Children visit residents as care homes fight dementia stigma

A ‘Family Day’ held by Hartford Care Group Ltd proved popular with residents, staff and visitors, as the company looks to provide more opportunities for older people in care to interact with younger people.

The day was organised in response to the recent Alzheimer’s Society initiative, calling for the creation of a ‘dementia-friendly generation’, and consisted of family themed events held at the provider’s 10 homes, to which staff and family carers were invited to bring their children along.

Chief executive, Sean Gavin, commented: “We are delighted with the response to Hartford Care’s first Family Day! Of course, it's open house in all of our homes everyday but today we made a special effort to encourage children to visit our homes and most importantly have fun with our residents. As you can see from all the fabulous photos we certainly did have fun and we hope that today we have played a small part in ‘creating a dementia-friendly generation’.”

Some examples of activities that were organised for the events include: a Disney-themed fun day at Tegfield House in Winchester, which included a bouncy castle and a surprise visit from characters Mickey, Minnie and Donald; an old-fashioned tea dance at Woodlands House; an interactive musical workshop at Hartwood House, held by Tempo Wellbeing; and a live magic show at The Laurels & Pine Lodge.

Chloe, aged 8, was among those to attend, saying ““I’m surprised, it’s not what I thought a care home would be like, it’s just like visiting someone in their house.”

Thanks to its success, the Family Day will now become a regular event on the Hartford Care activities calendar.

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