Caring for people with dementia in real life environments supports a person with dementia feel normal. Here the residents are preparing dinner at the kitchen table.
In typical care homes it is difficult to engage in activity-based support such as going to the activities room or taking a cup of tea to a person sitting in their bed, this doesn’t meet the needs of a person with dementia as this is not happening in an expected environment or part of the real living experience they would have.
It also excludes residents with high levels of
need as they experience barriers to inclusion in the activities, they simply
would not be able to sit at a table in an activities room. Could you if you feel anxious walk into a
room full of strange people, do something which appears to be out of character.
In the Homely Lounge there is no gap between
rhetoric and practice as experiencing social relevant activities is part of
living in homely house- we set the table for breakfast and lunch we sit at the
table, we offer tea in an environment which looks like a kitchen and feels like
a persons kitchen in their home. These
social relevant activities are offered to our residents as daily therapy and
are an alternatives to using antipsychotic medications in care homes.
The staff are trained to support the person living with dementia to remember how the kitchen is managed and support them in doing socially relevant activity such as preparing dinner, offering a cup of tea in an area which feels like an expected environment. Being part of a group also provides prompts into what we are doing and why.
Small group living for people with dementia is far more beneficial to stress free dementia care. Homely House at Ixworth Court Specialist Dementia Care Home in Suffolk, UK