Covid-19


Thinking outside of the box During the past 18 months, care homes have had to really think outside of the box to try and offer activities and stimulation that meet the needs of their service users and provide a sense of community while keeping them safe. Many care homes have tried to carry on as normal and strive to ensure that life can still be enjoyable for their residents despite all of the difficulties they are facing. Various organisations in the UK


have been thinking of new and exciting ideas to engage care home residents in meaningful activities but in a safe way. AutumnCare has been lucky to see one such project roll out and witness the positive effect it has had on care home residents in Salford. Local arts organisation Quays


Culture reached out to us for some help sponsoring their brilliant initiative - Mystery Bird – a mobile art installation in the form of a spectacular light and sound show that is displayed outside onto a building wall. The light and sound display featured


different types of birds, replicating their movements and sounds and was truly breathtaking to see. The Mystery Bird installation visited care homes across Greater Manchester and provided something new and exciting, while being completely unaffected by the Covid-19 restrictions. Following on from this, Quays Culture


distributed activities for residents to participate in. One such activity was making their own bird feeders, which were then hung on bedroom windows so that residents can experience real birds visiting them in their gardens in the months ahead.


Using technology to keep people connected Although technology has been able to keep many residents in touch with their families via video calls and messages, it is just not practical for a large proportion


of people. Many residents cannot communicate through a screen. They may be deaf, blind or have


dementia - they do not understand what coronavirus is. They are left feeling anxious and confused about why they have not seen their families for months. Similarly, for people with a loved one in


care, not being able to visit them has been very difficult. Many relatives and loved ones play a key role in the day-to-day care of the resident in the care home. Many will visit several times a day, helping with mealtimes and even some care tasks, as well as the social aspect too. So care homes have really felt the


absence of their regular visitors who enjoy coming in most days and offering some hands-on help. At a time when staff teams have been stretched to their limits, it has been even tougher to lose those visitors who like to help give drinks out, or sit and play games with people, read out a quiz or even little tasks such as putting the radio on or changing the TV channel.


How do we keep loved ones involved without visits? Over the past 18 months or so, technology has been vital in ensuring that loved ones continue to remain fully involved in the care recipient’s day to day life. Many health professionals have been able to carry out video consultations using applications such as Zoom or Microsoft


For many families in the UK, reuniting with their loved ones will be a joyous time but for others it is going to be incredibly hard, especially if they have deteriorated mentally or physically


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Teams. In some cases, families have been able to get involved with these too which has helped to keep them in the loop. In some ways, we are lucky to have so


much technology at our disposal to keep people connected. Had this pandemic happened 20-30 years ago, the past 18 months would have been so much tougher. There are apps available currently


that are able to connect loved ones with residents in care and allow them to remain informed and up to date as if they were still regularly visiting. AutumnCare’s app has helped our


customers keep their resident’s families involved in several different ways and our customers have found that being able to share information has reassured families during a time of stress and worry.


Sharing daily updates and care notes Being able to share care notes means that families can see in real time how their loved one is during the day. We know how busy care home staff have been dealing with staff shortages and managing outbreaks in their homes. Care notes must be written regardless


so being able to share them with families at the time of writing saves lots of time in daily check in phone calls and the like.


Sharing photos Where residents are not able to participate in Zoom calls, or it becomes too distressing for the resident to see their family on a screen but without understanding why they cannot visit the home, being able to share photos of them with their families has provided a real comfort to their loved ones. There have been stories in the news


where residents in care homes have become upset when they see their loved


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • August 2021


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