Virtual visits and waving through windows have become the norm in care homes

Virtual visits and waving through windows have become the norm in care homes across the UK, due to families being unable to physically see their relatives during the pandemic.

The pandemic has forced care homes into lockdown in order to protect their residents, but this has caused distress for both the people receiving care and their families as they have been unable to see each other. For people with dementia, it can be especially hard as they may not understand why their family aren't visiting.

But a recent survey of 2,867 care home owners, managers and staff conducted by carehome.co.uk found care homes are doing their utmost to ensure residents and families stay in touch by harnessing technology such as FaceTime, Skype and WhatsApp so they can communicate virtually.

Families are also waving through the window at their relatives and sending letters and postcards.

One care home is helping families keeping in touch with residents by creating a weekly newspaper.

Family members are regularly speaking to the residents where they 'normally wouldn't see them for weeks’

In the survey, one care home revealed: ‘We have a family coming to see their mum through the window so she can see they are safe.’ Another said 'we are using Skype and the residents are bemused but they are loving it'.

Some care homes are taking daily photos and loading them up to Facebook while others are allowing families to come up to the closed windows and speak to their relatives via their own mobile phone.

Primrose Croft Care Home in Cambridge has found Skype an excellent way for the residents to keep in touch with their families and a great way to keep morale up.

Rachel Pardoe, manager of Primrose Croft told carehome.co.uk: “Technology is helping residents in the home during lockdown. With no one coming in, it is working wonders for all who are receiving receive calls from family.

“What we are finding is, we are getting so many calls a day for our residents and they are loving it. People are using their five minutes at work on a regular basis to speak to their family member whilst normally we wouldn’t see them for weeks at a time.”

Ms Pardoe said the residents are getting used to using the technology. “At first they were saying to staff ‘what’s this on the screen and what does this do?’ Now they understand what is happening when their family contacts them.”

Once lockdown is finished and families can once again visit their loved ones, Primrose Croft Care home have said they will continue to use Skype as a way to talk to the families.

Activities coordinator Richard Dempslake from Camelot House and Lodge uses Skype and FaceTime video calls every day. The home has a rota but find they get last minute requests.

Mr Dempslake said: “Residents love seeing their loved ones, so it really helps them during this isolation."

Technology used every day at the home and residents like apps such as YouTube. Mr Dempslake said: “The residents select their favourite songs or we watch documentaries and anything that suits the residents' interests such as seeing locations where they have lived or where they went on holiday.”

It’s ’involving people who can’t or don’t want to leave their room’

Residents at Hastings Court have gone one step further to keep in touch with their loved ones by creating their own weekly newspaper, to keep in touch with their loved ones.

The newspaper keeps relatives' morale up as well as being more creative and encourages interaction during lockdown.

Care home manager Georgina Gamble said: “The paper’s been up and running for four weeks and already we’re seeing such a change in our residents.”

“People don’t move into residential care because they’ve come to the end of their useful life. This newspaper, shows how engaged people want to be and the benefits it brings them.

“It’s helping them to get to know each other, which is particularly useful when new people move in, and involving people who can’t or don’t want to leave their room.”

Residents are allocated different sections of the newspaper. One resident is the sports reporter and covers the in-house table football tournaments between residents. The paper also has an entertainment correspondent, a beauty writer, an art critic and cartoonist.

click here for more details or to contact Hastings Court