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Park View Care Centre in Park Farm, Ashford has recently worked with both its residents and staff to improve and develop the residential dementia services, facilities and environment.

New General Manager Mel along-side the groups Dementia and Lifestyle Manager Angela Reynolds have used their combined 30 plus years of dementia care experience to spearhead the development.

If you are looking for dementia care and support for a loved one, you can make an appointment to visit the home’s dementia community by calling Mel on 01233326966 or visiting their website for more information.

The nursing and residential care home’s team have recently undertaken Dementia Awareness training and specialist D.O.V.E.S courses delivered by expert Tim Forester-Morgan of the Dementia Training Company.

The courses are designed to embed full dementia care understanding and develop the quality and provision of the dementia care delivered.

The training reinforces the team’s skills and compassionate approaches and understanding of dementia that ensures we are able to deliver the best possible person and relationship centred care.

The home’s two dementia communities now boast Montessori-themed engagement areas throughout. The Montessori approach is used to appeal to residents’ individual strengths, to encourage creativity, independence and individuality.

Angela Reynolds, RCH Care Home’s Dementia and Lifestyle Manager, designed each area.

“For some it may be a piece of equipment that they recognise from their past career, it may be cleaning items left around to be picked up and to do some housework with as they may have done previously.

“A lot of the items left out are to provoke a memory. We want to encourage feelings of independence, choice, achievement and belonging through familiarity.”

Another addition to the service is their new virtual headsets. The Immerse Health VR Headsets give residents a chance to explore a woodland, go on a familiar ‘day trip’ or travel to a much-loved holiday spot or exotic location from the comfort of an armchair or their bedroom.

Along with their Rainbow Digital Tablet, a giant touch screen that offers fun therapeutic cognitive benefits, these research-led innovative dementia friendly technologies support and enable positive physical, emotional and social wellbeing.

The home’s new innovative technologies and approaches to dementia care have inspired the kind and compassionate teams in supporting residents to reminisce about their lives, have new experiences, develop meaningful friendships and live well with dementia.

There are many more plans to continue developing the dementia services further throughout 2024 as Mel explained.

“There are a number of initiatives we are planning to put in place throughout the year. One of the main plans is to develop our links with the local community further, especially local dementia groups.

“We are hosting a number of dementia focused events including a Dementia Open Day on Thursday 29 February 11:30pm-16:30pm, a Dementia Awareness Week in March, which we see the launch of our monthly Dementia Cafés. The café’s will be open to anyone who is living with or supporting someone with dementia with the first being on the Friday 22 March from 10:30am to 12:30pm.”

If you’d like to find out more about the home’s dementia care or arrange a visit, give Mel a call on 01233 326966.