Care Home Archives - Page 2 of 3

The benefits of pets or animals for the elderly

By Maria Welch 28th January, 2022 Care, Care Home Comments Off

The benefits of human-animal interaction have been proven in studies over many years now. There’s a reason dogs are dubbed man’s best friend; they provide friendship and companionship to their owners. But that’s not all, there are scientific studies which show that animals can have a positive effect on blood pressure, reducing stress, anxiety and improving the lives of those with Alzheimer’s disease. Therapy dogs are especially good at this and often brought into hospitals and nursing homes to help reduce patients stress and anxiety.

For the elderly one of the main benefits of having a pet is companionship. For those living on their own life can be lonely and isolating, even more so over the last couple of years. Having a pet such as a dog or cat offers affection, loyalty and companionship which people may otherwise not have. They may go for days without seeing or speaking to anyone and a pet can be especially comforting to have around the house if they’ve lost a loved one and the house seems quite and empty. They can also bring in a routine and responsibility which may otherwise have been lost, for example feeding at regular times and exercising them.

Interacting with animals can also reduce cortisol, which is the body’s stress hormone. So even simple things such as watching the birds out of the window can reduce stress. Maybe try getting a bird feeder on the windowsill to encourage them.

Exercise is a great benefit to owning a pet, obviously depending on the type of pet, I’m not sure how much exercise you’d get watching your fish swim in the tank! But taking a dog for a walk or playing with a cat can help get you up and moving your body. It can also help with socialisation.

If mobility is an issue though caring for a dog or cat may be too much. Studies have shown that watching fish swim in a tank can also relive stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate. There has even been documented health benefits for those with Alzheimer’s disease showing improvements in alertness and eating habits. And it doesn’t need to be in a living tank, even watching fish or animals on the television have also shown to have positive effects on wellbeing.

If you are thinking of getting a pet, please remember that it is a responsibility for the owner. It can be physically demanding so a puppy with lots of energy, running in between legs might not be the best choice. Think about your situation, what you can realistically and physically manage and perhaps opt for something a little lower maintenance.

Whatever you decide, having pets in your life whether yours, borrowed or even watching wildlife on the television can benefit your health and mental wellbeing.

The different types of dementia and how to recognise the symptoms

By Maria Welch 10th December, 2021 Care, Care Home, Dementia Comments Off

The word dementia describes a set of symptoms such as memory loss, difficulty concentrating, confusion and forgetfulness. Dementia is caused by diseases that affect the brain. Here we look at the different types of dementia and the common symptoms.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Probably the most well-known and common form of dementia. With Alzheimer’s connections between brain cells are lost because of the build-up of proteins which build abnormal structures. It is a progressive disease and over time more parts of the brain are damaged, as this happens symptoms worsen and more develop.

Common symptoms

Memory: problems with memory may occur such as losing things, forgetting names, getting lost and difficulty recalling words.

Speech: you may find that people repeat themselves or say a different words to those they mean.

Concentration: difficulty concentrating or organising, this can make everyday tasks challenging.

Orientation: it’s quite common for people with Alzheimer’s disease to forget where they are and get lost or not remember the day or year.

Mood: mood changes are common in the early stages, and you may find they become very anxious, depressed, or easily annoyed.

VASCULAR DEMENTIA

This is the second most common cause of dementia. Some people have both vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease which is called Mixed Dementia. Vascular dementia is caused when inadequate blood flow can’t get to the brain due to diseased blood vessels.

Although memory loss is common in most types of dementia, it’s not usually one of early symptoms of Vascular dementia.

Common Symptoms

Concentration: people may have difficulty concentrating or organising, following simple steps and slow thought processes, this can make everyday tasks challenging.

Speech: people may become less fluent in their speech.

Mood: mood swings are also common in the early stages you may find people become anxious or depressed; this may be due to them noticing the difficulties of the disease.

Physical: loss of bladder control is common in people with subcortical vascular dementia, and they also become prone to falls often due to weakness in the body. People with post-stroke vascular dementia may have weakness or paralysis in a particular part of the body dependant on which part of the brain was affected.

FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA

This is one of the less common types of dementia and you may know it as frontal lobe dementia or Pick’s disease. It’s caused when there is damage to the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain.

Common Symptoms

Behavioural variant FTD causes problems with behaviour and personality.

