Picnic Week 2018

We are celebrating Picnic Week!

In the warmer months our residents enjoy taking part in picnic lunches in the gardens. Our homes have various spots with benches and tables to provide the perfect picnic spot. And on occasion residents may enjoy a picnic on a trip out to the seaside.
Putting together a picnic is great fun and something we all love to do when the sun is shining. It is also a great opportunity for our residents to join in social interactions in what may have been considered a family and friends summer tradition.

Top tips for a picnic:

Be prepared: Fill up your picnic hamper with all the essentials and the extras. Don’t forget the cheese and crackers for light nibbles and plenty of plates!

Let’s entertain: As well as lots of lovely food and drinks to choose from, packing some books, games and perhaps a music player would be great for those looking to relax.

Cover up: As the perfect picnic weather appears, it is important not to forget to apply sun protectors, such as creams or sprays and be prepared for insect bites or high pollen counts. Pack items which may provide shade and covers for food.

Keep it clean: Enjoy a great picnic and always leave the area as you found it!

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Diabetes Week 2018

Amongst our staff and residents we have a number of individuals living with diabetes.  These include those that are newly diagnosed as well as some who have lived with the condition for years.  This year’s focus of Diabetes Week is sharing top tips and encouraging more conversation regarding diabetes.

Diabetes UK website states that someone is diagnosed with diabetes every two minutes.  With that in mind we thought we would share some information from their website which we found useful.

Knowing the facts, rather than relying on out of date or incorrect information.

Myth 1: People with diabetes cannot have sugar.  Having diabetes does not mean you have to have a sugar-free diet. However those with diabetes should follow a healthy balanced diet that is low in salt and sugar.

Myth 2: People with diabetes should eat ‘diabetic foods’.  Diabetic UK does not recommend individuals eat ‘diabetic’ foods, because they still affect your blood glucose levels and for some can give you diarrhoea.

We also believe their link to the “Evidence-based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of Diabetes for adults” is a useful resource.  The guidelines was to draw to together and formulate recommendations from all available evidence highlighting the importance of foods, rather than focusing on individual nutrients, wherever possible.

The guidelines recommend

• An individualised approach to diet taking into consideration the person’s personal and cultural preferences
• People eat more of certain foods such as vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, fish, nuts and pulses
• People eat less red and processed meat, refined carbohydrates and sugar sweetened beverages.

Lastly with 12.3 million people in the UK currently at serious risk of developing Type 2 diabetes then it is worth visiting the Diabetes UK website for suggestions to prevent type 2.  These include maintaining a healthy weight, eating well, and being active.  They even have a risk tool test to “Know your risk” which you can complete in less than 3 minutes.  Many of our staff have recently attended Well Being training which included information on diabetes.

If you have any top tips then please share them with us and on diabetes UK website https://www.diabetes.org.uk/ #TalkAboutDiabetes #DiabetesWeek

Volunteers Week

Happy #VolunteersWeek

We would like to encourage you to get involved with our homes. The volunteering opportunities are diverse and we could use your skills and talents to help others. It’s about giving your time, making friends, sharing hobbies/ interests and creating new experiences.

We welcome any suggestions but ideas could include helping a gardening club, help the knitting group, reading, accompanying residents on a trip or just come enjoy tea & cake and reminisce. We would love to have volunteers of any age as everyone plays a vital role in making connections, improving lives.

We believe volunteers would complement our staff and would have a big and positive impact on the quality of life for those in our homes. Research suggests that volunteering has health as well as social benefits. In addition it brings a sense of pride, satisfaction and knowledge of giving back to society.

We would love to hear from you if you are interested to know more, contact the home manager and arrange a visit to the home. We will need satisfactory enhanced DBS (free of charge) prior to starting and an understanding of what you’d like to do.

Bramble Down Gardening

This week Bramble Down residents have been taking advantage of the nice weather and planting more of their vegetable patch.

So far a large variety of herbs have been planted. The fruit and vegetable plot has so far got:- tomatoes, parsnip, carrots, sprouts, cauliflower, red cabbage, rhubarb, courgettes, radishes, lettuce and potatoes. The kitchen is looking forward to the wonderful home grown fruit & vegetables.

We do wonder whether a friendly competition between our homes regarding the growth and yield of crops would be welcomed. Last year Bramble Down won various prizes at The Denbury Flower and Produce Show:

• Brooking Trophy for the Floral Art Exhibit that most pleased the judges
• First Prize for wedding arrangement
• Second Prize for wedding arrangement
• Third Prize for their Dundee Cake

 

 

National Walking Month 2018

The beginning of May marks the start of the Living Streets National Walking Month campaign to get the country active and walking every day.

As you may well know walking as an exercise has many benefits both physically and mentally. It can help manage your weight, reduce anxiety and stress, build strength, reduce congestion on the roads and help maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Our residents enjoy daily walks around the gardens or trips out to their local communities and days out with the Freedom Wheels and Oomph Wellness bus. Wherever and whenever possible our carers encourage our residents to enjoy a walk big or small. This helps in so many ways but most importantly it helps in keeping active and who doesn’t enjoy a nice stroll to either meet your neighbours or enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.

Join the online conversation using #walkthisway and discover fun and easy ways to enjoy new walking journeys. We have also included a few helpful links below to get started.

https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/fitness/walking-tips-advice/

https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/getting-started-guides/Pages/getting-started-walking.aspx

Guest Blog: Plymbridge House on National Gardening Week

It is National Gardening Week 30^th April – 6^th May a time to encourage gardeners to share their love of gardening.

