Abbey Grange Care & Nursing Home has been selected to take part in a project run jointly by the Alzheimer's Society and Social-Ability, looking at how to create exciting and accessible physical activities for people living with dementia. The Happiness Programme involves providing care home residents with opportunities to participate in games and interact with personalised content using interactive light technology. The portable interactive projector features a range of games and sensory experiences, specifically designed for the care industry and people living with dementia and physical impairment. The games provide meaningful activity and are research proven to achieve a wide range of resident care outcomes
The first stage will be delivery and training to get staff confident with using the Happiness Programme for the residents they support at Abbey Grange. Andrew Spiers of Social-Ability commented, “We have already been working in partnership with the Alzheimer's Society co-designing new activities and content – Abbey Grange are part our pilot group to road test these new games. The focus will be primarily on physical movement, but it may also include other outcomes such as improvements to cognitive stimulation and wellbeing.”
Wellbeing Coordinator Michael Nicholls commented “We’ve already seen the benefits of using the Happiness Programme. The residents love the games, especially the music. The are amazed at how they can interact with it, you can really see people’s reactions and lots of smiles.”
Home Manager Kerry Peach said “The Happiness Programme has bought benefits for different people in different ways, each of our residents has got something different from it. For some people it’s been the sensory aspects whereas others just love joining in with the games and the more social side it brings out in people. We focus on what people can do no matter what stage of dementia they are living with, and we’ve found this is inclusive for everyone, all our residents have benefited in some way. Even for residents who are nursed in bed, we can use it there, the machine can adapt to their physical needs.”
Care staff have found the interactive table very intuitive to use and get involved with the residents as they use it and provides great talking points. The games and content on the table is updated regularly to keep people engaged and excited about returning to use it.
For more information about life at Abbey Grange Care & Nursing Home please contact our Home Manager, Kerry Peach, at abbeygrange@countrycourtcare.com or call 01142 560046.
