Dementia Care
We appreciate how difficult it can be caring at home for someone living with dementia. Our aim is to make Eastleigh Care Homes feel like home as quickly as possible.
Call our friendly team on: 01769 573166
At Eastleigh we consider it a privilege to share memories, experiences and stories we hear from our residents sometimes many years ago; often with amazing clarity like it was yesterday. To support this process, our care staff and activities teams at our Devon and Somerset care homes take time to speak with residents, family and friends to gain an individual life story for each resident. These precious memories, which usually include narration and pictures, are then immortalized to form a personal journal; which can be a supportive and vital reference tool for reminiscence therapy. We also utilise gentle prompts to assist short term memory loss and help with re-making connections.
We seek to involve immediate family, relatives and friends, when deciding on the best care for each individual, as we consider that this assists us to achieve a more detailed understanding of the care we need to provide. Our team also offers support and understanding for everyone trying to understand the effects that dementia can have on someone they are close to. Both our Devon and Somerset care homes offer specialised dementia support, providing residents and love ones the highest level of care.
Eastleigh Care Homes provides a safe and relaxing environment, stimulating the residents’ enjoyment and offering a comfortable lifestyle with professional and sensitive carers who are trained to cope with the unpredictable nature of the illness. Our dementia care encourages individuals to retain their identity, and continue to enjoy their same lifestyle as much as possible.
The most important aspect of dementia care comes from our carers and staff working with the residents by maintaining absolute respect for each person and their value as an individual. Personal and sensitive communication and interaction is paramount in ensuring that a person who has dementia retains their self-worth, pride and dignity. Simply by listening and being able to share time with a resident who has dementia supports the development of relationships that allows us to help them to enjoy their lives in the safe environment of our specialist dementia care home.
Phased Lighting
The specialist lighting system in the home allows a gradual mood lighting of the home to enhance residents’ appreciation of the passing of day and support their circadian rhythm.
The phased lighting is evident in the corridors and social areas with our avant-garde subtle lighting available in each bedroom. This system has been subject to a University study and been significantly noted as supporting residents and providing noteworthy reductions in resultant behaviours to daily activities. The lighting system removes evidence of shadowing / mirror images and reduces any evident glare; thus supporting residents by reducing dark places / shadowing which may invoke fear or anxiety.
The system is currently undergoing further scrutiny regarding possible benefits it may offer those with complex medical conditions. However, it has already received accolade for the enhancement that it can provide those suffering with dementia and other cognitive conditions. We are proud to be the inaugural site for this pioneering lighting system in the UK.
Furniture
Our furniture has been designed specifically by Accora (interior and specialist designers of the home) in liaison with Sterling University and made in Italy. The fixtures benefit from thickened wood and are intended to meet the requirements of residents with dementia and related medical conditions. Benefitting from darkened edges to allow residents to appreciate the periphery of the units and incorporating Perspex fronts to support visual familiarisation the furniture assumes an image of a high class hotel. The units allow for a hideaway area for staff to place secured belongings to retain the choice for the resident to view their personal possessions on a regular basis without risk. This also assists with recognition and reminiscence and the requirement to rummage is a recognised and frequent characteristic of those suffering with dementia.
Our wardrobes have a feature slide out mirror; as it is common for those with dementia to find viewing their own image disturbing. Memory boxes are outside of each room and will be filled with personal belongings of the resident to assist with recognition of where their bedroom is; visual recognition and personalisation can support confused residents to be more spatially aware.
Our beds are also state of the art and do not follow the usual visual associations linked with nursing furniture. Yet their function is able to support those who have to remain in bed by allowing them to mimic seating and elevated positions. The easily electronically adjustable bed will also provide detailed pressure relief in liaison with the specialist mattresses; by enabling an adjustment of the bed configuration.
