Mental Health Awareness Week was marked at White Gables residential memory and nursing memory care home, in Lincoln, this week.
The home’s Wellbeing Coordinators tried to gear activities towards promoting mental health. One example of this is with Resident Bruce, who has Parkinsons Disease and lives at the home with his dog, Holly. Unfortunately, Bruce has been unable to walk her independently for years and Colleagues often take her for walks with fellow Resident Brian and his dog, Tiny, who also live in the home. This week Colleagues took Bruce out with them too so that he could hold her lead and walk her himself. This made him feel more independent and he loved seeing Holly walk and interact with the other dogs.
Other things that Colleagues have been doing include jigsaws which allows the Resident to feel a sense of accomplishment when they see the finished result. There have also been games that make everyone laugh, such as Ping-pong and Connect Four, (which is always hilarious with balls bouncing all over the room).
Residents have also made birdfeeders and painted bug boxes and bird houses so that the Residents feel a sense of connection with the outdoors.
Katherine Trevor and Kate Mand, both the home’s wellbeing team, commented, “All these activities aim to promote good mental health by stimulating the senses and feel important as part of the community within and outside the home.”