Issue 147 24.05.23
The weekly online newsletter for the care sector
Home starts next chapter with activity BOOK-loving residents at an Edinburgh care home are keeping their minds young and agile with the latest social activity introduction. The new weekly club at Cramond Residence gives the home’s book worms the chance to engage in open conversation about a host of genres – some of which cover stories from their childhoods and gripping new novels that exercise the brain. Lifestyle team leader Elaine Vallance said: “Not only does reading help increase our residents’ cognitive skills, but it can also reduce stress and help improve sleep. “It’s a fantastic form of entertainment and a great exercise for stimulating the brain, which can be particularly beneficial for our residents with dementia. “Our book club encourages independent reading, as well as the articulation of thoughts and sharing of opinions with a group of similarly minded people. “The club is a great way of encouraging our residents to stay social and we have experienced that even some of our less talkative residents have been willing to engage in a common topic of conversation. “We take the time to read to those residents who can’t do
so and you can tell by the big smiles on their faces how much they appreciate the simple art of storytelling.” Cramond’s book club takes place in the home’s lounge, offering views of the gardens year-round. In addition to the weekly clubs, Cramond Residence has a private library that is wellstocked with books of different genres that residents are free to borrow and return at their leisure. Client liaison manager Christian Daraio added: “Our residents love making use of the library and our weekly book clubs have proved to be very popular. “We even have plans to invite authors along to the club in the near future to engage in conversations with the residents. We aim to make the club highly educational and a great knowledge builder. “The mental and physical benefits you can experience from reading last a lifetime and can keep an elderly brain active and engaged, possibly even delaying the onset of dementia through the strengthening of memory retention. “Not only that, but these group activities that we pride ourselves on are an excellent tool in fighting loneliness and social isolation.”
Lymington Town FC women’s squad have new kit thanks to operator Colten Care. The team, which is currently in division six of the Hampshire County Women’s Football League, has previously had to make do with old kits from the men’s team. The new kit, emblazoned with the Colten Care brand, was presented to the squad by Lorraine Bell, home manager of Linden House dementia home, along with residents. Chief operating officer Elaine Farrer said: “Lymington FC, like Colten Care, plays an important part in its community and we feel proud and privileged to provide the team with these smart kits bearing our name. We hope the new kits will bring them luck.”
Staff overjoyed with new rating THE team at Cherry Tree Lodge care home in Whitnash, Royal Leamington Spa, have had reasons to celebrate following positive news on its recent CQC inspection. They were overjoyed to receive their improved rating, which saw the service step up from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’ in all key areas, following their most recent inspection from the Care Quality Commission. Home manager Scott Wincott said: “We have all worked so hard over the last few years at Cherry Tree Lodge and we are thrilled to have achieved a positive Good rating with CQC in all key areas. “I believe that resident, relative and staff involvement in the daily operations has really contributed to our success’.
“I am thrilled to have led the team through change and now we are proud to share our success within the home, the community and our health care professionals.” The CQC report stated: “Care plans contained information about people’s preferred method of communication and how staff should engage with people to ensure they provided responsive care.” Observations from the glowing CQC report also noted: “People and relatives were given opportunities to provide feedback on the quality of the service through meetings and questionnaires. “A ‘You said, we did’ board demonstrated how suggestions had been implemented within the service.”
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