This week residents across Hill House have immersed themselves in the excitement of Welsh traditions and the playfulness of world book day.
Monday morning started with a fun game of floor quotes, group games bring us together as a group in the day lounge and this in turn encourages conversation, friendships blossom while adding a touch of healthy competition.
Tinkerbelle our Pets as Therapy dog visited for a morning of cuddles and relaxation. A therapy dog promotes improvement in human physical, social, emotional and cognitive function.
We coloured Welsh flag decorations as part of our therapeutic colouring activity in our garden view lounge. The act of colouring can increase hand to eye coordination. It also improves dexterity, grip control, and focus. It is important for our residents to continue to strengthen their fine motor skills as much as possible, and colouring is a great way to do so.
That afternoon, in conjunction with our art and crafts club we welcomed Rowena in for an afternoon of piano playing this inspired others to follow the sound of music and join the lounge area.
This sparked a fantastic Welsh themed sing-a-long from Tom Jones to Shirley Bassey, daffodils were waved high in the air.
Music therapy took place in our garden view lounges. These one-to-one sessions and music therapy groups produce a calming, fun and relaxed music that can be heard throughout garden view.
Music can have many benefits in the setting of dementia. It can help reduce anxiety and depression, help maintain speech and language.
Tuesday morning, it was pure love and excitement as we welcomed our pygmy goats in the home. Being a regular event now, we are no longer shocked by their visit and relish in the joy and happiness they provide.
Big smiles and laughter all around.
Followed by a game of football and chair-based exercises.
That afternoon, we welcomed in Chef Steve for a fabulous live cooking demonstration.
Cooking and baking can help relieve stress and provide us with an enormous sense of joy and purpose. In addition, taking the time to prepare a nutritious meal in your home prioritises your health and well-being, positively impacts your memory, and boosts confidence in the kitchen.
Alongside the live cooking demonstration, our garden view lounge engaged in flower arranging club.
Wednesday morning, we took on a Welsh themed word game as part of our brain training games.
Board games and jigsaw puzzles with friends passed our Wednesday morning, with Tom Jones playing in the background we had a lovely morning.
That afternoon, we welcomed Terry in to perform a fantastic musical set, with maracas in hand everyone was up dancing and playing along to their favourite songs.
If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to, or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout. Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.
Thursday morning, both of our garden view lounges took part in a fantastic cooking club. Working together across the floors they cut, chopped, peeled and diced up winter vegetables ready to slowly simmer the evening soup.
The day lounge spent the morning gathering to arrange this week’s stunning floral arrangements as part of our weekly floristry club.
Others spent their morning visiting our in-house hair dresser. Did you know research found that a salon visit provides sensory cues linked to appearance (through scents and perfume) which could be useful for memory. What’s more, hairdressers are often ‘unofficial therapists’, providing emotional support and a close, regular relationship for people with dementia.
A fun and bright afternoon inspired by World Book Day. We were delighted to see our fabulous Batman and Snow-White wheeling their interactive library cart throughout the home, you could hear them humming along and singing the batman theme tune as they passed by.
The cart was brimming with books, snacks and refreshments for everyone to enjoy, we spent time chatting about our favourite books, books that remind us of times gone by and books we have written ourselves. Picking a book from our library trolley was very popular and we hope to roll this out once a month as a mini library.
Our 1st floor garden view lounge gathered for a small group story time read by the one and only batman, meanwhile Snow-White read stories one-to-one on the other floor.
Even Batman stopped by the hairdressers for a style and set bringing a lot of amusement to everyone as they chatted and reminisced.
Alongside all the fun and excitement of World Book Day there were a variety of engaging activities.
Friday morning, our garden view lounge, activities coordinator Bryony and 1 of our maintenance team got together and created a stunning DIY inspired rummage area in the home. They painted wooden and cork display boards, organised screws and washers into boxes and helped get things organised.
In the day lounge we spent time taking on a famous faces quiz and board games.
A lot of games tend to be low-stress and can be calming, helping lower blood pressure. In many instances, games require some coordination and hand dexterity, which can be important for aging adults.
Our PAT dog Tinkerbelle came to visit for a Pets Therapy session, she poodles around the rooms and offers a calming and relaxing time with cuddles and is happy when taken for walks.
That afternoon, we made stunning stamped cards in our garden view lounge.
Our knitter natter club spent their afternoon knitting and sewing in the day lounge. Knitting can also help to stimulate different areas of the brain and help with attention and concentration.
We had a lovely weekend filled with fabulous activities, from a tea party to Sunday church service. There were many visitors coming and going and we made the most of our four-legged visitors who joined too.
