This is specialised care for residents living with dementia. Dementia covers a range of symptoms, which can include confusion and problems with memory and communication. It is not a disease in itself, rather a set of symptoms accompanying conditions that affect the brain, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia is progressive which means that symptoms will gradually get worse and this will affect each person in a different way. While all our care homes can accommodate residents with early dementia, Holly Lodge is our specialist dementia care home in Surrey. Holly Lodge won the 2019 Caring UK Award for Excellence and Innovation in Dementia Care. Alongside their holistic care strategies, they use contemporary design, innovative technology, multi-sensory activities and digital imagery wallpaper to support resident’s psychological care.

Rowan Lodge in our dementia care home in Hampshire which offers care for dementia residents.

Contemporary Design

Digital imagery wallpaper is an innovative approach to care home décor that helps create a more relaxing environment. Vivid colours are used to create familiar destinations, such as a post office, garden shed or café, which stimulate reminiscence therapy for people living with dementia.

Tailored Activities

Activities organised by the team are designed to be multi-sensory, accommodating different conditions of dementia, e.g. textured balls are used during exercises, a variety of smells are incorporated into baking and themed props are incorporated into music sessions. Activities that are multi-sensory are proven to help those living with dementia by increasing concentration and communication, helping cognitive symptoms and social interactions while stimulating reminiscent therapy. Forest Care achieves this in a number of ways, some of which are cooking workshops, ‘Guess the scent’ games, culture days, along with arts and crafts and Music Therapy.

Innovations

Finally, the care homes utilise new technological innovations to improve the care they provide. For example, the homes now have Interactive activity tables, providing engaging activities for residents who are less mobile. These large screens can be used to explore home towns via Google Maps, play games on a larger scale and also offer visually stimulating tactile games.