Primary Progressive Aphasia causes language problems.

MIXED DEMENTIA

About 1 in 10 people with dementia have mixed dementia, this is when they have more than one type of dementia. The most common form is Alzheimer’s disease with Vascular Dementia.

Common Symptoms

The symptoms are a mixture dependant on the mix of types of dementia, most commonly you’ll see one set of symptoms is more dominant.

LEWY BODY DEMENTIA

Dementia with Lewy bodies is caused by clumps of protein (Lewy bodies) in the nerve cells of the brain. Approximately 1 in 10 people with dementia have this.

Common symptoms

Concentration: problems staying focussed, making decisions and memory loss.

Hallucinations: these can be visual; seeing things that aren’t there which might be shapes, animals or people or auditory; hearing sounds or evens smelling or feeling things that aren’t there.

Sleep: problems can occur with sleep, both disturbed sleep at night and falling asleep very easily during the day.

Physical: you may see problems such as stiff limbs, limited facial expressions, being unbalanced and having difficulty walking.

There are also some rarer causes of dementia such as Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), approximately 1 in 20 people with dementia in the UK have a rarer type and symptoms can vary.

With most types of dementia however, the symptoms usually start off mild. They progress very gradually, and if you have them, you may not notice them. Dementia symptoms are different from naturally slowing down as we age, occasionally forgetting things and our thought processes generally slowing, as dementia symptoms are caused by disease. Because of this it can be hard to recognise the early stages in a friend or loved one. If you’ve noticed that a person is struggling to remember what they did the day before, is forgetting names of objects or people or perhaps they are repeating things over and over then it’s a good idea to encourage them to see their GP.

Lifting the Stigma on Elderly Care

By Maria Welch 22nd October, 2021 Care, Care Home Comments Off

It is a fact of life, from the moment we are born, we start getting older and if we are lucky enough to live to an old age, it is likely we may come to a point where we can no longer care properly for ourselves and we may need some extra support. And yet this is something none of us want to admit or even think about, but if we are all going to need it, why is there such a stigma around elderly care and what can we do to change future perspective?

Perhaps, by thinking negatively about getting old and frail and not being able to look after ourselves we are the problem. Constantly in the media and movies, people in older age are depicted negatively, whether it’s as a burden to the family, or someone who is unable to look after themselves, the older generations do not get painted in a good light. And yet so many of us are staying healthy and active into our older years and nothing like the old frail image portrayed by the media.

And so, if we focussed on positivity and promoting healthy living and wellbeing, using positive images of those in their older years enjoying independence and living life to the full, perhaps we would be able to adjust the perception of getting old.

And yes, there may come a time when we need a bit of extra support to look after ourselves. And this is where the care industry needs to step up. Treating each person as an individual, supporting their needs and wishes and getting to know them will help to ensure they are cared for in a compassionate and dignified manner.

We continue to promote person-centred care and maintaining independence in our home. We want all our residents to feel like they are at home, not in a stereotypical care home or “God’s Waiting Room” as they are so crassly referred to at times. We create a family home environment by including our team in the daily activities and entertainment. We also find activities and outings that are personal to our residents, for example we have one resident who used to be a boxing promoter so we take him to the local boxing gym. Another resident has given us tennis lessons while others enjoy a trip to M&S.

Getting old doesn’t have to be a sad and lonely time and we feel each of us plays our own part in removing the stigma around elderly care – come and see for yourself – our warm and friendly home will hopefully change your perspective on how growing old should be!

When is the right time to choose a care home?

By Maria Welch 17th September, 2021 Care, Care Home, Dementia, Family Related Matters Comments Off

It feels like there is never a right time to choose a care home, it’s a daunting and scary thought for most people, and generally it is left until the family cannot cope with the care requirements of a loved one anymore and then there is a panic to try and find somewhere with a space.

Our advice would be to prepare well in advance of a loved one needing a care home. At this stage they can even be involved in the decision-making process and you will have a greater choice of homes available to you. As you will have time to be on waiting lists, plus you will be able to get to know the home much better. The more open you can be with your family and able to discuss plans, the easier it will be when the time comes to transitioning into a home.

If the home is for you, let them know what you want, where you might like to be and the types of activities you might be interested in doing. Get to know the homes you are interested in and ask to be kept on their mailing list.

