Care homes asked to do more to engage residents

A social care champion is calling for a number of care home providers in South Tyneside to do more to engage and entertain their residents.

Healthwatch South Tyneside conducted ‘Enter and View’ visits to all 26 care homes in the borough between August last year and this April to assess the range of meaningful activities being provided.

Trained authorised representatives spoke to more than 100 residents, relatives, managers, staff and activities co-ordinators, asking about the resources available and how residents engaged with the activities on offer.

They also asked if residents were asked and included in the development of activities programmes and if their individual interests were being met.

The resulting report by Healthwatch was unveiled at an event held last week at Trinity House in South Shields attended by care home representatives and social care commissioners, with guest speaker Ray Spencer MBE.

It revealed a wide range in the financial resources available at each home. Most had a budget to cover costs of materials, outside activities, trips or professional entertainers of around £50 per month, while some had up to £250 per month and others were expected to find money for activities through fundraising.

Staff resources ranged from homes with two activities co-ordinators to one relying on relatives and carers to help out while they tried to employ a new member of staff. However, having a dedicated co-ordinator did not guarantee stimulating activities, the report found, as some simply repeated the same programmes daily.

Examples of best practice identified in the report include:
• A resident who said she didn’t have time to chat as she had chores to do. Staff told us she had been a cleaner all her working life and since they said she could help with general cleaning she was a different person.

• How excited the residents and staff could get playing ‘Play Your Cards Right’ with one resident having her hair done at the same time so she didn’t “miss anything”.

Healthwatch South Tyneside Chair Sue Taylor said: “Overall we found evidence during the visits that most care homes were delivering a varied programme of activities with evidence of creativity, passion, innovation and enthusiasm.

“We were, however, disappointed that the quality of provision does appear to vary. Healthwatch South Tyneside believes it should be a fundamental right for all residents to have access to quality meaningful activities, with the opportunity for social inclusion in any of the residential care and nursing homes in the borough.”

There is substantial academic evidence of the importance of meaningful activities. Residents living in residential care and nursing homes are often coming to terms with leaving their own home and finding they are unable to do things they used to. They can very quickly become inactive and bored, impacting on their health and mental wellbeing.

The National Institute for Care and Excellence recommends physical, social and leisure activities that are tailored to a person’s needs and preferences. Leisure activities can include reading, gardening, arts and crafts, conversation, and singing. NICE says they should take place in an environment that is appropriate to the person’s needs and preferences, which may include using outdoor spaces.

Reports were prepared after each Healthwatch visit and shared with the care home provider. Healthwatch will now work with South Tyneside Council and care homes to share best practice in a bid to ensure high quality activities are provided for residents at all homes.

The full report, called ‘It’s my home’, and our online feedback centre can be found at healthwatchsouthtyneside.co.uk