Member Article

Home continues outstanding care programme

A local Hull care home has trialled a new and creative way of combating the symptoms of dementia for its residents.

Activity coordinators at Raleigh Court, Hull, have designed a special ‘wedding wall’ made up of themed decorations, including a vintage wedding dress, and photographs from resident’s weddings. The display is said to help long term memory and provide a positive talking point for residents, staff and guests.

The home, which is ran by Hull based Hica Group, recently received ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ results from inspection body the Care Quality Commission (CQC), thanks to its strong activity programme which has had positive impact on residents.

The wedding wall has proven such a success that other homes within the group are expected to also take part.

Wendy Williamson, activity coordinator at Raleigh Court said: “The wedding wall has been a fantastic success and something which we have seen really benefit the residents. Some of our residents have quite advanced dementia and seeing photographs of themselves triggers their long term memory and comforts them. It’s a fantastic talking point and it encourages the residents to communicate and tell us stories too, which are always fascinating to hear.

“Displaying photographs of residents on the walls provides a personal touch and also ensures that they all feel at home, which is especially important to us.

“I truly feel I have the best job in the world as I get to make a positive impact to the lives of our residents through the activities we put in place at Raleigh Court. My parents both had dementia and caring for them inspired me to help more people.”

In a recent official report for Raleigh Court, Cambridge Street, Hull, CQC inspectors acknowledged the outstanding level of service responsiveness to residents.

CQC praised staff at the 56-bed home for the “range of flexible and creative activities both in-house and with the community to provide meaningful occupation, to stimulate interest and help people feel part of the local community.” Inspectors recognised this resulted in a “positive impact on their wellbeing.”

Penni Brown, chief executive of Hica Group said: “Our care home staff have gone over and above, implementing activities and exercises with real enthusiasm. Their approach has made a real difference to people’s lives and supported our companywide Shine initiative.” said Penni.

The Hica Group is a not for profit organisation, which operates a portfolio of 20 residential care homes, five of which are for people with a learning disability, along with two retirement villages. The company also runs a home care service providing approximately 11,500 hours of support and care from four regional offices in the North of England.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Hica Group .