Kenwith Castle strengthens dementia care offering with new Namaste room
The community turned out to celebrate the expansion of their dementia care service at Kenwith Castle care home.
The team at the home in Abbotsham, which is run by not-for-profit charity, Care South, cut the ribbon on a new room which will be used for delivering one of the charity’s many dementia care initiatives. The room was unveiled by the team last month (MAY) as part of the home’s plans for Alzheimer’s Society’s national awareness campaign, Dementia Action Week, which takes place annually in May.
After completing their training, the Kenwith Castle team have now introduced Namaste care sessions. Namaste is a holistic, person-centered approach to caring for people living with advanced dementia. Namaste sessions take place in a calm, relaxed environment in the care homes with low lighting and sensory activities including music, movement and aromatherapy, day or night, depending on the individual resident’s needs in the present moment.
Karen Hodges, Group Dementia Lead at Care South, also hosted a drop-in information session at the home for relatives of residents and visitors to find out more about Namaste.
Inside the Namaste room, there are different coloured therapeutic lights, a projector, fiddle mats, a busy board, dolls and a whole range of other items for residents to interact with during a session. Namaste is open to all residents living with dementia but is specially aimed at those who may not normally engage in group or 1-to-1 activities.
Jo Passmore, Home Manager at Kenwith Castle, said: “We are so pleased to open our new Namaste room which reflects our ongoing commitment to expand the care we can provide to our residents living with dementia. Our Namaste initiative gives our team another way to connect with residents who may not engage through traditional activities. At Kenwith Castle, we are keen to enable our residents to flourish in our care and we believe initiatives like Namaste care make a real difference in enhancing wellbeing and quality of life every day.”
All Care South homes also focus on another initiative, Dining for Dementia, which involves every member of the care, catering and activities teams at each home coming together to ensure that every resident has a positive experience when eating and drinking.
Care South has dementia champions across all of its homes and staff from each home also undertake a unique training experience known as the Virtual Dementia Tour, which is the only scientifically and medically proven method of giving a person with a healthy brain the experience of what it is like to live with dementia.
Care South recently received the Hennell Award for Innovation and Excellence in Dementia Care from the University of Worcester’s Association for Dementia Studies, recognising its in-house Dementia Care Coach training programme led by Karen. Staff across all homes and care at home offices have completed the training, with Dementia Care Coaches supporting colleagues, residents and clients to enhance dementia care and wellbeing.