We always welcome as many visits as possible for the new potential resident and their family to get to know us and the home. We like potential residents to feel familiar with the home and comfortable in the space. They are welcome to join in activities with us and stay for periods of time to really understand what it is like to be one of our residents.

When choosing a home, try to take your time, ask lots of questions about the day to day running of the home, how they care for residents and the activity programmes they run.

At Fairdene our focus is on person-centred care, this means that we get to know each of our residents on a personal level, not just the medical care they require, we like to know what hobbies they enjoy, the job they used to do, the family they have and what makes them happy. We use this to put together meaningful activities for each resident. For example, we have one resident who used to be a boxing promoter, so we take him down to the boxing gym to see everyone and watch some of the action. This is an activity he really enjoys but is personal to him – not everyone is going to want to head down to the boxing gym!

If your loved one has already had a diagnosis of a condition that is likely to affect them into their later years such as dementia, you might like to look at care homes that specialise in that condition.

As a dementia care home, we continually research the latest on dementia care and continually look to improve our home and dementia care. We have our own in-house chef to offer the most nutritious food and ensure there is healthy food for residents to help themselves to around the home. We offer jelly drops to ensure everyone stays hydrated. Each resident is encouraged to bring a memory book with them which has photos of friends and family and things they like to do. We love sharing these with the residents and hearing their stories of days gone by.

With a diagnosis of Dementia, it might be years before the person affected actually needs a care home, however the time will come when they are no longer able to look after themselves even with the help of carers, friends and families. It would be at this point that you would need to consider moving to a care home. In our opinion though, it should be before this point that you discuss the care home and look at the different ones available in order to know which care home is best suited to your loved one.

You might be able to register your interest and the home could keep you updated on availability as the time approaches. It may feel like a sad and scary step, however from a positive perspective, your loved one will be getting the care they need which means that you will be able to focus on your social relationship with them and it can really help to reduce the stress and tension that sometimes comes with being someone’s full-time carer.

Fun and rewarding activities for those with dementia

By Maria Welch 7th June, 2021 Care, Care Home, Dementia, Family Related Matters Comments Off

Caring for a loved one with dementia can be frustrating, it can be lonely and at times it can feel monotonous. This in itself can start to have a detrimental impact on your relationship, and it is so important to try and not let dementia come between you.

We’ve put together a list of activities you might want to think about to break away from the frustration and monotony and think a bit differently about how you can keep your friendship going.

Finding engaging activities can help to reduce symptoms associated with dementia such as agitation, anxiety, depression and anger.

Fold towels

Now, this might not seem like an exciting or an engaging activity, however the need to feel useful continues throughout our lives and by giving those suffering with dementia an activity where they feel useful and purpose is a great way to boost self-esteem. It doesn’t matter how well the towels are folded, your loved one will feel they are contributing to the household and you are getting some of the housework done! At Grosvenor Lodge we regularly ask our residents to help us pair socks, and they love getting involved and feeling helpful.

Create a memory box

We actively encourage our residents and their families to create memory boxes and books. They are great conversation starters and can help residents feel connected to their past career and hobbies.

With a memory or rummage box you can fill it with things they might have used at work or objects from hobbies. For example for a boxer, they might have a boxing glove or a gym towel. Someone who enjoyed baking might have measuring spoons, a whisk or a wooden spoon.

You can use this for any type of job or hobby, you might just need to be creative about finding objects that are safe to handle.

Make (or buy) a personalised puzzle

If you want to get creative you could print a favourite family photo, that has a special meaning for your loved one. Laminate the photo and cut it into four (or more) puzzle shaped pieces to make you own personalised DIY puzzle. Alternatively, there are lots of sites online where you can buy a photo puzzle.

Music

Play your loved one’s favourite songs or albums from their youth. Encourage singing and dancing. It’s amazing how a song can take us back to a certain time or memory. We have Alexas in all our residents’ rooms loaded with their favourite music and stories.

Reading

You could read to your loved one, or perhaps they might enjoy an audiobook. Find things that are easy to follow and capture their interest. Reading aloud is a great way for those with dementia to interact with children.

Nature

Get out for a walk or use a wheelchair to get outside and breathe the fresh air, listen to the birds and take in the scenery. We love getting our residents out and about. We offer walks along the seafront, or rides with the Pedal People. We visit garden centres and shops, parks and cafes. We are so pleased the restrictions are lifting and we can get out and about again.

