What is new at Devonshire Dementia Care Home?
The summer has been filled with lots of special moments. Here are just a few...
Magical moments
Each day our staff try to create magical moments for our Residents by providing many interventions and activities to enhance their well-being. We try to make each day count for every Resident. We also try to capture some of the special joyful moments where Residents show their excitement and happiness.
One of last month's special moments was Dot, encouraged by staff members, playing darts with Jane. Initially, Dot was adamant she couldn’t play and was convinced Jane, who is taller, had an unfair advantage.
Dot really got into her game and was completely engaged, laughing and smiling and showing glimpses of her competitive nature. Dot even commented that all the men she knew liked darts and usually ended up having too much to drink!
She also showed her mathematical skills by keeping score.
Another special moment was when Patricia was doing a word search and spontaneously started singing (image above). “The rain in Spain...”. This gave us the idea to bring in the movie “My Fair Lady”.
Residents Ruth and Audrey both enjoyed the seaside theme Activity Coordinator Vanessa had organised, including the Rock. Both said they loved rock and remember eating it as children. Both Audrey and Ruth called themselves Blackpool girls and ”Blackpuddlians”. Ruth examined the rock and commented that she could see the Lake District from the top of Blackpool tower. She remembered enjoying going to Blackpool on holiday and that there was a big beach and lots to do there. She said she would never go on the Big Dipper ride again as it had frightened the life out of her. Muriel and Maggie B were shocked to hear the price of renting a beach hut.
AFTERNOON TEA
Our twice-weekly afternoon tea sessions are going down a treat with most of the Residents. Patricia, Muriel, Valerie, Maggie M, Maggie B, Margaret G and Meryl have all expressed great joy and happiness at seeing all the beautiful china cups and saucers and the lovely cake stand with lots of different sandwiches, scones and fancy cakes. Residents Maggie B and Valerie commented on how perfect it all looked and how yummy the cakes were. Margaret G said while admiring all the lovely cakes, “They look too good to eat.”
SUMMER BBQ
The rain was kept at bay for part of the day of our annual summer BBQ, with the heavens only opening by late afternoon. Ricki entertained us all with his olde-time songs. Residents and staff all joined in with the singing and dancing. There was a fantastic plus five moment with Resident Kay singing an Irish song called, ”When Irish eyes are smiling”. Kay was animated, engaged and very mesmerizing, bringing some of our staff to tears. All our Residents and their families enjoyed the delicious food cooked by our chefs Rafael and Luca. There were sausages, burgers, lamb chops and chicken served with potato salad and coleslaw, followed by fresh strawberries and cream; and of course a lovely glass of wine or two.
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