Apparently you can class a 2 hr video of Dementia Training as enough to provide 'Specialised Dementia Care'. Call me cynical but I think the whole thing is a con, what my mother is getting at the moment could have easily been provided in her own home, if only community GP, Community Nurses and Social Care providers worked together rather than passing the buck.

 

[Rayreadynow]

Hi @Rayreadynow , I chose my mums first care home because it had brilliant activities, visits to exhibitions and shows, entertainers coming in, arts and crafts etc etc. Mum refused to join in most of the time unless I was there, the one time they tried to take her to a jazz club they had to bring her back straight away as she thought she was being kidnapped. The two of us did get involved in an amazing flash mob dance, but without me there to support her she couldn’t have done it. This was all pre-Covid. By the time things opened up again mum’s dementia had progressed and I’d moved. Mum didn’t get involved in any of the things in her second home as she was really beyond such things.
Maybe try and be at the home when something is on and see if you can help your mum join in, or try taking her out yourself and see if that is something she likes. As for folding things, that is something people in the later stages of dementia often enjoy. It might not have been what she would have done pre-dementia, but that was then and this is now.

Thanks, sounds familiar. Unfortunately I am hundreds of miles away so cant just call in. Sounds like it was a fantastic schedule of entertainment. Unfortunately. mum is on the upper floor and it is clear that all the entertainment is happening on the lower floor and I am certain they won't be making sure she is aware of it. I dont understand why Social Services think its acceptable for someone to be confined to an upper floor of a building with no easy access to outside space, but then again , as soon as someone is in a care home the SS wash there hands of them, especially self funders.

 

[sdmhred]

If mum is self funding - are you able to take a trip sometime and look for somewhere with more dementia training?

 

[Rayreadynow]

Would you mum be able to do that as part of a group activity, or would it need to be a 1 on 1? Does she have a 1:1? Does the home have the means of getting a goup out? A minibus? Can you get her out? In better weather, does she have access to a garden?

They say she has 1 on 1 on a Sunday afternoon, but that could just be 10 minutes. the Care home has a mnibus ( 5 seater ) for a max of 60 residents. I live hundreds of miles away so I cant just call in. Shes on the upper 'secure floor' , she is entirely in the hands of the carers to take her in the lift to the ground floor and then through the lower floor residents corridors to the outside garden.

 

[canary]

I have a feeling that your mums dementia is much more advanced than you realise @Rayreadynow . As you are so far away and are unable to see her often I suspect that you may not be aware of the extent of her deterioration and how much care she now needs. It seems from your posts that you blame the care home for her dementia progression and feel that if only they would do x, y and z, then your mum would improve. Unfortunately, this deterioration where they are unable to do almost anything and even the simplest of activities becomes beyond them is what happens in dementia.

My OH is still at home, but can now do almost nothing. I used to get him to help me fold sheets, but now even that is beyond him. He sits on the sofa all day and is not interested in activities or going out. He has access to the garden, but no longer wants to go out in it. I put a bird feeder up outside the window so that he could watch the birds come down to feed (and there are lots of them come down) but he never looks at it now. This withdrawal from the world is normal

 

[Rayreadynow]

I have a feeling that your mums dementia is much more advanced than you realise @Rayreadynow . As you are so far away and are unable to see her often I suspect that you may not be aware of the extent of her deterioration and how much care she now needs. It seems from your posts that you blame the care home for her dementia progression and feel that if only they would do x, y and z, then your mum would improve. Unfortunately, this deterioration where they are unable to do almost anything and even the simplest of activities becomes beyond them is what happens in dementia.

My OH is still at home, but can now do almost nothing. I used to get him to help me fold sheets, but now even that is beyond him. He sits on the sofa all day and is not interested in activities or going out. He has access to the garden, but no longer wants to go out in it. I put a bird feeder up outside the window so that he could watch the birds come down to feed (and there are lots of them come down) but he never looks at it now. This withdrawal from the world is normal

I saw her 8 weeks ago for 6 days. I know exactly what her possibilities are. Maybe you are in denial that keeping your OH at home may be the reason he has withdrawn. Do the right thing and put him in a Care Home.

 

[canary]

I saw her 8 weeks ago for 6 days. I know exactly what her possibilities are. Maybe you are in denial that keeping your OH at home may be the reason he has withdrawn. Do the right thing and put him in a Care Home.

Well make up your mind whether you think someone is better off at home or in a care home!!!

The point I was making is that the withdrawal and loss of abilities is nothing to do with the environment - it happens both at home and in a care home.