Ten Happy Days Tips for Residential & Dementia Care Homes

Designers spend years researching safe environments, product durability, usage and more. As MD of Happy Days Dementia Workshop & Nostalgic Design, I have visited hundreds of residential homes over the past few years and have found many simple and cost effective solutions which can be carried out during everyday care provision to rejuvenate residential and dementia care home environments, uplift mood and help carers enrich social care for well-being.

Take a look around your care home. Are social areas working well? Are they interesting and cheerful? Can you see cluttered corners or exhausting notice boards? Is way finding clear?

Try out my Ten Happy Days Care Home Tips:

1. Entrance Porch and Area: Keep notices simple. Display emergency and important information together. Update information regularly. Display activities on a separate board to attract resident and visitor curiosity.

2. Use names to help way finding. Add extra meaning by using colour: Bluebell Avenue or ‘image’ within the name: Coronation Street / School Lane. Name your rooms: Garden Lounge - Reminiscence & Activity Room - Craft Corner.themed memory boxes by happy days dementia workshop header image copy

3. Remove shabby or jaded flower displays. Clear tattered books from bookshelves. Clear out your CD collection - Sort into music styles. Brighten up awkward corners with sixties wallpaper; sewing theme or a Happy Days Activity Board.

4. Wall Art - Are pictures too high, faded or too small for residents to see? If so, remove faded images / re-locate pleasing pictures to a lower position.

Nostalgic images and murals can help carers engage with residents. Choose meaningful content and relate to the location: Sun Lounge - Hair Salon - Dining & Reminiscence Areas. Avoid blank colours, spots or stripes which don’t prompt memories. Images of food can help direct residents towards dining areas. See Happy Days nostalgic wall art: www.dementiaworkshop.co.uk

5. Add garden ornaments; squirrels, rabbits, hens and/or a bird table to outdoor areas by windows. Many people take great enjoyment from watching or feeding the birds. Face chairs towards the view - See the smiles.

6. Fresh flowers to please the eye and prompt conversations. Flowers can be simple and don’t need to be expensive. Have you got any daffodils or summer flowers in the garden?happy days community sweet shop info dementia workshop

7. Repair damaged games and jigsaw boxes. Clean and sharpen colouring pencils. Re-organise activity storage cupboards - You never know what you might at the back of the shelf. Ask residents to help and turn this task into a monthly activity.

8. Often, relatives and friends are at loss of things to say or do when visiting their loved one. Let visitors know you have a range of nostalgic games, jigsaws and memory boxes to share with residents.

9. Balance noise levels. I’ve often noticed a radio and a television switched on in the same room, causing sound confusion. Let residents know when you are going to use loud appliances. Don’t call out to colleagues when vacuuming - unless it’s for safety purposes.

10. If care teams are happy, everyone will feel happy. If you think and feel well, this will reflect onto the person or people you are caring for. Carers: Don’t forget you. Make sure you enjoy some ‘Me Time’.

Happy Days Publishing 2017©
Shop online at www.dementiaworkshop.co.uk

By Gillian Hesketh MA
MD Happy Days Dementia Workshop & Nostalgic Design