Animal Therapy

Holding or petting an animal is so relaxing and we’ve seen the benefits in our home when we’ve had various furry friends to visit.

Routine is great for those with dementia, however if it is having a negative impact on your relationship, you need to change it up a little. Hopefully this article has given you a few ideas on how you might do that.

Rebuilding out of COVID-19

By Maria Welch 5th May, 2021 Care Home, covid-19 Comments Off

As lockdown begins to ease, this might be the first time you are able to see your relative with dementia this year. With such a long time apart changes in their condition may be more apparent and trying to ensure COVID-19 guidance is followed may be particularly hard when your focus will be making sure the person with dementia is as safe and comfortable as possible. However it is important that we continue to stick to the rules to try and ensure we don’t have to deviate from the current roadmap.

The biggest news must be the ability to now visit loved ones in their care homes. This can be two visitors (one at a time) on a regular basis (ie the same two people must visit each time). This brings with it another set of challenges… what if your mum is in a care home and you are one of three siblings, how do you choose? How do you explain to your mum, when communication is more difficult, that one of her children isn’t allowed to visit. Although not perfect, it is progress and we will continue to arrange video calling for all those who are unable to visit for whatever reason.

With the widespread launch of free lateral flow testing, we hope that COVID-19 is coming under control and we will continue to test our staff regularly. We will also ask anyone entering the home to test and await their result before they are allowed to enter. Please bear this in mind if you are coming to visit, that you will need to arrive 30minutes prior to your slot to allow time to take the test and await the results.

For the foreseeable future we will continue to live with restrictions to protect the NHS and continue to save lives, so how can you start to introduce the “new normal” and begin to socialise once again with your loved one with dementia?

Embrace the time you do get to spend together, bring photo albums and reminisce about happy memories. Photo albums can be a great source of stimulation and will help not only reminisce but keep your loved one in touch with what has been going on in the family during the various lockdowns.
Use music to help stimulate conversation – play a favourite song or a song that takes you both back to a special event or place. Whenever I hear the lambada it always brings back a memory of my nana and grandad dancing on a warm sunny evening. It’s amazing how a song can take you right back to a moment in time.
Get outside together, whether this is a walk along the beach, in a park, or perhaps there is an activity you enjoy together like painting in the garden, or a spot of tennis. Activities give your loved one a sense of purpose and belonging.
Lockdowns have given even greater focus to technology and not everyone finds technology easy to use. It might be better to have a telephone call, rather than increase stress with new technology if your loved one hasn’t got the help they need. It is a good idea to call at regular times of the day to build a routine.
You could also send things through the post to help with the continued feelings of isolation – the world is opening up, but it is slow and the feelings of loneliness continue. This could be a letter or a card, or perhaps you could put together a photo book with descriptions and messages from other family members.

With all the new rules and regulations and COVID-19 guidance, remember this may be confusing and worrying for someone living with dementia. Continue to be understanding and patient and help them through the transition period to when we can hopefully all be together again.

COVID-19 and Dementia

By Maria Welch 29th March, 2021 Care Home, covid-19 Comments Off

There has been lots of talk in the press about the “forgotten victims of Covid” referring to school children and their education. Without doubt, they need more support and the make-shift homeschooling was no replacement for in school learning.

Working in the care industry we feel those suffering with dementia have truly suffered during the pandemic. If you read the research on dementia and reducing the affects, you will see the majority of advice and research shows the benefits of a routine and socialisation, both of which have been taken away to protect the vulnerable from catching COVID.

It’s a double-edged sword – on the one hand we need to protect people from catching COVID and potentially dying, however for those with dementia the loss of routine and socialisation may increase their dementia symptoms. In fact, the findings of a survey conducted by the Alzheimer’s Society of people with dementia and their carers, stated 82% of people reported an increase in symptoms among people with dementia after the March 2020 lockdown.

This was attributed mainly to a lack of cognitive stimulation and loss of routine. In the lockdown environment, we are no longer able to take part in stimulating or meaningful activities such as attending support groups or walking groups and are therefore limited to more mundane tasks. This has negatively affected people with dementia in terms of their illness and their self-worth.

For us with the care home, we are lucky we can continue to socialise amongst the residents and we have a full entertainment programme to encourage interaction and general merriment. We can maintain the residents’ routine as much as possible, obviously anything that was part of their routine outside of the home has been reduced or stopped however we are currently still getting out in the fresh air.

