Dementia care


the two-week study period. It also became easier to get people involved and with more practice the logistics of pulling each session together also became easier. To mark the end of the study, we


organised a pop-up restaurant dining experience and we invited family members of the people taking part in the study to attend. We had placenames and menus, linen table clothes and napkins and we served a three-course dinner with wine and played gentle music. The calm and social behaviour we had


seen in the study continued. It meant so much to the family members attending for whom it had been some years since they had sat with their husband or brother in such a setting. For them, it was a lovely treat and made for a lasting memory. Throughout the study, we observed


those taking part very closely, we saw some marvellous and very unexpected things. We initially ran the study hoping to prove Tony’s theory that five minutes of activity five minutes before a meal would improve their appetite. Yet what we observed was so much


more than that. We found those who were usually assisted to eat, ate independently. We saw an increase in the use of motor and socialisation skills, and that having eaten second or sometimes third helpings with several glasses of juice, the group of people involved were happy to stay at the table and continue with the activity. We even had one occasion where the


staff member running the session left the table and two people played a game between themselves quite happily. We also found that taking four people away from the dining room to eat separately, made mealtimes in the main dining room environment calmer too. Ten people were selected to take part


in the study. One was taken out by a family member who thought that she may disrupt the group and two did not take part in every session but as a group they gained ten kilogrammes in weight.


Award-winning results Our study captured the attention of several awards bodies last summer. It won ‘Best for Food and Nutrition’ at the 2020 Care Home Awards. In addition, it came second at the British Journal of Nursing Awards 2020 in the innovation category. It was also the only non-NHS project


to make the finals at the Royal College of Nursing Awards 2020 in the ‘Innovation in My Specialty’ category. Furthermore, it was a finalist at The Great British Care


Pop-up restaurant experience that concluded the study


Awards, the winners of which are to be announced in April. What we had produced was a pilot


study. It was our own evaluation study. The sample size was small and the findings though recorded by video and officially documented, could not be seen as evidential. They were a great indicator, but if we


were really to help people living with dementia, what we needed was a formal more robust study validated by a university. In September 2019, L&M Healthcare


opened a new home in Preston, and TV actor John Middleton formally marked the occasion with a personal appearance at our opening ceremony. John played the part of Vicar Ashley


Thomas in ITV soap Emmerdale, in which he died from vascular dementia. John’s portrayal of his character was very well researched and sensitively done. At the open day, I asked John about


where he had done his research and he said he had been helped by a dementia group at the University of Bradford and gave me a contact there. I told him about our study, and he thought they may be able to help. I made an appointment and showed


the lady running the group the video which then led to an opportunity for myself and other members of L&M Healthcare senior management team to present our findings to the dementia faculty who immediately saw the opportunity for a full research proposal. They have also tried to find a similar study and found there is nothing like it. We are now working with the


University of Bradford to prepare a bid for funding which, if successful, will see our evaluation study rolled out into a full research study across three of L&M


February 2021 • www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


Healthcare homes towards the end of 2022. Had it not been for that chance


remark and the willingness of one company to provide an environment enriched by the delivery of person- centred care, this might have remained unheard of. Now, once the full research study is


completed, and the evidence to support is gathered, what started as a chance remark could turn out to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people living with dementia.


TCHE


Louise Harder


Care communications consultant Louise Harder has over 30 years of experience and has worked across many industry sectors including pharmaceutical, healthcare and research, working for companies of all different shapes and sizes from large multinationals to small or medium-sized enterprises. Louise has been working closely for almost six years with L&M Healthcare, which owns and manages seven care homes across north-west England.


19


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50