Dementia care


Hasachanceremarkledto adementiabreakthrough?


Care communications consultant Louise Harder explains how a chance remark made to care provider L&M Healthcare led to something that could ultimately make a significant difference to the lives of people living with dementia in the care home environment


L&M Healthcare has built a name for themselves by creating award-winning luxury environments for the people they care for. It is one thing to create a beautiful care home, and quite another to deliver a service that focuses on the health and wellbeing of the people living there, especially when the vast majority of those people are living with dementia and have complex care needs. Much time, thought and money is


invested into creating environments that look stunningly beautiful, but more importantly stimulate the mind and enable people to connect and engage with those caring for them. The basis to facilitate this kind of environment is the sum of three parts: the planning and design of the physical environment; the provision of the service therein; and the care and enthusiasm of the staff providing that service. At the centre of the L&M Healthcare’s


‘Quality Framework’ is delivering safe, effective, person-centred care. This goes beyond delivering a service that fulfils people’s desires and needs. It is about going to extraordinary lengths to make a


significant difference. One such example of this is when a


chance remark led to an evaluation study being conducted at L&M Healthcare’s Whittle Hall in Warrington, Cheshire. The study may have found a way to make a significant difference to the lives of people living with dementia and it might never have taken place had it not been for the care and enthusiasm of the people working within the organisation.


Pilot study is born The story begins with the arrival of two new pieces of equipment L&M Healthcare recently invested in: the Jolly Trolley, designed and built by Little Islands - a British company based in Colne in Lancashire - and the Dutch- designed Tovertafel, or Magic Table as it translates in English. The Jolley Trolley is a self-contained,


mobile interactive entertainment unit that uses technology to incorporate sensory lights and vision and brings the benefits of music, song, reminiscence and fun to everyone in a care home environment. The Tovertafel is a


projector that projects interactive light onto a fixed table to stimulate movement, and interactions. When L&M Healthcare placed an


order for several units of the Jolley Trolley, I was sent on their behalf to see them being made. The Jolley Trolley was designed by Tony Grundy, who had worked as an activity coordinator in care homes for more than 30 years. Tony made the prototype himself and


used it to entertain people being cared for in the care home where he was working at the time. Tony told me he noticed that if he used the Jolley Trolley for an activity before teatime, people seemed more interested in their meals. He did not have any evidence of this,


it was just something he had observed. I had never heard of anything like it, so I did some preliminary research to see what I could find and came up with nothing. Knowing how open L&M Healthcare managing director Jeanne Davies would be to the idea, I suggested a pilot study and the idea to test Tony’s theory was born. Anyone that has ever been involved in


a research project will know that it is a lot more involved than a layman would think. We could not make this a robust, full research study - the time, money and expertise were just not there at that precise moment. We were essentially testing whether or


not we could replicate what Tony thought he had seen, hoping that we could get some of the people we care for to eat more. However, we did our best to structure this in as formal as way as we were able. We set up a steering group led by


A mealtime immediately after the five-minute activity. People usually assisted to eat are eating independently


February 2021 • www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


Deborah Payne, home manager at Whittle Hall in Warrington. The group consisted of a speech and language therapist, a clinical lead, two healthcare assistants, two activity coordinators and myself.


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