Tall Oaks Care Home

The team at Tall Oaks Care Home in Stoke on Trent opened the doors to professionals last week as they invited them to complete the Dementia Experience.

As part of the training for the programme, everyone in the home has the opportunity to partake in the dementia experience which enables them to walk in the shoes of people who live with dementia.

“We wanted to share this experience with the local authority professionals in our area, so they had a greater understanding when it came to placing people in our care,” explains Home Manager Hannah Barrington-Parry Cahalane.

The Dementia Experience is in essence, completing routine daily tasks like pairing socks, putting CDs in cases, buttoning a shirt etc, with the limitations those living with dementia have to endure. Participants were gloves on their hands, have goggles that have stickers on to obscure vision and white noise played in their ears as a distraction.

Hannah Barrington-Parry Cahalane added: “The professionals got stuck in with the experience, and were shocked with the way it made them feel. They said it’s definitely given them a greater sense of empathy with the people they come into contact with on a regular basis.”

Kathryn Bentham, Locality and Social Action Officer Staffordshire Moorlands, said: “The training was brilliant. A real eye opener. I want to thank Hannah and her team for facilitating it for us.”

Are you looking for a care home in Stoke on Trent? Tall Oaks Care Home offers support for all types of care including residential care, dementia care, nursing care, respite care and end of life/palliative care.

The 27th Annual Alzheimer Europe Conference “Care today, cure tomorrow” took place on 2^nd October 2017 till the 4^th October 2017 in Berlin, Germany. It’s the largest dementia conference in Europe, which welcomed close to 750 participants from 42 countries.

Dr Claire Royston, Colin Sheeran, Joanne Strain and Dr Gary Mitchell represented Four Seasons Health Care at this event and presented five papers on a number of aspects of our Dementia Care Framework.

Dr Claire Royston presented European conference delegates with an overview on the Dementia Care Framework programme and how it has helped optimise care to people living with dementia in care homes. Her presentation was supplemented with impactful data from our 100 accredited care homes across the UK.

Other aspects of the Framework were also presented at the conference with reference to our work on antipsychotic medication reductions and reviews, the dementia experience programme, palliative and end-of-life care in dementia and reduction of restraint.

Following on from sharing our work at an international stage, our Dementia Care Framework will next be presented at the UK Dementia Congress in Doncaster next month – the UK’s largest dementia conference.

We also have some exciting news regarding the Dementia Care Framework. An article on the positive impact of the Framework has been accepted for publication in an international dementia journal, meaning that people all over the world will be able to learn about our innovative approach to improving quality of life for people living with dementia.

To find out more about the Dementia Care Framework visit our Dementia Care section.

Following on from the success of last year’s Four Season’s Care Awards, which saw 1,200 nominations and over 80 colleagues, residents and volunteers receiving accolades both at a regional and national level.

This year’s awards are now open!

You can nominate people for the following categories:

• Care Assistant/Support Worker of the Year
• Senior Care Assistant of the Year
• Care Home Assistant Practitioner/Senior Nursing Care Assistant (CHAP/SNCA) of the Year
• Registered Nurse of the Year
• Dementia Care Champion
• Specialist Services Champion
• Personal Activities Lead Champion
• Support Team Member of the Year
• Regional and Central Support Team Member of the Year
• Deputy Home Manager of the Year
• Registered Care Home Manager of the Year
• Regional Manager of the Year
• Resident or Relative Contribution
• Volunteer of the Year
• Our Values Champion

For more information about the categories visit our Care Awards page here. You can nominate colleagues, residents or volunteers from your home here. The deadline for nominations is 5pm on 30th September 2017.

Who will be your 2017 champions?