Leisure and Lifestyle Activities

We make sure that our leisure and lifestyle activities are a central part of the residents lives. All of our residents, whether permanent or day care residents have access to our programme of activities. We are dedicated to building community among our residents and encouraging them to lead an activity based lifestyle. It is important to the whole team that we enrich our residents' lives and make sure they are happy in our care.

At Nicholas James Care Homes, we strive to ensure that our residents feel appreciated and are treated with respect and sensitivity at all times. We want to make sure that our residents' physical and emotional needs are met while they remain in our care. Our programme of lifestyle and leisure activities are designed to engage and enrich our residents' lives.

Part of our Manifesto is our NAPA (National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People) membership. As a member we will be working with them in a shared ethos and commitment to ensure that ‘Activity is at the heart of care for older people’. We value the uniqueness of each older person and are dedicated to delivering expertise in activity provision through delivering the best practice, training, support and raising the status of activity providers.

An important part of our activity program is to help ensure the effectiveness of activities within the home and this is achieved through the feedback we get from residents, family and friends. To attain this feedback we hold regular resident and family meetings where we discuss every aspect of the home such as; environment, care, menus and activities. All meetings are documented, suggestions and feedback are trialled and implemented where appropriately possible.

Activity Person Centred Care Plans

Each resident has their own individual activity care plan which is compiled through one to ones with the resident, observations, talking to family and friends over the first few months of moving in. From the above we compile a person centred care plan which details the residents family & life history, personal social and lifestyle preferences, likes and dislikes, risk assessments and one to one activity plans.

It is from these documents and observations that we are able to devise, enable and facilitate a person centred activity programme. The care plans are reviewed on a regular basis and updated; and then therefore so is the activity programme if and where applicable. Each residents social choices and activity participation is recorded on a daily basis; these are also kept in the activity care plan.

Our Weekly Activity Schedules

• Our Activity Schedules have a multifaceted approach and are devised to be; creatively, physically, emotionally and cognitively stimulating. Activities that feature weekly are; Arts and Crafts, Group Discussions, Quizzes, Word Games etc, Music Reminiscence, Film Reminiscence, Sing Alongs, Reminiscence Sessions and Practical Activities such as baking.
• Incorporated in the programme are group activities and one to one sessions.
• The weekly activity schedule is made available to residents, families, friends and staff. The schedule tells them what's available on each day and where it is taking place. It also details any entrainment or other outside agencies i.e. personal trainers, religious groups, hairdresser and therapies etc. that will be available during that week. We also keep families and friends in formed with regular Newsletters.
• Another initiative is Darling of the Day- every department of the home is involved in this person centred project. The activity department aims to use this day to spend one to one with that resident reminiscing about their life or participating and encouraging them in a hobby or interest.

As well as our weekly schedules we also have a centralised Calendar of themed and social events that our Care Communities celebrate with themed days, foods and activities. These includes special annual key and global dates such as Chinese New Year, St Valentine’s Day, St David, Patrick & George Days, The Olympics and Royal Occasions.

Our Care Communities love a party and we organise four main parties (Easter, Summer, Halloween & Christmas) a year which are held for residents, families, friends & staff. Our communities are also dedicated to holding fundraising days throughout the year. They usually have personal significance to our residents and we encourage them to get involved and help organise the events. The charities we have previously supported are- Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Children in Need, Help for Heroes, Macmillan Cancer Support and the Alzheimers Societies, Time for Tea.

We also hold the regular coffee morning-Dunk for Dementia’ a monthly coffee morning which is open to our residents, their families and friends, staff and our local community. The coffee morning is a relaxed opportunity for people to meet and socialise in a supported environment.

Music

Research has for years identified the importance of music within the care home setting, especially in advance dementia. Nicholas James Care Homes Ltd recognises the importance of music in our Care Communities and we continue to follow research papers in this area and implement them within the home where possible;

• As a key part of our Activities Programme. We encourage engagement with all genres of music. We have specially selected playlists which encourage music reminiscence and discussion.
• Some of our homes have access to the ‘Sing For Your Life’ project which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of older people through music.
• When possible we like to invite musical entertainment in to our homes. These include singers, musicians and local folk groups.
• We also have various music resources such as IPods, reminisce CD’s, vinyl records, musical instruments.

It’s All About The Community

Being part of and forging community links is very important to our us. Listed below are some of ways we try to incorporate and engage with our local communities such as;

• Dementia Friendly Communities and Dementia Action Alliance
• We enthusiastically encourage our residents to use services available in the community such as Tea Dances, Local Choirs, Library, WWI, Day Centres etc.
• We are very fortunate to have some wonderful volunteers who come in to our Care Communities and join in activities, share a cup of tea and chat, go out in the garden or go for walks with our lovely residents.
• We also strive to have links with various faiths within our community such as the Church of England, Catholic Church, the Baptist Church and Jehovah Witness’s
• We are very fortunate to be able to make use of the local PAT Dogs Services near our Care Communities. The joy that this service brings to our residents is really rewarding for our Care Teams to be part of.
• We also have strong links with local groups such as The Royal British Legions, WI and Local Schools