Care England is collaborating with My Home Life England to bring you a series of 6 articles spotlighting real, powerful stories of how living in a care home is transforming older people’s lives. Stemming from My Home Life England’s large-scale qualitative research ‘Thriving in Residential Care’, the articles will shine a light on outstanding practice within care and the many ways that older people are flourishing in a care home environment.
What’s it like to live in a care home as an older person? At My Home Life England, we found out. We travelled to a range of care homes across the UK and spoke to 125 individuals – older people, families, and care team members – all with extraordinary stories to tell. Our research revealed an overwhelming number of benefits to life in a care home, clustered around 6 key themes: Thrive Relationally, Thrive Actively, Thrive Inclusively, Thrive Securely, Thrive with Dignity, and Thrive Healthily. Over the next 6 weeks we’ll be spotlighting real stories of how care homes are transforming lives. We start with ‘Thrive Relationally’ and how care homes provide important opportunities for socialising, building friendships, and restoring or enhancing existing family relationships.
“Care homes can be that lifeline for isolation”, said care home manager Audrey, echoed by 74-year-old Brian who, when asked what the benefit of living in a care home was, replied, “Well, being here by having company. The one thing I like is company.” Many older people shared how they had previously felt isolated when living on their own, but had now formed friendships with others living in the care home, as well as relationships with their care team. These meaningful connections were vital for overall wellbeing, especially for those who were previously very lonely. 64-year-old Kathy described her friendship with the lady in the next door room, saying “we pop in and talk to one another at night or in the day. And we help one another out, she comes and calls for me for lunch”. 92-year-old-Tom enjoyed saying “Good morning, good morning, good morning” to different people, had “a feeling of that you are part of a community”, and had struck up a mutually affectionate companionship with his neighbour May.
Brian himself had initially struggled to settle into his care home, but thanks to a close friendship he had formed with “my little darling” Olivia-Rose, aged 90, who he called “mum”, this had helped him to feel at ease. He had also developed a great affection for his carers, sharing “I love all of them. I have a song for each one of the carers.” 93-year-old Rosemary was likewise very appreciative of her care team, saying “in a way, I think they are more like friends”. She shared that she gave every staff member a Christmas gift “as a big thank you for all your care and kindness and all you do for me each and every day”.
We found that moving to residential care had also helped restore family relationships that were previously under strain. The emotional stress of caring for her mother had become overwhelming for Christine and impacted on their relationship, but once her mother moved to a care home, Christine said, “I could become her daughter again, and we could have a laugh, and it was nice”.
Like Christine, the family members we spoke to generally felt reassured, welcomed by care teams into the care home “family”, and able to stay actively involved in their relative’s life. Christine agreed “it’s like an extended family here” and affirmed “they not only care for my mum, and they care for my mum very well, but we’re included in that. It’s given me my mum back for how long or short time I’ve got with her”.
We found that one of the most significant challenges for older people was adjusting to life in a new communal home, particularly if the decision to move was taken out of their hands. Manager Louise recognised the daunting prospect of “a lot of new people to get used to… other people that may have dementia, may not have dementia, may have different personalities…. a lot of staff as well”. For Rosemary, the struggle to learn new faces was aided by a “very helpful” leaflet she was given that had a picture of every staff member. In another home, manager James created a ‘My Life Story’ document for each individual, recognising their “incredibly enriched” lives. This supported care teams in getting to know the person, to facilitate conversations with family members, and for the older person to be able to show and talk about the things that mattered to them.
Feeling disturbed by those displaying behaviours related to distress in dementia could also be a barrier to building friendships, as well as a perceived lack of shared interests. Loneliness can be a continuing challenge even when an older person has moved into a care home, however we saw great efforts from care team members to provide reassurance, facilitate connections and help new people adjust, including schemes such as the ambassador’s role to help build friendships.
We saw this play out through Kash, who lived in care home that specifically caters to members of the Asian community. Kash welcomed a new gentleman by sitting with him in the lobby and chatting in Gujrati about life in the home. Kash said: “Whenever someone person come new over here, they introduce with me. And if possible, they put me on the same table. So that person get used to it. And they don’t feel they are on their own.”
The opportunity to be in a social environment, part of a wider community or ‘family’, and to build meaningful friendships with others was, whilst initially potentially daunting, hugely important to older people’s overall wellbeing. These new connections, as well as restored family relationships were supporting people to ‘Thrive Relationally’ in residential care.
Next week we’ll be sharing how meaningful activity in care homes is supporting physical, mental and social wellbeing. At the end of the series we are holding a webinar exploring how all these ‘Thriving’ themes can be embedded into care services. Sign up here.
To read the full report, please click here.
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