October has been all about mental health and wellbeing everywhere, to coincide with World Mental Health Day 2020.
With this in mind, we wanted to highlight the importance of this among our residents.
This year, more than ever, we have all learned about the importance of maintaining our own mental health as well as those of the younger generations, but what about the elderly and those living in care homes?
Our mental health and wellbeing is just as, if not more, important as our physical health and to maintain a healthy mental state we must try to get plenty of sleep, eat well, try to avoid stress and overuse of alcohol, get out into the natural light, partake in activities and exercise, socialise with others, do something you love and do things for others.
These may sound easy enough, but some members of the elderly generations may struggle with some of these tasks, due to circumstances beyond their control, resulting in a decline in their mental state.
Within each of our homes, we have an activities co-ordinator who promotes a range of possibilities for our residents, so that they can continue a personal hobby or engage in something new. Continued learning can improve memory and dexterity, increase appetite, provide greater levels of confidence, and boost mental and physical wellbeing. We offer activities called ‘meaningful activities’ which residents associate with being at home. These are activities such as hanging the washing, potting plants, and baking. We also offer more thought-provoking activities such as quizzes and writing programmes.
To ensure the wellbeing of our residents and their quality of care, we take the time to get to know each and every one of our residents, to listen and to cater to their needs and administer clinical, personal and social care, so we get to know each resident as a whole and build strong friendships, relationships and trust.
Within our care homes, communication and stimulation are key elements to the care we provide to each and every resident. Without these key components, our residents’ mental health and wellbeing would dramatically decline, which unfortunately is a real problem for the elderly who live alone. Loneliness is a silent killer within us all, but more commonly the elderly’s mental state.
There are many charities that help tackle this problem, one of those being Age UK; You may have seen their recent campaign to tackle loneliness within the elderly, where they have teamed up with Cadbury’s to ‘donate your words’, to raise awareness of this crippling impact loneliness has within the elderly’s mental wellbeing.
