Activities at Arbour Court Care Home

Residents at Arbour Court have missed animal interaction during the covid pandemic. Pet therapy has been a popular activity as part of the homes life enrichment programme and not to disappoint, activities coordinator Carla brought along ‘Mylie’ the springer spaniel for a garden visit.

Residents were delighted to wave and smile from the homes windows and ‘Mylie’ put in an appearance. Everyone is looking forward to the sunnier days and the future to the time when doggy cuddles and a visit can be back on the calendar.

Connecting with our local community is important to us here at Arbour Court and regularly collect and donate to our  local foodbank, Connect which is situated in the town centre. They are a community based group offering food and support for those who may need it during this challenging period and we are delighted to be able to support. Thank you to everyone who has kindly supported in donating in our recent collection.

Residents enjoy doll therapy at Arbour Court and have been spending some quality time with their therapy dolls who resemble newborn babies. This time allows our residents to nurture the babies and is such a meaningful interactive activity.   They care for the dolls, nursing them, changing them, they put them to bed for naps and feed them. It is a beautiful time for them.

Kelly Tatton, General Manager said: “The dolls are greatly loves by all of the residents and give a nice sense of belonging and peacefulness in the home and it is great so see our residents interacting with them”

Arbour Court Care Home in Stockport has recently brought a bit of magic to residents by providing a new ‘Magic Table 360 and the Happiness Programme’ as a way to improve residents’ quality of life.

Designed and manufactured in the UK, the Magic Table 360 uses interactive games to connect residents with staff and with each other, and research shows it improves the wellbeing of people living with dementia. Using interactive light projections, the Magic Table 360, which can be played independently or in a group, stimulates movement by inviting participants to take part in all sorts of different fun activities such as popping bubbles, playing the piano, colouring in pictures, sweeping leaves or interacting playfully with fish. Games are rich in colour, movement and detail, and allow people of all ages to play in a safe and comfortable environment.

The Magic Table 360 is portable so it can be used wherever residents feel most comfortable, it can be projected onto the floor, ceiling, walls, a whiteboard or even the bed. The Happiness Programme allows for a range of games that change seasonally and have country-specific versions covering 14 different categories, so there will always be something new for residents to try.

Residents at Arbour Court celebrated International Flower Day with several flower themes throughout the day, from arts and crafts and colouring flowers which we then used to decorate the home. We enjoyed conversations about our favourite flowers, colours and what they meant to us throughout the years.  Some firm favourites were ‘Sweet Williams’ to ‘Roses’ before sitting back to enjoy refreshments and floral poetry extracts including William Wordsworth’s famous ‘Daffodils’.

Reminiscence sessions are important to our residents here at Arbour Court and we were delighted to receive some large photo grids sent in my our community friends, New Mills School. The home enjoy intergenerational links and are pleased to have been able to keep in touch with the school during the pandemic. 

Residents sat back and enjoyed a cup of tea as they looked back through the different periods and there was lots of good conversations formed from the lovely photos, sharing stories and memories of times gone by.    One resident remarked on “how they don’t make cars like they did anymore and about his favourite, Morris Minor!”