A Choppington care home has launched a unique dining experience for its residents, in a bid to combat loneliness and encourage social interaction.
Bridge View care home, on Ashington Drive, which is operated by care home provider Akari Care, has opened a ‘Listening Post Café’.
The home has also welcomed Rita Clark as its Talk and Listen support worker. Rita has transformed one of the dining rooms into the café where residents can meet with fellow residents, their families and staff and chat and reminisce.
A recent survey by the Campaign To End Loneliness group revealed that 84% of elderly people felt lonely sometimes and 13% feel lonely all the time.
Ann Mielnik, home manager at Bridge View, said: “The Listening Post Café is a fantastic initiative developed by Rita, who has been a breath of fresh air since joining Bridge View. Our residents are really enjoying themselves and it is proving to be a very popular place for people to meet and already we are thinking of expanding the service to accommodate more residents.
“Sometimes it can be a struggle for people to come out of their shell, but our café provides a pleasant and calm environment for all, as well as creating more opportunities for our staff to get to know our residents even better. It is definitely something that could be adopted throughout the care industry to drive inclusion amongst residents in care homes.”
Rita added: “I am delighted to have joined Bridge View, which is a very welcoming home and I am enjoying meeting our residents. I could never have imagined such a positive response to the Listening Post Café this quickly, as residents are actually arranging to meet there! There’s plenty of laughs and interaction between staff and residents which is a joy to see, so hopefully we can build on this and see even more people visit the café.”
Bridge View provides accommodation, nursing and personal care for up to 61 older adults.