For those at home with dementia, the past 12 months must have been so difficult, unable to see friends and family. Not able to go out and do normal activities like shopping, meeting a friend for coffee and cake, or sports. It really has taken its toll, Over a quarter (27.5%) of people who died with COVID-19 from March to June had dementia.

But now we look to the future and how we will transition out of a lockdown situation. For the majority of us, we are excited to return to some sort of normality, but for those with dementia the outside world may not be the familiar surroundings they remember. For example, different shop layouts and processes may be disorientating. Signs and floor markings could be confusing and people in masks might be unsettling and/or difficult to understand. With numerous new rules to follow to keep everyone safe, this is something else to worry about, and also how others might react if they were to get it wrong.

In order to have an easier transition out of our current lockdown status, it is essential that those with dementia are supported by carers, services and the wider society. It has been reported that after the last lockdown those with dementia felt forgotten and abandoned and generally felt there was a lack of support when exiting the first lockdown.

So when we are out and about and continuing to follow the social distancing guidelines, remember that there are people in our community who might not be able to wear a mask or understand why they need to wear one. In a shop, there might be people who find it hard to follow the signage or understand they need to keep their distance. We need to remember to treat these people with patience, kindness and compassion.

We hope that all the dementia friendly practices that had been adopted by many shops before the pandemic such as clear signage, and staff who are trained to support customers with dementia can continue. We need to include and consult with people with dementia to develop communication and processes that promote their wellbeing and social inclusion and help them to live in world that might not be as familiar to them as it was before.

How do I know if it is time to think about a care home?

By Maria Welch 21st August, 2020 Care, Care Home, Dementia, Family Related Matters Comments Off

This post seems especially poignant as news breaks that Dame Barbara Windsor has been admitted to a care home. She looks absolutely marvellous for her age and yet she no longer recognises her husband. On the outside you wouldn’t realise anything was wrong, but for her loved ones, life has no doubt become more and more challenging, with her husband stating that her condition had worsened during lockdown. Sadly, I can imagine this might be the case for a number of Dementia suffers, the loss of routine, the inability to socialise, so many factors about lockdown does not sit well with the advice on how to reduce or slow down the effects of dementia.

I’m sure the decision to move to a care home was a difficult one for Dame Barbara’s family, however they were always very open about her condition and I’m sure as a family they had talked together about future plans. This may have made it easier for the family when the time came, as they would have known that Barbara was happy with the choice at the time.

With a diagnosis of Dementia, it might be years before the person affected actually needs a care home, however the time will come when they are no longer able to look after themselves even with the help of carers, friends and families. It would be at this point that you would need to consider moving to a care home. In our opinion though, it should be before this point that you discuss the care home and look at the different ones available in order to know which care home is best suited to your loved one.

You might be able to register your interest and the home could keep you updated on availability as the time approaches. It may feel like a sad and scary step, however from a positive perspective, your loved one will be getting the care they need which means that you will be able to focus on your social relationship with them and it can really help to reduce the stress and tension that sometimes comes with being someone’s full-time carer. I imagine that Dame Barbara Windsor will be flooded with visitors and that’s how we like it (when we can) in our homes.

If you are interested in finding out some more about our care homes and how we run, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Preparing for the next step

By Maria Welch 29th July, 2020 Care, Care Home, Family Related Matters, Help Comments Off

Taking the decision for a loved one to move to a care home can be a scary and upsetting thought. It is often filled with guilt, you may have spent years caring for them and so it is understandable that taking a step back from that role can be very challenging. Ensure you get support from your friends, family and the care team who will be stepping in. You can still be involved in their care, and work with the new team to ensure your loved one is happy and settled in their new setting.

None of us want to admit we can’t cope any more or that we need more support. As we get older it is inevitable that we might need more care and it is important to ask for this help when you need it rather than wait until something happens and you have no choice in the matter.

By creating a plan and taking time to visit different care homes or looking at the different care options you can have control over the decision making. This will give you and your family time to prepare for the next step and also in a lot of cases care homes and care teams may have a waiting list.

Here are some tips to help you in the decision-making process if you feel a care home is the next step:

Involve the person in the decision

Although you may feel that your loved one does not have the metal capacity to make the decision in their care, it is important to try and involve them in the process. If they are no longer able to communicate you might be able to see different reactions as you tour around different homes which may help guide your decision and also make the transition easier for your loved one.

