Care assistants put on pyjamas for evening with dementia residents

Care home staff have taken a course to help them improve the lives of residents living with dementia.

The West Gate has taken part in the project, funded by the Kent County Council, to learn about what it is like to live with dementia and think about different ways of supporting residents with the condition.

Both physical and psychological benefits were witnessed by the care home manager when evening staff changed into pyjamas, and altered the way they organised mealtimes within the home.

Annelli Chatfield, manager of the care home said: “Our project concerning nutrition has been fantastic. We have introduced snack bars, single-serve tea and coffee pots with individual jugs and sugar bowls and we all sit together at mealtimes. We had one gentleman who consistently left the table at mealtimes and now he sits and enjoys his meal. As a result we have seen residents’ weights improve.

“Medication rounds are no longer at meal times – we are currently looking into a system which will help us get rid of the trolley.

“We have taken the ideas from other homes and tried them out here, such as the night staff wearing PJs. We have a gentleman who came to us from another home in the area because they were unable to look after him. He wouldn’t go to bed at night and had been sleeping in a chair in the lounge for six months. He now sleeps in his bed all night and tends to lay in most mornings!

Hockeredge Care Centre was one of many care homes to take part in the course, which received £48,000 to fund the first phase of the project. Kent County Council will soon be delivering a further £50,000 to the project to begin the second phase.

Graham Gibbens, KCC cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: “More and more people are likely to be diagnosed with dementia in the coming decades and it is essential we increase understanding of the condition. We are committed to offering quality, tailor-made support and we commissioned the Excellence in Care in Kent scheme to offer care homes the chance to learn from the best practice of others.

“The homes that have taken part have seen some amazing results so far through making relatively simple changes. We are hoping more care homes will take part in the future to make sure people with dementia in Kent have the best support they can.”

Paul Edwards, head of training and practice development, Bradford dementia group, University of Bradford said: “It is imperative that researchers, trainers and practitioners connect so that knowledge is transferred into practice to develop and improve care for people living with dementia.

“This project is timely and demonstrates that with good knowledge, collaboration and commitment, we can combine our efforts to develop care for the betterment of people with dementia and those who care for them.”

Ms Chatfeild, care home manager concluded by praising the staff for their innovative approaches to care witnessed throughout the course. She said: “I didn’t realise that we could all develop to such an extent that the entire home feels different.

“If we had to say that the Excellence in Care project gave the Hockeredge one thing it would be a feeling of calm and relaxation when you come in the home, a feeling of happiness and fun for the people that live and work here, a feeling of camaraderie and friendship and a feeling of respect and loyalty. It feels like a completely different home to the one we had a year ago.”