Home Instead teams up with Sanctuary, to raise Dementia awareness in their residential homes

We work hard to improve the environment for those in need and our free Community Talks are one tool that we use to do this.

Raising awareness in our communities and sharing best practice with our fellow care sector service providers, is really important to us.

We work hard to improve the environment for those in need and our free Community Talks are one tool that we use to do this.

In our experience, we find that ‘care’ is something of a journey for those that need it, and for their families too. For this reason, we feel that it is really important for us to communicate openly with our care sector counterparts, as each of us play a part in the care journey of an individual, with paths inevitably overlapping at times. We often continue to provide support to clients as they move from their own homes on to residential care, if that becomes the best environment for them, so teamwork and open communication is essential.

Recently, our Owner/MD Mark McGlade was able to offer a tailor-made Dementia Awareness workshop to the nursing staff at Fernihurst Nursing Home, in Exmouth, by kind invitation of the team at Sanctuary Care.

Fernihurst is a beautiful, purpose-built nursing home, managed by the lovely Hollie Prowse. Set in a quiet residential area, with wonderful views across Lyme Bay, the home is fresh and inviting and there is a homely atmosphere. First impressions are that there is a ‘family feel’ to Fernihurst, no doubt created by the warm and friendly team that greet visitors and care for residents.

Social interaction is encouraged at Fernihurst, with a calendar of events lead by Emily, the dedicated Activities Coordinator – a participant within our workshop – and kind communication is encouraged between staff and residents, many of whom are living with advanced Dementia.

In the setting of their tranquil garden area, Mark was able to share expertise and techniques with regard to Dementia, that could really benefit the team and residents. Through his work as Chair of the East Devon Coastal Downs Dementia Action Alliance, eleven years of leading Home Instead Exeter & East Devon (the only ‘outstanding in all areas’ home care provider in the south west) and with reliable research findings by the dedicated Home Instead research facility in the United States at hand, Mark was able to present some new techniques to the Fernihurst team.

Dementia challenges the person living with the condition and those caring for them, so being able to look at them as an individual – the heart of the person-centred care approach that Home Instead follows – is key to finding a successful outcome. Mark revealed techniques that put this theory into reality and was able to share examples of case studies where these strategies had produced really successful, and heart-warming, outcomes for the team at Home Instead.

Thanks go to the wonderful team at Fernihurst, for taking time out of their extremely busy schedules to participate in this Dementia Awareness workshop. Their good humour, open minds, kindness and willingness to take on board new ideas and approaches, was clear to see and was greatly appreciated. We look forward to returning to share more ideas on the other topics that matter to our mutual, valued clients and residents throughout the year ahead.

If you would appreciate a free Community Talk for your own organisation, group or business, please don’t hesitate.

Mark has most recently provided workshops for the dental care team at the RD&E, for LED Leisure, and also tailor-made sessions for businesses, such as Jurassic Fibre and sessions for charitable organisations such as Sidmouth Voluntary Services. Contact our Marketing Team on 01395 200600 to find out about the range of topics on offer, from scam awareness, avoiding hospitalisation, choosing the right care, Parkinson’s Disease, and more – we would welcome your enquiry.

For further information regarding our officially ‘Outstanding in all areas’ home care services, please contact our team on 01395 200600, take a look around our website or find us on Facebook and discover why are different.

Our team is growing too, so if you would like to know more about our Current Vacancies, get in touch!

Call our Recruitment Coordinators on 01395 200600 or look out for news of our regular ‘Curious About Care’ open door events, via our Facebook page. We are able to welcome applications from experienced Care Professionals and those new to the care sector, as all will benefit from our award-winning and fully-funded training.