Due to COVID it might not be possible to have a tour of the care home right now, however the majority have websites, so take a look at the photos on their site, read about their ethos and how they care for their residents. Arrange a video call with the care home manager to ask all the questions you have and to get a feel of how the home is run and the activities that might appeal to your loved one.

Perhaps there is an opportunity for your loved one to join in some activities each week prior to the move so they can get to know some of the residents and become familiar with the home. This would make the transition feel less daunting for everyone involved.

Choosing the right home

This is the big one, and no doubt the most daunting decision ahead of you. There are lots of resources available on the internet to help you make that decision, but I would draw your attention to Age UK. They have a video to help: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/arranging-care/care-homes/help-finding-care-home/

They also have a list of questions that you might want to include during the process which you can find here: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/arranging-care/care-homes/choosing-care-home/

It also has a handy downloadable checklist. By having a checklist and a standard set of questions for each home it will give you a good basis for comparison.

Choosing a home is very much a personal thing, so try to get as much of a feel for daily life as you can, ask about routine and activities, outside space, activities available outside of the home and see if you can picture your loved one enjoying themselves there. If you do get the opportunity to have a tour of the home get a feel for the staff, are they interested in the residents, are they caring, does the home feel welcoming? It may be difficult to do this in current circumstances, however if you are planning in advance perhaps ask to be contacted once they are doing show arounds again.

Once you have chosen

At this stage the care home should arrange to come and meet your loved one or invite them to the home to meet with some of the team. As I mentioned earlier, if you have some time before the move, it might be nice to arrange a few afternoons or mornings where your loved one spends time at the home getting involved in some of their activities.

During their visits try to give the home as much information about your loved one as possible, this includes how and where they grew up, family, partner, work, interests, hobbies, achievements, music, films. On the Dementia website you could go through the process of creating your loved one’s life story. This is a lovely thing to do together, but don’t try doing it all in one sitting, break it into topics and collect photos to go with the stories. Spending time going through old photos reminiscing is something we love to do at Grosvenor Lodge and having life stories helps us to start the conversation with our residents.

Moving Day

Try to reduce anxieties and pick a time in the day which you feel will work best for your loved one. If they feel reluctant you could could start with a shorter respite stay to see how they get on.

Make their room homely, put up photographs of loved ones and ornaments and sentimental pieces from home around the room. Finding the right time to leave can be hard, however the care home will be very experienced in this, so talk to them and discuss when they feel is the best time.

Let your loved one know you are leaving and when you plan to return and feel free to call the home and check how they are settling in.

Settling in

Some care homes ask friends and families not to visit in the first week so they can get your loved one settled. This can feel difficult, however you can phone and check how it is going. When you do visit, encourage your loved one to develop relationships with the other residents and get involved in activities. We are always happy to include visitors in our activities – if you have a skill or hobby you could even host your own activity session.

If you would like any advice about introducing a loved one to our care home, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

The Art of Technology in Uncertain Times

By Maria Welch 5th June, 2020 Care Home Comments Off

The lockdown has been longer and much tougher than any of us could have anticipated. For some the uncertainty of whether they might ever get to hug their loved ones again must be unbearable, however we have tried to overcome our social distance using technology.

Here at Grosvenor, we have arranged facetime calls, Skype, Zoom, telephone. We have used technology and more old-fashioned methods of communication too, writing letters and postcards to our loved ones.

We can tell how much this communication means to our residents’ friends and family with all the lovely comments we receive on Facebook when we post photos of the many activities we have been enjoying. To see your loved one having a nice time lifts the spirits and for that reason we have been posting more than ever on social media.

Although video calling can be harder if you are talking with someone with dementia it is important for both our residents and their loved ones to stay in touch and see each other in whatever way they can.

On special days such as Mother’s Day and Easter we were inundated with gifts and cards for the residents and it was so lovely to watch them opening their gifts and smiling with their friends here at Grosvenor. In order to share this moment, we took video clips and photos to share with their loved ones outside of the home.

Technology really has become a tool to rely on in these uncertain times. Our only form of contact with the outside world and we are extremely grateful for the link it gives us with all our residents’ friends and families. We hope to be able to come together a bit more in the future, however for now we will continue in the virtual world.