National Gardening Week was launched seven years ago by Royal Horticultural Society and aims to become the country’s biggest celebration of gardening.

Our blog today is written by Mark, our Plymbridge House gardener.

“It is here again”, time to start planning and getting all our residents idea`s, every year the residents partake in the garden as much as possible, especially with the 100 baskets which are put around the home’s gardens for everyone to enjoy.

I go and talk to the residents and ask them to choose what colours and style they would like in their basket, I try to match their ideas, it has worked every year and with the residents input we have won 5 Plymouth in Bloom Gold Medals. The Sensory Garden this year will have more attention to give maximum effect to create that area of the garden where you can go to smell, touch and reflect on the times past in a relaxed environment.

As the warmer weather approaches it also gives a chance to take residents out and about the grounds to see the beauty of every plant that has managed to overcome the horrid winter weather we have had. The Hostas are now just peeping through, the delicate leaves of the Acers are about to unfold, the bright new growth of the Evergreens, Reds, Yellows and the Pale Greens all remind us to get busy, Spring is here. Just about to be brightened up, are the shaded areas, there are lovely blues of the Bluebells, the yellows of the Celandines and numerous other pretty colours of the Primulas.

It is the time to become very busy and create the WOW factor once again for all to enjoy. To design and plant for this year`s Plymouth in Bloom competition and for the delight of the residents, families and visitors to the home,.

The benefits of photo frames & memory boxes

In a number of our homes if you walk along the corridor you’ll find a profile outside a bedroom door. These profiles incorporating photographs and reminiscence information have two main roles. The first is to aid residents with dementia in finding their room and ensuring there is something familiar. The second is to provide a brief history of the residents life to inspire conversation between resident and staff.

It is possible for families to provide memory boxes to wall mount outside a bedroom. These boxes can be filled with favourite photos and familiar objects linked to half term memory that act as great conversation starters, as well as aiding residents make sense of their environment.

If you would like a memory tree profile, please speak to your Home Manager who will organise one for you or your loved one.

National Pet Month

This week we are celebrating National Pet Month: a campaign to raise awareness of responsible pet ownership through educational campaigns.

Across our group we have a number of our own pets who are carefully looked after by our staff and residents.

We thought we’d introduce our pets to you. At Bramble Down we have “Bramble” the tortoise and two unnamed turtles. We have suggested Bramble Down run a name that turtle competition during National Pet Month.

Coppelia House have their two resident budgies Fred and Freda. In the garden live their two guinea pigs Bertie and Barnaby. Residents also enjoy families visiting with their animals along with “Watson” the visiting Therapy Dog.

Cornerways look forward to Animal HQ who visit monthly with their guinea pigs, rabbits, dog and chinchilla.

In Parkland House we have Barney the guinea pig and Bertie the rabbit who also enjoy hanging out in the admin office where they enjoy much fuss and attention from residents. The homes also welcomes Gus the “Pat-A-Dog” who visits regularly.

Plymbridge seem to have adopted a cat, Lilly. They also have Domino the rabbit and Hovis the Therapy Dog who visit regularly.

Pets and animals generally hold a special place in many people’s hearts and lives, and there is compelling evidence that interacting with pets can be beneficial to physical, social and emotional wellbeing of humans. Dr William Thomas who designed the Eden Alternative training believed that animals could lessen the sense of boredom and loneliness for those in care.

Many of our residents enjoy the various visiting animals, these include donkeys from The Donkey Sanctuary, Birds of Prey, Local Zoo’s and a Dartmoor Pony.

Happy Easter from Peninsula Care Homes

Peninsula Care Homes would like to wish everyone a lovely Easter and invites you to join in our Easter celebrations in the Homes.

We thought this to be a great opportunity to share with you again The Parkland Poets ‘Easter Time’ poem, a touching poem to reflect on Easter time in the homes.

Easter at Peninsula is a special time,

To over indulge in chocolate and wine,

We’ll sing and dance along to the Easter parade,

While drinking a sherry and lemonade.

 

We will help residents to make an Easter bonnet,

And they will choose what they want upon it.

They may choose a rose or a love bird two,

With a wide floppy brim to keep off the dew.

 

Everyone loves visits from family and friends,

But Easter time is not where it ends,

We will all celebrate with yummy food,

simnel cake, hot cross buns and chocolate too.

 

We will still remember why Easter is here,

And let residents know to us they are very dear,

We’ll celebrate the re birth of Christ,

And we will make the day for everyone ever so nice.

by our lovely Parkland Poets

National Conversation Week

#NatConvWeek #ConvoWeek #KeepTalking #GetTalking #TalkMore #LoveTalking #LetsChat

This week our homes are taking part in National Conversation Week very simply by being mindful of having a conversation with someone. Our homes will be taking part in group discussions, quizzes, games and reminiscence therapy chats. Our staff also enjoy spending one-to-one time with the residents and this will include having a long conversation over a nice cup of tea or coffee. We have learnt about some amazing life stories from our residents, including a previous coder at Bletchley Park, a vinyl fault finder from Decca Records and an assistant to famous London photographer Howard Coster.

Spending the time to have a conversation with someone is a very rewarding thing. Not only do you fulfill a basic human need for interaction but you learn new things and discover more about that person. By giving your time and a listening hear you are helping that person feel good.

Let us know how you are getting involved this week and help raise awareness of the campaign to #TalkMore

You can never have too many conversations during National Conversation Week!