Dementia unit launches life history cream teas events
Residents living with dementia
are to share the richness of their lives over the years with family, friends
and team members as part of a Life History project.
This weekend (Sunday March 4) sees the launch
of ‘Clovers
Cream Tea Sundays’, a regular activity which will see residents, their families and the
Clover team spend a few hours together delving into the incredible lives experienced
by those who live at Fernhill House.
Memory care lead Paul Turvey explained: “It's a time for families to meet each other, share
experiences and memories and most importantly, support each other.
“Our Clover family are incredibly
special to us and we are always trying to find new ways of providing the very
best in person centred care. I am fascinated by the life history of our family
of residents and believe it is of the utmost importance for us to understand a
resident’s background in as much detail as possible, to really fine tune the
perfect care for them.
“Our specially trained staff will be on hand to offer help and advice if
needed – and provide the scones of course! We hope as many of our families
possible will join us for the fun and laughter and be part of creating great
memories and something very special.”
Paul has undergone a wide
range of professional training courses aimed at understanding the needs of
residents with particular requirements.
He
explained: “I allow myself to enter the world of the person with dementia,
becoming part of their reality and I truly believe this helps me to deliver the
best possible care I can.
“It is important to me that residents have
choice, which I give them from the moment they wake up. My ethos is ‘always
make a difference to someone’s day.’ It’s important to find out what makes our
residents tick and to create activities based around their likes and interests,
such as organising pet therapy, encouraging them to use a relaxing sensory room
or picking herbs from the garden.
“The meal time experience is another
opportunity to bond with residents, giving them the choice of what they would
like to eat, allowing them to see and smell each meal separately and use plain
brightly coloured plates to make it easier for them to see their food.
“Fernhill House is a happy, homely place,
rooms are personalised, memory boxes are filled with favourite things, walls
are decorated with art residents can relate to.”